[Editorial] Korean Football Must Be Reborn

Korean national football team coach Jo Bonfrere resigned Tuesday. He "resigned," but for all practical purposes he was fired. The move comes 14 months after coach Humberto Coelho was let go in April of last year, and it's evidence that Korean football is in a state of crisis. Twice this month alone it was embarrassed on the field. Korea lost to archrival Japan in the East Asian championship August 7, and on August 17 Korea was humiliated once again in a match against Saudi Arabia in the World Cup qualifier. Bonfrere's departure was expected since he was unable to provide reason for hope.

Choosing his replacement next month will be an important and final opportunity. It would be dangerous to give too much weight to what the public thinks, regardless of whether the new coach is a Korean or a foreigner. He will have to be someone who has engaged in diverse and thorough analysis of opposing teams and can formulate strategy with confidence.

Seeing how the team has done so far the prospects for making the World Cup finals next June are not good. The same problems – poor scoring and inattentive defense – still remain, and the widespread view is that it will be hard to win a single victory. The teams Korea now has to face are far greater challenges than Japan and Saudi Arabia; they are the 32 powerhouses of Europe and South America. Unless there is a restoration of the tradition of fast and tenacious Korean football there will be no realization of the dream of entering the top 4 or the top 16 at the World Cup.

The Korean Football Association (KFA) also has responsibility to bear for the drop in performance, for failing to implement stable plans regarding things like the generational changes in the makeup of the team after the end of the 2002 World Cup. The technical committee that is supposed to support the team and the KFA in its choice of coaches cannot avoid its responsibility either.

There are only 10 months to go. The KFA and the technical committee have to produce a sure blueprint for the future, one that includes the selection of Bonfrere's replacement. Firing the coach of the national team is not the best choice, it's the final choice.

The Hankyoreh, 24 August 2005.

[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]