He almost became the next coach of the Korean national soccer team. Former Iraqi coach Jesus Casas answered questions that he had accumulated.먹튀검증
In February, the Korea Football Association replaced former coach Jurgen Klisman, who was embroiled in controversy over his overseas trip, working attitude and team management despite his semifinal performance after the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Qatar Asian Cup.
Since then, he has set up a new power reinforcement committee led by Chung Hae-sung, chairman of the power reinforcement committee, and has been enthusiastic about the process of appointing the next director.
And at the end of June, Chairman Chung Hae-sung suddenly announced his resignation, and technical director Lee Im-saeng took over the task and finally chose Hong Myung-bo after meeting with the three final candidates for director in July.
Coach Hong Myung-bo took the helm of the national team for the first time in 10 years after the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, but public opinion was cold. Fans continued to show anger toward the Korea Football Association during the appointment process, and Park Joo-ho, who served as a member of the committee, pointed out his disappointing administrative power by revealing internal circumstances of the committee.
Players who have played for the national team in the past, such as Lee Young-pyo, Park Ji-sung, Lee Dong-guk, Cho Won-hee, Kim Young-kwang, and Lee Chun-soo, also voiced criticism over the coach's appointment process.
Hong Myung-bo, which was launched amid concerns and concerns rather than expectations and applause, has come under fire. Questions on pending issues at the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee and a special audit by the Ministry of Sports, Sports and Tourism, were followed, and his administrative power was evaluated through the process of appointing a coach with the Korea Football Association.
Still, fans' eyes are burning on Hong. Cheers are cheering for the players, but fans are angry at the Korea Football Association and its chairman Chung Mong-gyu, who were criticized for problems in the process of appointing Hong Myung-bo and the coach.
Among them, Casas, who had been considered as a candidate for the next Korean coach, stepped on the Korean soil as an enemy. Originally from Spain, Casas became a coach after retirement from Hyonyeon in 2003. After playing for Spanish pro soccer teams such as Cardis and Eibar, Casas also worked as an analyst and scout for Barcelona games in 2010.
In 2018, he also assisted then-Spain coach Luis Enrique as the head coach. He is emerging as a new ambush in Asian soccer with his leadership in Iraq in 2022.
Since Casas' appointment, Iraq has won the 2023 Arabian Gulf Cup and the 2023 Asian Cup in Qatar. It has 18 wins, two draws and five losses in 25 matches under Casas.
Casas was mentioned as a candidate for the next Korean national team coach. He was one of the appropriate players for his leadership, experience in Asian soccer and performance at the Asian Cup.
However, the team still had a lot of risks because of the remaining contract period with the Iraqi national team. It was not easy as the penalty issue was also at stake. Without much progress since then, Casas has only left his name as a candidate. Local media also reported that Casas would stay, which effectively went up in smoke.
In addition, he was in the same group as Korea in the third qualifying round for the World Cup. Ahead of the fourth match against Korea, Casas admitted to negotiating with the Korea Football Association. "I had a conversation with the Korea Football Association. However, I thought it would be difficult to achieve realistically," he said at a pre-match press conference held at Mir Stadium in Yongin on Tuesday.
"The conversation itself was a good test for me. We also talked about the process of selecting a coach, the team, and the style of the national team," he said. "As far as I know, the coach (Hong Myung-bo), who is currently appointed to Korea, was also appointed through a good process."
On Korea, he said, "It will be a game that many players want to play. Korea is a fantastic team. There are many good players. It will be a challenge for me and a difficult game. I look forward to a good game."
It was a moment when I was able to solve one of the questions in the process of appointing the next coach of the national team in a situation where numerous figures were mentioned and all the candidates could not be heard.
Meanwhile, the Korean national soccer team led by Coach Hong Myung-bo will play the fourth match of the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup at Mir Stadium in Yongin at 8 p.m. on Saturday. Currently, both teams are tied with two wins and one draw (seven points). Korea ranks first due to differences in points, while Iraq ranks second. To advance directly to the finals, the Korean team needs to rank among the top two teams. Hong aims to secure the No. 1 spot by beating Iraq.