South Korea’s new national soccer team coach Hong Myung-bo, who has just returned from a trip to Europe amid controversy over his appointment process, will meet with national team captain Son Heung-min (Tottenham).
“Coach Hong Myung-bo will soon travel to London, England, to meet with Son Heung-min,” an official from the Korea Football Association (KFA) said on Sunday. He will be the first national team player to meet with Hong after his official appointment.
The exact date was not disclosed, but it is expected to be around the time of the Queens Park Rangers match, as Tottenham will play a preseason friendly against Heart of Midlothian in Edinburgh, Scotland, at 3 a.m. ET on Aug. 18, followed by a friendly against 토토 Queens Park Rangers in London, England, at 11 p.m. ET on Aug. 20.
Hong Myung-bo and Son Heung-min were previously linked as national team managers and players at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Hong’s subsequent reappointment as Korea’s national team manager reunited the pair after a decade apart, but now as national team manager and captain.
Hong plans to meet with Son Heung-min as well as other European players during the trip. However, it’s unclear how easy it will be to do so, as each club has its own preseason schedule.
Hong Myung-bo left for Europe on Nov. 15 for a meeting with foreign coaches, two days after his appointment was announced by the Korean Football Association (KFA) board of directors.
As he headed to Europe, Hong said he would meet with players who are playing in Europe if he had the chance, and he scheduled a meeting with Son Heung-min first.
“I’m expecting (the trip) to last about a week, but it may be a few days longer if I get a chance to meet the players. My return date is undecided.”
Hong, who was appointed to replace Jürgen Klinsmann (GER), has been in charge of the national team for 10 years after the team failed to qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
However, after repeatedly refusing to take the national team’s head coaching job while leading Ulsan HD, he abruptly left the club and fans behind, and unlike other foreign candidates, he was appointed as the national team’s head coach without an interview process and only at the request of Lee Im-sang, an engineer, sparking controversy over the process.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Sports Ethics Center have recently announced an investigation into the KFA’s appointment process of Hong Myung-bo, as former national team players continue to express their disappointment.