'SHIPWRECK' KOREAN NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM INTERIM CAPTAIN HWANG SUN-HONG U-23 COACH

Leading two World Cup qualifiers with Thailand in March...

There was talk of interim coach Park Hang-seo having two jobs until preparations for the Paris Olympics in April ... Jeong Hae-seong “Hwang Seon-hong was first choice”

Hwang Seon-hong, head coach of the Korean national under-23 (U-23) soccer team, was appointed as the temporary head coach who will temporarily take the helm of Korean soccer, which has become a 'shipwreck'. 바카라사이트

The Korea Football Association's National Team Strengthening Committee held its third meeting on the afternoon of the 27th and announced that it had appointed Coach Hwang as the temporary head coach to lead the national team during the international match period in March.

Jeong Hae-seong, Chairman of the Power Strengthening Committee, stated the reason for his appointment, saying, “Coach Hwang is a conductor of the Football Association, has shown recent results by winning the Asian Games in Hangzhou, and has experience in international competitions and a good understanding of Asian soccer.”

Accordingly, Coach Hwang will lead the Taegeuk Warriors in the 3rd and 4th rounds of the 2026 North and Central America World Cup Asia 2nd qualifiers (21st and 26th) against Thailand, which will be played during the international match period in March (18th to 26th).

For Coach Hwang, it is like working two jobs for a while.

Coach Hwang will have to attend the 2024 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup, which is the final Asian regional qualifier for the 2024 Paris Olympics held in Qatar in April.

Korea is in a group with Japan, China, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and cannot be confident of advancing to the quarterfinals by rising to second place in the group.

If you place in the top three in this competition, you will immediately qualify for the Paris Olympics finals, and if you place fourth, you will have to go through a playoff with an African team.

During the international match period in March, the U-23 national team will participate in a friendly tournament held in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

During this period, the U-23 national team will be led by the existing coaching staff without Coach Hwang.

Coach Hwang will form a separate coaching staff to lead the A national team, and after completing the two-game series against Thailand, he will return to the U-23 national team and prepare for the U-23 Asian Cup in Qatar.

Although this temporary manager position only involves two games against Thailand, it is a position that must carry more weight than that.

In addition to the poor performance at the Qatar Asian Cup, the image of the national team has fallen due to the 'Table Tennis Gate' incident, where discord between players led to physical conflict.

Not only must they lead a refreshing victory against Thailand, but they must also show 'star players' such as Son Heung-min (Tottenham) and Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain) playing as 'one team' again.

The Football Association began the process of appointing a successor after dismissing coach Jurgen Klinsmann, who was eliminated in the semifinals after a poor performance at the 2023 AFC Qatar Asian Cup, on the 16th.

On the 20th, the newly formed Power Strengthening Committee under Chairman Jeong Hae-seong began searching for a new commanding officer candidate.

At the first meeting held on the 21st, the Power Strengthening Committee agreed to appoint an official commander immediately without going through the temporary supervision system and have him lead the team from the match against Thailand in March.

At the second meeting on the 24th, they decided to appoint a temporary commander. I changed it.

He was pressed for time and decided that it would be more reasonable to entrust the baton to a temporary head coach rather than going through the trouble of finding a leader who would take on the important responsibility of leading the national team until the 2026 North and Central America World Cup.

As the team of candidates was narrowed down to domestic leaders due to the urgent need to appoint an official manager, the criticism of K-League fans as the ratings of current K-League coaches, including Ulsan HD manager Hong Myung-bo, fluctuated, appears to have had an impact.

There were media reports that former Vietnam national team coach Park Hang-seo was likely to be the interim coach, but Chairman Chung said, "Coach Hwang was the number one choice."

Chairman Jeong said, "After the second meeting, I communicated with the association and proposed the temporary director position to Director Hwang during the day on the 25th.

Director Hwang asked for time to think, and eventually received an answer yesterday (26th) that he would accept the temporary director position. “He explained the process.

At the 3rd meeting of the Power Enhancement Committee on this day, 9 members of the Power Enhancement Committee, including the chairman, attended and gathered opinions, excluding Gangwon FC coach Yoon Jeong-hwan and Executive Director Moon Kyeong, who were absent due to their team's schedule.