Senior men's football coach hoping for 'best solution' in scheduling conflict with U-23 team

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, April 7 (Yonhap) -- With South Korea's World Cup prep matches coinciding with a major tournament involving under-23 players, senior men's head coach Paulo Bento said Thursday he is hoping "good communication" will result in "the best solution" for everyone.

Bento's senior squad will compete in the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in November. To gear up for the big event, the Korea Football Association is hoping to schedule a maximum four friendly matches in June and two more in September.

There are only two FIFA international match windows prior to the World Cup: May 30-June 14 and Sept. 19-27.

The second window will overlap with the Asian Games, which will run in Hangzhou, China, from Sept. 10 to 25. The opening ceremony is Sept. 10, but football tournaments typically begin a day or two beforehand because of scheduling issues.

Men's football in Asian Games is only open to players 23 or younger, and U-23 head coach Hwang Sun-hong will obviously want to take the best players in that age group as South Korea go for their third straight Asian Games gold.

However, some in the U-23 bracket will also merit consideration for the senior national team. Having many roster options is a nice problem to have, but some previous men's senior head coaches and U-23 head coaches have had their disagreements on how many U-23 players should be called up to the senior team on what occasions. Bento himself had some differences with the former U-23 boss, Kim Hak-bum, last year ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.

Hwang's U-23 team will also compete in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup from June 1 to June 19, but Bento said Thursday he'd like to have some U-23 players on hand in June and then maybe give ways to Hwang in September.

Bento noted how the Asian Games, where a gold medal will grant South Korean athletes an exemption from mandatory military service, will be more important than the AFC competition.

"First of all, we should improve our communication. If I compare with the past, we should talk more often in the proper way in order to arrange the best solution for everybody," Bento said at a press conference at the National Football Center in Paju, north of Seoul. "In June, we'll have four games, and maybe due to the busy schedule and quality of the opponents, we'll have more players in the training camp. In September, I must understand (the Asian Games tournament) is not just one competition but it's also something that means a lot to personal lives of players.

"It will be a busy and tough schedule for many, many players," Bento continued. "With good communication in the right way, we'll arrange the best solution for everybody. We should compete with the best possible players and choose all the players we want."

jeeho@yna.co.kr
(END)