Jesus Casas, the coach of the Iraqi national soccer team, confessed his contact with the Korea Football Association.
Coach Casas attended a pre-press conference for Group B of the third Asian qualifying round for the “2026 FIFA North-China U.S. World Cup” between South Korea and Iraq at Yongin Mir Stadium on the 14th.
He has been mentioned as a candidate for the Korean national team’s leadership since March until Hong Myung-bo was appointed. Casas, who was the No. 2 candidate after Jesse Marsch (current coach of Canada), had a meeting with the Korea Football Association but did not lead to his appointment.
The reason why the contract with the Iraqi national team remains is said to be the biggest reason for the breakdown of the negotiations. Nevertheless, the Korea Football Association showed continuous interest enough to put Kasas back on the candidate list at the 10th meeting in June.
The biggest focus of the press conference was on Casas. From the first question, the question was, “Is it true that you were offered a coach for the Korean national team? If it is true, why did you refuse?”
“It was right that I had a conversation with the Korea Football Association. However, I thought it would be difficult for a contract to be made realistically,” Casas said. “Personally, I think the conversation with the Korea Football Association itself was a good test. We talked about the style of the national team as well as the appointment of the coach,” he said in a frank manner.
“I understand that the current Korean national team coach (Hong Myung-bo) has also been appointed through good tests,” he said.
Regarding Iraqi media reports that the Iraqi side wanted a stadium other than Yongin Mir Stadium for reasons of accessibility, Casas said, “It is not known.” He also said, “It is groundless” to report that a drone flew at the training site and requested the venue to be relocated.
According to Shafak, an Iraqi media outlet, the Iraqi Football Association has asked the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to play in a city other than Yongin due to accessibility and other reasons. However, Kasas said, “As far as I know, the Korean Football Association chose this place based on the optimal environment.”
On the drone issue, he dismissed the request, saying, “I didn’t see any drones during the training. I know it’s not easy to train in a perfect environment.”
Asked about the difference between Korea and today’s Korea at the Qatar Asian Cup early this year, he said, “The Korean national team has a better teamwork. It has good teamwork and good pressure in the 4-4-2 format. In general, all players in Korea sacrifice themselves systematically and defensively, and there are many talented players.” 토토사이트
Meanwhile, Iraq will play the fourth Group B match against South Korea at 8 p.m. on the day at Yongin Mir Stadium in the third Asian qualifying round for the “2026 North Korea-China World Cup.”
Iraq (seven points, plus two goals) is trailing Korea (seven points, plus four goals) in goal difference in Group B. If Iraq beats Korea, which is evaluated as the strongest team in the group, it can have an advantage in advancing to the World Cup finals. Iraq aims to advance to the World Cup for the first time in 40 years after the 1986 Mexico World Cup.