Men’s football team searches abroad for coaching staff

Korean football’s governing body is set to hire foreign assistants for the men’s national team.

Its head coach, Shin Tae-yong, is scheduled to meet with candidates in Germany this week.

An official from the Korea Football Association said Monday that Shin will interview applicants for the national team’s assistant and fitness coaching positions in Frankfurt, Germany, before the Korean squad returns home from a friendly match against Morocco in Switzerland.

The Korean team, which qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup last month, currently has five assistants to Shin: Jeon Kyung-jun, Kim Nam-il, Cha Du-ri, Kim Hae-woon and Lee Jae-hong.

The Korea Football Association said Shin, who took over in July after Uli Stielike was fired by the association, personally requested the hiring of foreign coaches.

Shin previously said he wanted to have “experienced” experts on his team and that other conditions, such as age and nationality, didn’t matter.

“After the final World Cup qualifying match against Uzbekistan last month, Shin told the association’s technical committee chief, Kim Ho-gon, that the team needed foreign assistants who could help in tactical decisions and a fitness coach,” the official said. “The Korea Football Association has been searching for candidates, and since the national team is in Europe for friendlies, we decided to meet job applicants in person.”

The football association previously said the hiring of foreign coaches had nothing to do with the Netherlands’ Guus Hiddink, who expressed intent to help Korean football. The former coach guided Korea to the 2002 FIFA World Cup semifinals and recently said he would not take an official position on the national team.

Yonhap