[단독]The Football Association, after reaching the round of 16, has renewed a contract with Bento… In a case of excitement, Choi Yong-soo and Kim Hak-beom were considered.

single[아시아경제 김형민 기자] It is known that the Korea Football Association has asked coach Paulo Bento, who led the Korean national football team to the round of 16 of the Qatar World Cup, to renew the contract.

According to football officials on the 5th, the association proposed negotiations to renew the contract with Bento after the national team’s progress to the round of 16 was confirmed. Negotiations are expected to begin after the national team’s World Cup matches are over.

At the moment, Bento’s contract is until the World Cup finals. It is said that the association initially pushed for the renewal of the contract with coach Bento before the World Cup. In order to maintain the continuity of the national team until the Asian Cup to be held in Qatar in June next year, he wanted to extend the contract with coach Bento. However, the two sides reportedly broke down because they could not narrow the difference of opinion. The association offered Bento a 1 + 3 year contract to extend the contract until the Asian Cup in June next year and extend it again after seeing the results, but Bento asked for a guaranteed 4 year contract until the next World Cup, failing to do so. come to an agreement. As the association proposed negotiations this time, the possibility of renewing the contract was opened again.

However, it is not clear whether the talks will work out. This is because we cannot rule out the possibility that Bento will reject the negotiations. By lifting our national team to the round of 16, coach Bento can demand a higher ransom. Currently, the Bento coach is known to receive an annual salary of 2.5 billion won (estimated) from the association. It is very likely that he will stick to the request for a four-year contract which guarantees his tenure until the next World Cup. I’m not sure if the association can meet all of Bento’s requirements.

It is known that the association is considering making a group of candidates for the next manager in advance, considering the situation where the contract with Bento has not been broken. A soccer official said in this paper, “Inside the society, opinion is divided between Gangwon FC coach Choi Yong-soo and former national team coach Kim Hak-beom under 23 as an alternative to the Bento trainer.

Reporter Kim Hyung-min khm193@asiae.co.kr