"In our reality, it is nonsense to use a foreign coach for the women's national soccer team."
Oh Kyu-sang, president of the Korea Women's Football Association, made the remarks when asked about the new head coach of the Korean women's soccer A team, which was recently stepped down by Colin Bell (England). "Men's national team has become so globalized that we can widely recognize foreign coaches," Oh said at a meeting with Sports Seoul during the 32nd Queen's National Football Championship, which ended in Hapcheon, South Gyeongsang Province. "However, it is desirable for women's national team to use a Korean coach who is well aware of our situation."
He cited the fact that Bell, who had served as a coach for a long time for nearly five years, stepped down without a clear track record. Bell actually took the helm with strong support from the Korea Football Association, but bowed his head due to failure in the group stage of the Women's World Cup last year and the failure to advance to the finals of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Regardless of his performance, he failed to meet the criteria of generational change, which is one of the biggest missions. He tended to depend on veteran players in their 30s including Ji So-yeon (Seattle Lane), Cho So-hyun (Birmingham) and Jungmi Kim (Incheon Hyundai Steel). He also criticized that although he made challenging attempts by transforming striker Go Yu-na into center back in a warm-up match at the end of his term in office, he did not go through a clear analysis.
"Like Japan in the neighboring country, Korea should play cute soccer to suit the constitution of Asian female players," Oh said. "We need to nurture and use Korean players as we are weak in base," adding, "It is not enough yet to incorporate the European leader's style."
He also said that there were many conflicts in terms of emotions. Bell once criticized players and pointed out the reality of the WK League as if he were briefing even though no matches were held in the group stage of last year's World Cup. Regarding his performance, he even admitted that the issue had not been improved, although he raised it since the beginning of his inauguration. His remarks were heard as if he was trying to avoid responsibility, which served as an excuse for losing trust among multiple players.
She continued to assess that the women's national team has seen its international competitiveness decline compared to the past when domestic head coaches such as Yoon Deok-yeo led the team. The generational change that was expected through the eyes of foreigners was also a crushing failure. "Just one or two new players does not mean a generational change. We need to constantly monitor and nurture players in the long term with the mindset of parents. To do that, a domestic coach is appropriate under our circumstances. From now on, we need to appoint a good coach and have our own style," Oh stressed.
In addition, 스포츠토토 Oh hoped for improvement in the education authorities' policy to abolish the training camp. Compared to men's soccer, which has many sports departments, women's soccer, which has a small number of schools, has difficulty continuing its athletic career due to the burden of commuting to school without a training camp system. "Schools are on the decline these days due to low birthrate," Oh said. "It is inevitable to run dormitories to scout and raise players at schools (with women's soccer departments)," Oh said. "But why can't we prevent players who want to play soccer from staying in dormitories? I hope we can come up with policies that fit the reality."