‘Telecommuting’ is an inviolable policy, and there is no exception this time. ‘Environmental factors’ have become one of the conditions for coaching the next Korean national soccer team.
Michael Müller (58), the new head of the Korea Football Association (KFA) National Team Strengthening Committee, held an inauguration press conference at the Korea Football Association Soccer Center on the 11th.
This is the first time a foreigner has been appointed as the head of the National Team Strengthening Committee, which is responsible for fostering and managing the national team.
Chairman Müller, from Germany, took office as a leader training instructor for the Korea Football Association in April 2018, and since the fall of that year, he has served as the KFA Technical Development Committee twice. He then took on the heavy responsibility of selecting the national team coach to lead the Taegeuk Warriors for the 2026 World Cup.
Chairman Müller, who worked in Korea for four years, presented several guidelines for the next national team coach, and one of them cited ‘environmental factors’.
He said, “It means that we or the KFA can meet the conditions of a new coach. Not only football, but also the new coach’s will to live in Korea and our philosophy.”
It means that even if a foreign director comes, he must live in Korea to some extent and be able to breathe with Koreans.
In light of Chairman Müller’s remarks, former manager Bento has no choice but to be a role model.
Immediately after taking office in August 2018, Bento stayed in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, and spent a considerable amount of time in Korea during his four-and-a-half-year tenure.
There was not much pressure in his life in Korea to kindly provide fan service to his neighbors, and this became the reason why coach Bento could be welcomed by football fans and the people regardless of his early performance. 먹튀검증
The meaning of Müller’s remarks can be found in the case of coach Bert van Marweig, who was a leading candidate for the Korean national team in the past.
As coach Hong Myung-bo stepped down after the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and Korean football faced a crisis, the KFA contacted Van Marweig as a candidate for the next manager. However, negotiations broke down due to the ‘residence issue’ along with the salary.
At the time, coach Van Marwijk told the Dutch press, “I wanted to work in the Netherlands, but the KFA desperately wanted to work in Korea.”
It means that he will work remotely in the Netherlands and go to Korea for an A-match, but after this remark was transmitted, domestic public opinion was strong, and despite his career in leading the Netherlands to runner-up in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the appointment of van Marweig was canceled.
Of course, the first criterion for coaches of the Korean national team is the ability to actively lead and breathe with the growing number of European players.
However, as a coach representing a country’s soccer, the emotional aspect that people can meet and welcome in close proximity is also an element that cannot be ruled out.
Chairman Müller also saw through this through his four years of experience in Korea.