KFA needs to get head coach decision right
Chung Hae-sung, head of the National Teams Committee at the Korea Football Association (KFA), speaks to reporters at the KFA House in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap
Here we go again. There was a time when the search for a new national football team head coach was greeted with excitement and curiosity. Over the years, those feelings have faded. This is probably a consequence of the plenty of mediocre appointments made by the Korea Football Association (KFA). Expectations that this time around will be anything different are not high.
For those who don’t know, Jurgen Klinsmann was fired in February after what can only be described as a disappointing Asian Cup. The German was given the job a year earlier, and even then, many –even most –felt it was not the best appointment. It turned out that way. He was replaced temporarily by Hwang Sun-hong, who stepped in for two 2026 World Cup qualifiers last month. Both were against Thailand, with a disappointing 1-1 draw in Seoul and then a comprehensive 3-0 victory in Bangkok.
According to Jung Hae-sung, head of the KFA’s National Teams Committee, there are 11 candidates on the list. Following interviews, the hope is to make the announcement in May. That will be ahead of June’s World Cup qualifiers against Singapore and China.
A look back on many of the appointments made this century doesn’t fill fans with hope. Guus Hiddink had spectacular success, and both Huh Jung-moo, an emergency appointment after Cho Kwang-rae was fired, and Paolo Bento took the Taeguk Warriors into the knockout stages of the World Cup. The likes of Jo Bonfrere, Uli Stielike, Choi Kang-hee, Humberto Coelho, Dick Advocaat, Hong Myung-bo and Pim Verbeek did not manage to achieve lasting success. There were various reasons for this. Some were unlucky, others were just not the right fit, and others were just not good enough. The KFA, Hiddink apart, has never really put up the money to go down the big-name coach route.
No association gets every appointment right, but there is a haphazard feel to the way the KFA has gone about hiring national team coaches over the years. Most are in place for between one to two years, then leave, and the process starts over with little continuity.
Could we be ready to see a change in approach? The fact that 32 people were on the initial list would not suggest that these candidates were carefully handpicked. At least Chung said the right things when talking about the 11 who are left, of which seven are foreign.
“We will try to share the KFA's vision on techniques and philosophy with the candidates, and we will hire the person that we think will be the best fit," Chung said. "We will consider how much conviction the candidate has in his own philosophy. With foreign candidates, we will see how well the new coach can fit in with Korean football culture."
Klinsmann certainly did not manage that. It would not be a surprise if Hwang, the coach of the U-23 team that is about to battle it out for a place at the Paris Olympics, ends up staying in the hot seat permanently. It would be the easiest choice, but the KFA has much to do to show that it knows how to pick the right man.