According to South Korean media outlet Chosun Sports, former South Korea national team head coach Paulo Bento had planned to apply for the interim head coach position with the South Korea national team but withdrew due to excessively strict conditions.

It is reported that Bento made the pointed remark, "Are they hiring a fitness coach?" after reviewing the public recruitment requirements.

Initially, coach Bento intended to apply for the South Korea national team head coach position through a public recruitment process. Although this was only a temporary arrangement for six matches, he was undeterred and even assembled his coaching staff. However, he withdrew during the application submission stage. Faced with conditions far more stringent than expected, he reconsidered. With the remark, "This doesn't look like they're hiring a football coach," he ultimately decided not to proceed with his application.

The first public recruitment for a senior national team head coach ultimately resulted in the appointment of Roberto Moreno (Spain), described as "Luis Enrique's right-hand man." Despite some complications, the public recruitment method received positive evaluations. There was no strong opposition, and external response was "the right choice was made." Hyun Young-min, chairman of the Committee to Enhance Competitiveness, who oversaw the selection process, stated, "I believe public recruitment is a way to restore public trust, even if only slightly."

In fact, there was heated debate within the Committee to Enhance Competitiveness regarding the public recruitment method. Significant doubts were raised about "whether it is appropriate to select a senior national team head coach through public recruitment." Previously, U-20 and Olympic team coaches were also selected through public recruitment, but a senior national team is a different matter. Notably, the English Football Association selected Thomas Tuchel through public recruitment. However, unlike England, which can attract top candidates, there is no guarantee that high-caliber coaches will apply in South Korea. Nevertheless, due to strong demands from the Korean Sports & Olympic Committee, public recruitment was chosen.

The issue lies in the conditions themselves. Applying the Korean Sports & Olympic Committee's approach created a gap with the reality of football. While the Committee to Enhance Competitiveness organized weekly meetings to expedite the process, this is precisely why the initial head coach selection progressed slowly. Considerable time was spent "translating" the Korean Sports & Olympic Committee's criteria and conditions into football terminology. Nevertheless, from a European perspective, the conditions remained overly stringent. This is also why many interested coaches, including Bento, did not apply.

They encountered obstacles at the document review stage itself. The Korea Football Association (KFA) asked candidates with incomplete documents to submit additional materials before the deadline, but many candidates failed to meet the requirements. Of 22 candidates, more than half were eliminated without advancing to the evaluation stage for not meeting the conditions. Since the process was structured around coaching staff submissions, the qualifications of assistant coaches were also critical. One case involved a coach with Premier League experience who assembled a coaching staff with similar Premier League backgrounds, yet a Korean fitness coach was eliminated for lacking a Level 2 coaching certification in sports conditioning.

Some members of the Committee to Enhance Competitiveness expressed regret, but they could not change the standard conditions that had already been established. Coach Gus Poyet, who led Jeonbuk to a double championship, also failed to pass the document review threshold. It is reported that coach Poyet likewise expressed dissatisfaction during the application preparation process. Chairman Hyun also stated, "Since the entire coaching staff undergoes public recruitment and quantitative evaluation, there have been regrettable cases where a promising head coach candidate is paired with an assistant staff that fails to meet standards, resulting in rejection of their application."

The current public recruitment method's focus is on "how to select" rather than "whom to select." Discussions about "what style of football we will play" and "whether this style suits us" have been pushed into the background. If this approach continues, a Klinsmann with a perfect application would certainly defeat a Guardiola with an incomplete one. If public recruitment continues, the conditions and methodology need to be reconsidered. Chairman Hyun also stated, "To bring in the head coach best suited for us, we should explore approaches that ensure procedural fairness while fully considering the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate."

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