Hong Myung-bo, who has vowed to show football in possession of the ball, has completed a coaching puzzle as a leader from Portugal, a legacy of former coach Paulo Bento. The Korean men’s national soccer team continues to select players based on the foreign head coach’s “build-up” tactic.
The Korea Football Association said on Monday that it appointed Joao Arroso (52) in charge of tactics and Thiago Maia (40) in charge of power analysis as foreign leaders to assist national team coach Hong Myung-bo. Arroso has been accompanied by Bento and Sporting CP, a prestigious Portuguese league club, for four years each for their own national team. In other words, he has improved the completeness of Bento’s tactics, who led him to the round of 16 teams at the 2022 Qatar World Cup by taking the helm of Korea. Aroso is considered the right person to build up a build-up strategy.
“Coach Aroso is a proven leader. We expect him to support the national team with flexible and proactive tactics by reflecting the global soccer trend,” Hong said.
Having started his career as a coach in Sporting in 2003, Aroso joined the Portuguese national team in 2010 and made it to the semifinals of the 2012 European Championship and to the finals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil. Recently, he served as technical director for Portuguese club FC Parmalikan. Maia also served as an analyst for Benfica, a prestigious Portuguese club, since 2018 after serving as a coach for Sporting and Vitoria Setúbal.
Korean leaders, including coaches Park Kun-ha and Kim Jin-kyu, are expected to check on K-League players for a home game against Palestine in the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup. Given the schedule, the Korean team needs to select its roster by next week, but a foreign coach arriving in Korea this week cannot afford to check the situation in Korea. Coach Park has a good understanding of the K-League as well, as Suwon Samsung coach and Kim served as acting FC Seoul coach and head of the Korea Power Enhancement Office. Afterwards, Coach Maia will also stay in Korea to support the team. 메이저사이트
The key is to communicate with Aroso who is based in Europe. “Coach Aroso will continue to monitor European players and return to Korea during the A-match,” a KFA source said on the day. “Coach Maia, who is close to him, will also play a role as a bridge. There will be no problems in performing his duties.”