Hwang Sun-hong, head coach of the U-23 national soccer team, explained why he decided to take the helm of the South Korean national soccer team.
The Korea Football Association (KFA) held a briefing on the 3rd National Team Power Enhancement Committee at the soccer hall located in Sinmun-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 27th. With Chairman Chung Hae-sung on the sidelines, coach Hwang Sun-hong announced that he will lead the second consecutive match of the third and fourth rounds of the second qualifying round for the 2026 North-Central America World Cup against Thailand scheduled for March 21 and 26.
Hwang proved his leadership by leading the Asian Games national team last year and winning the gold medal at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games. Currently, he is preparing for the U-23 Asian Cup (final qualifying round for the Olympics) in Qatar in April to advance to the 2024 Paris Olympics. 스포츠토토
The power reinforcement committee judged that Hwang was the most suitable person to lead the two consecutive A matches in March and offered Hwang a concurrent position. It was confirmed when Hwang accepted it on the 26th after a day of consideration.
Initially, the KFA had planned to replace former coach Jurgen Klinsmann and then hire an official coach from the game against Thailand in March. Notably, the names of Ulsan HD manager Hong Myung-bo, FC Seoul manager Kim Ki-dong, and Jeju United manager Kim Hak-beom were mentioned, while not ruling out the appointment of an incumbent coach in the K-League. Former Gangwon FC manager Choi Yong-soo and Hwang Sun-hong were also picked as candidates.
However, the appointment of domestic leaders who are preparing for the season about three weeks before the opening of the K League caused a great backlash from fans, and eventually KFA changed its existing position and appointed Hwang as a temporary manager.
"We judged that it would be too much to leave it to incumbent managers in the K-League for two A-match games," Chung said. There were not many foreign coaches who could afford only two games. Through the second round of meetings, the final candidates were narrowed down to three, and priorities were also set. Hwang was the first to be appointed as interim coach of the national team during the daytime on Saturday. Hwang asked for time to think, and received an answer yesterday (May 26) that he would accept the interim coach.
"The reinforcement committee selected Hwang as its top priority because he is the leader of the Korea Football Association, which is in charge of the Olympics, has achieved results by winning the Asian Games, and has an understanding of Asian soccer. In the process of preparing for the Paris Olympics, we reviewed from various angles to see if there were any problems even if he took over the A national team (national team)," he said, explaining his plan to run the national team's friendly match in the Middle East, "Existing coaching staff, excluding Hwang, will take over the Olympic team's friendly match in the Middle East (March), and Hwang's A team will be set up as a separate coaching team."
Although Hwang is an interim head coach, he will take the helm of the Korean national team for the first time in his career. However, there are many concerns over the appointment of Hwang, who will have to lead the Olympic team in mid-April and play the 2024 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup, in which qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympics is at stake.
As Korea is in a group with Japan, China, and the United Arab Emirates, it cannot afford to advance to the quarterfinals, where it can rise to the second place in the group. Korea needs to qualify for the finals at the Paris Olympics if it ranks within the third place, and if it ranks fourth, it has to go through the playoffs with the African team.
Depending on the situation, Korea's 10th consecutive men's soccer finals at the world's first Olympics could be thwarted, but Hwang decided to take over as the interim head coach of the national team after much consideration for Korean soccer.
According to the KFA, after the temporary head coach of the national team was confirmed, Hwang explained the reason for the acceptance, saying, "Korean soccer is in crisis right now, and I struggled a lot when the power reinforcement committee asked for cooperation," adding, "But I thought I should be of any help in this difficult situation, so I made the decision after much consideration."
He then expressed his determination, saying, "I will do my best to prepare hard so that Korean soccer can return to its place."
"There are some concerns and concerns because the qualifying round for the (Paris) Olympics is a little tight, but we will closely consult with the coaches in the way we have done so that we will prepare without any shortage in April," he said, adding, "We will prepare for the second consecutive match in Thailand to be finished with good results because the national team is also poorly prepared."
He promised, "I will do my best with responsibility so that the people can ease their worries, even though there are many concerns about Korean soccer. Please support and support our national team."
Hwang Sun-hong won the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games in September last year and succeeded in winning three consecutive gold medals. In particular, he succeeded in hunting for a gold medal by winning 2-1 against Japan in the final match.
Since then, Hwang has created a sensation by sweeping the French national team, which is considered the host country of the Paris Olympics and a favorite to win the men's soccer finals, in a hostile environment. Hwang Sun-hong drew attention by winning a complete 3-0 friendly match against the French under-21 national team in Le Havre Stade Osean in November last year.
Hwang, who was focusing on preparing for the Olympic qualifying round, took a temporary but important position as the head coach of the South Korean national soccer team as former coach Klinsmann was replaced ahead of the A-match in March due to poor performance.
Attention is expected to be drawn to whether Hwang, who has to fly to Qatar immediately after the two consecutive World Cup Asian qualifiers against Thailand in March and play the U-23 Asian Cup in April, will be able to achieve the desired results in both the South Korean national soccer team and the Olympic team.