Hong liberated from 25 years of pressure

Chinese football club Hangzhou Greentown FC posted a welcoming message for new coach Hong Myung-bo on its website, Friday. Hong signed a two-year deal with the Chinese Super League club. / Yonhap

By Nam Hyun-woo

Former national team coach Hong Myung-bo is the latest to join the recent China-bound transfer frenzy of Korean coaches, and the move is a new chapter in his football career.

Hong’s scholarship foundation announced Thursday that the 46-year-old has signed a two-year deal with Hangzhou Greentown FC in the China Super League.

Speculation had been palpable over Hong’s potential coaching in China or Japan, but he ended it with a brief two-day trip to the Chinese city, saying, “The club’s managing philosophy of placing future prospects over current results hangs together with my football philosophy.”

This is the first time Hong will coach a professional club and the Hangzhou job comes as he attempts to free himself from the pressures of coaching the national team.

For a long time -- from his national A team debut in 1990 to the resignation from the national team coaching job last year -- Hong always coached the national team under pressure of high expectations from Korean fans, who are fanatical, particularly about the national team’s performance.

Shortly after he earned his first cap, he appeared in the 1990 World Cup at the age of 21 as the “libero” of the three-man back line, a role requiring immense defensive responsibilities, and played 136 A matches as the team’s most trustworthy defender until he retired in 2002.

His coaching career has also been with the national team. Starting as an assistant coach during Korea’s 2006 World Cup campaign, he coached national teams of various age groups.

Earning a cap for Korea’s national team is often described as taking the “poisoned chalice,” because of Koreans’ immense craze for national football oftentimes turns into harsh criticism when a coach or a player fails to win everything. For example, Korea’s football legend, Cha Bum-keun, former No. 1 strikers Choi Yong-soo and Hwang Sun-hong weren’t free from such criticism.

Under such pressure, Hong didn’t let the public down and at the 2012 London Olympics, led the under-23 team to win a bronze medal. It was Korea’s first Olympic medal in football and the thrilling 2-0 victory over Japan in the third-place was impressive enough to send him to the senior team the year before the 2014 World Cup.

However, the Taeguk Warriors’ Brazil campaign was dismal, as they went winless and faced a group stage exit after disappointing performances. Ardent public support soon turned into harsh criticism against the coach and cost Hong his job. Hong’s 25 years of service to the national team was tarnished instantly, as reports over his private life drew public interest.

On his arrival at Incheon International Airport, Thursday, Hong told reporters that “I was pressured to live up to the public expectation more than anybody so far, and I won’t let that happen to me again.”

“For the past 20 years, I desperately tried to meet the expectations and there were ups and downs. … However, it is time for me to think more of myself and my family and do what I can do,” he said.

Despite notable successes with young national footballers, Hong has yet to prove himself at the club-level or with senior footballers. And for Hong, who said he considers himself a “freshmen,” Greentown FC seems to be an appropriate club to reboot his coaching career.

Hangzhou Greentown FC finished 11th among 16 teams the previous season. Unlike other rich clubs, such as Guangzhou Evergrande, Shanghai SIPG or Beijing Guoan, Greentown has been far from making headlines with extraordinary investments, but is known for nurturing young prospects. In signing Hong, the Chinese club reportedly values Hong’s ability with young footballers.

Hong said that “the club also did a lot in my favor in finalizing the terms of the contract,” allowing him to lead the young club at least two years without financial concerns. Chinese clubs oftentimes place a clause in a contract with a coach that it can sack him if he fails to show desirable outcome. Reportedly, Hangzhou initially tried to place such a clause in the contract with Hong, but pulled it as Hong asked for a guarantee of at least two years.

“We did not talk about results, but we talked about the future,” said Hong. “The club said ‘just to be concerned about the future and the results may follow naturally.’”