By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
Korean Football Association (KFA) president Chung Mong-joon said the football body expects to name a new senior national team coach by the end of the week.
The job will either go to former Olympique Lyonnais manager Gerard Houllier or Wolverhampton Wanderers boss Mick McCarthy, Chung said.
``A decision will be made in the next two or three days,'' Chung told reporters at the KFA headquarters in Seoul Wednesday, confirming Houllier and McCarthy as the candidates.
It is the first time that a KFA official revealed the names of the candidates for the South Korea job, which has been vacant since the departure of Dutch coach Pim Verbeek at the end of July's Asian Cup.
``About 80 percent of the process is complete,'' said Chung, who also doubles as a FIFA vice president. ``Each of the candidates have clarified their stance over the job and right now we are on the final stages of working out a contract.''
The new coach would be given the tough task to rebuild the national team ahead of the third stage of the 2010 World Cup qualifying rounds that begin in February.
Houllier, now a member of the French Football Association's technical committee, is clearly the more established of the two and believed to be the KFA's preferred candidate, with McCarthy placed as the backup plan.
Houllier's past clubs as manager include Paris Saint-Germain, RC Lens and Liverpool, with which he won the UEFA Cup in 2001. His last coaching job was with Olympique Lyonnais, leading the team to two French titles before resigning last May.
The 60-year-old Frenchman is regarded as one of the better football minds of today, and his reputation for talent evaluation and player development makes him the safe choice to guide South Korea's rebuilding process forward.
McCarthy, now the boss of the Wolverhampton Wanderers, has previously managed Millwall, Sunderland and the Irish national team.
The 48-year-old padded his reputation by leading Ireland to the second round of the 2002 World Cup, before it was eliminated by Spain in a penalty shootout.