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

Although he had been discussed as a leading candidate for the next helm, he failed to make the shortlist of five candidates for the final interviews.

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

The Strengthening Committee gathered in Cheonan last week to review the documents submitted by applicants based on evaluation criteria, and reportedly notified Poyet's side that he was eliminated in the document screening stage.

The KFA is openly recruiting an interim manager to lead the national team, which has been vacant since the resignation of former manager Hong Myung-bo, for six A-match fixtures from September to November.

In accordance with the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee regulations on the selection and operation of national teams, the recruitment process requires applicants to apply as a bundled package consisting of the manager and coaching staff.

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 Korea A-national team is being selected through an open recruitment process.

The open recruitment, which began on June 30 [Note: translated strictly from source text "지난달 30일" referencing June 30 based on July context], closed its application reception on July 9, and it is reported that the majority of the applicants were foreign coaches.

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

He expressed his willingness to take the role regardless of the duration and format, whether as an interim or permanent manager, and included coaching staff such as Lee Dong-gook, technical director of Yongin FC in the K-League, and goalkeeper coach Choi Eun-sung, a member of the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup semifinal squad.

Poyet was once cited as the most likely candidate, having been recognized for his leadership after leading Jeonbuk Hyundai last year to simultaneous triumphs in the K League and the Korea Cup, lifting Jeonbuk back to the top in just one season after they had dropped to the relegation playoffs.

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

However, in the actual document screening, as the Strengthening Committee scored applicants based on itemized evaluation criteria, he lagged behind other applicants and failed to be included in the interview pool.

A total of five candidates advanced to the interviews, all of whom are foreigners.

The KFA plans to conduct online interviews with these candidates.

With the A-match period beginning on September 21, the plan is to finalize the appointment of the interim manager within this month.

Reported by Kim Minjeong | Video by Kim In-sun | Graphics by Yook Do-hyun | Produced by SBS Digital News