The press conference of Hong Myung-bo, the new coach of the national soccer team, left only regrets. He did not seem to be prepared for such a big deal.
In particular, he avoided a head-on answer to the appointment process surrounding him and pushed him to “the association’s work.”
At a press conference for the inauguration of the national team held at the soccer center in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the morning of the 29th, Hong officially spoke about suspicions of preferential treatment surrounding him, the reason for his change of mind, and how to run the national team in the future.
Earlier on the 13th, former Ulsan HD coach Hong Myung-bo was officially appointed as the new head coach of the Korean national soccer team.
The post was vacant for about five months after former coach Jurgen Klinsmann was sacked. The KFA, which was supposed to appoint a foreign coach within May, was under fire for siphoning off Hong Myung-bo as its new head coach until July 13. As Hong openly described in the media that he was “unpleasant” to name a coach for the Korean national soccer team, fans felt even more betrayed.
In the process, Park Joo-ho, a former member of the Korea Football Association’s power reinforcement committee, revealed all the rough-and-ready administration and closed internal status of the association, and the Korea Football Association was also in the eyes of government officials.
Hong Myung-bo, who presented his inaugural address and apology with eight sheets of A4 paper on the day, bowed deeply to reporters as soon as he arrived at the scene. He kept his eyes on the documents he had prepared and read the lengthy statement of position.
In the end, the main point was, “I’m sorry. But I will take responsibility for this.” “I’m sorry as a soccer player for causing inconvenience to the public for five months due to controversy,” Hong said. “I’m here because I feel extremely sorry and feel a lot of responsibility for betraying my promise to my fans in the K-League.”
Hong then asked for deep forgiveness from Ulsan HD and soccer fans, the team he led, adding, “I think the way to be forgiven by disappointed fans is to lead the growth and development of the Korean national soccer team in my place,” adding, “I will take greater responsibility for the support you have sent so far.”
The reason for wanting to challenge the national team coach was not much different from what was known to the public and the media.
Coach Hong, who mentioned the meeting with Lee Im-saeng, the technical director of the Korea Football Association, said, “I talked with him about ‘football philosophy’ and changed my mind after thinking hard.”
There are two main reasons why Hong’s words are not convincing enough. It is because of his abstract remarks on “philosophy of soccer” and “direction toward the national team” that the two shared. The most important key point that will give strength to Hong’s appointment is what kind of “philosophy of soccer” must be.
Coach Hong failed to explain the detailed plan for the operation of the national team, which has reduced 22 pages of analysis data, 16 video clips of the game, and 16 pages of PPT to “passion” that is not related to ability.
“The Korea Football Association (KFA) is trying to establish the direction of the entire Korean soccer team in detail from a long-term perspective through the philosophy of Made in Korea,” Hong said at the meeting. “I was a coach of the Korean national team by age, and I learned how systematic youth system and active player discovery can help the Korean national soccer team.” However, the KFA’s soccer philosophy, which lacked detail in the process of appointing the coach, is likely to leave fans with deep suspicions.
Hong also suggested the keywords for the team’s game management. “It is important for us to own and control the ball. The purpose of possession should be clear. We need to be aggressive by adding forwardness and boldness. The purpose of possession is to destroy the opponent.”
His suggestion of “respect, dialogue, responsibility and dedication” and dialogue and teamwork are the basic foundations of team sports. Unless there was a specific part of the national team that Hong implicitly wanted to point out, this is the basis for virtually all sports.
However, when asked about the Korea Football Association, which was placed in front of the government’s audit blade, Hong found that there was a problem in the process of selecting him, he said, “I have never talked about that with myself, and that is the story of the 토토사이트 Korea Football Association and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The association can faithfully explain itself to the association.”
The Q&A session was long, but there were no suspicions that Hong Myung-bo addressed. Originally, the press conference was designed to go head-on over the suspicions surrounding Hong. However, Hong only backed out after concluding that he would do his best to repay the public with soccer. He replied that he would take responsibility only for the performance of soccer as well as for all the suspicions he had over his incomprehensible appointment process.
Public opinion is getting worse. Soccer fans are pouring out arrows of criticism on the official YouTube of the Korea Football Association, where the full text of the press conference was uploaded. One fan expressed anger, asking, “How on earth do these people think Korean soccer is their personal property?” and another pointed out, “They are only giving parrots-like answers and vague answers about recruitment.” Another fan also gave a cold look, saying, “This press conference demonstrated the old-fashioned mindset that it will calm down when it comes to grades.”
Meanwhile, the South Korean national soccer team, which welcomed coach Hong Myung-bo as its new head coach, will prepare for the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 FIFA North-China World Cup, which will be held from September.
