Poyet Fails to Pass Screening for National Team Interim Coach Despite Reports It Was "Practically Certain"

Former Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors manager Gus Poyet reportedly failed to pass the document screening stage in the open recruitment for the interim manager of the South Korean national football team.

Although he had been mentioned as a leading candidate for the next head coach position, he failed to make the final list of five interview candidates.

According to the football community, the National Team Committee of the Korea Football Association (KFA) recently conducted document evaluations for applicants applying through the open recruitment process for the interim manager.

The committee gathered in Cheonan last week to review the documents submitted by applicants according to evaluation criteria, and reportedly notified Poyet's side that he was eliminated in the document screening round.

The KFA is holding an open recruitment for an interim manager to lead the national team, which has been vacant since the resignation of former manager Hong Myung-bo, through six A-matches from September to November.

In accordance with the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee regulations on the selection and operation of national teams, the recruitment follows a method where the manager and coaching staff apply packaged as a single unit.

This marks the first time in the history of both the men's and women's national teams that the head coach of the South Korean senior national football team is being selected through an open recruitment process.

The open recruitment, which began on July 30, closed its application reception on the 9th, with most applicants reportedly being foreign coaches.

Poyet has shown a strong will for the national team manager position ever since the resignation of former manager Hong.

He expressed his willingness to take the job regardless of the term or method, whether as an interim or permanent manager, and even included Yongin FC Technical Director Lee Dong-gook from the K League and former 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup semifinalist goalkeeper coach Choi Eun-sung in his coaching staff.

Poyet was once mentioned as the most likely candidate, having been recognized for his leadership after leading Jeonbuk Hyundai last year to simultaneously conquer the K League and the Korea Cup, bringing Jeonbuk back to the top in just a single season after they had slumped to the relegation playoffs.

Japanese media even recently reported that Poyet taking over as the manager of the South Korean national team was practically certain.

However, in the actual document evaluation, as the National Team Committee scored candidates based on item-by-item evaluation criteria, he fell behind other applicants and failed to be included in the interview pool.

There are a total of five candidates who advanced to the interviews, all of whom are foreigners.

The KFA plans to conduct online interviews with these candidates.

As the A-match period begins on September 21, the association plans to finalize the appointment of the interim manager within this month.

Reported by Kim Min-jeong | Video by Kim In-sun | Graphics by Yook Do-hyun | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.