S. Korea to name new men's football coach by Feb. 2023

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Dec. 13 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will name a new head coach for the men's national football team by February next year, the sport's governing body said Tuesday.

The Korea Football Association (KFA) held its final board meeting of the year Tuesday, with the committee overseeing national team operations setting the timetable to fill the coaching vacancy on the men's team.

Paulo Bento decided not to re-sign with South Korea after his four-year deal expired at the end of South Korea's World Cup run in Qatar earlier this month. The KFA said it plans to name Bento's successor by February 2023.

The National Team Performance Improvement Committee, which handles national team affairs, will come up with a preliminary list of candidates by the end of this month. The list will be whittled down for interviews in January, and then negotiations with the final candidates will follow in February.

Bento was the longest-serving head coach in national team history, having been in charge from August 2018 to December 2022. Immediately following South Korea's 4-1 loss to Brazil in the round of 16, Bento said he'd made up his mind in September not to return as South Korea's bench boss.

He successfully coached South Korea to their first appearance in the knockout stage in 12 years.

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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