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[이데일리 박지혜 기자] ‘Benverji (Bento + father)’ Paulo Bento, the head coach of the Republic of Korea national football team, reportedly wept as he announced the end to the players.
Veteran defender Kim Young-kwon (Ulsan Hyundai), who scored the equalizer against Portugal in the third round of the Qatar 2022 World Cup group stage match against Portugal, was featured on YTN’s “News Rider” on 9 and said: “Before the coach ( Bento) left in the end, you said: ‘I really think it’s time to break up,’ but the players cried a lot. The director also cried a lot,” he said.
Kim Young-kwon said: “I think that cry was the cry of regret that I had been running for four years. It was such a happy cry and I don’t think I can forget that moment in the future.” Over the past four years, coach Bento, who has been with the national team players and kept his foreign coaching job for the longest, has greeted after this World Cup.
Regarding Bento’s leadership, Kim Young-kwon said, “The most important thing is mutual trust.” In this aspect, the players appreciated him a lot, so the players too believed in the coach with 100% certainty.”
Regarding the criticism of Bento’s tactics, Kim Young-kwon said, “It is true that I was very upset.”
He said: “Within the team, the players have always said that trust shouldn’t be broken. No matter what anyone says, let’s not hate each other for our players and coaching staff.
National team midfielder Hwang In-beom (Olympiacos) also posted a photo he took with Bento head coach Min-jae Kim (Napoli) and Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton) at a dinner with president Yoon Seok-yeol and the first lady Kim Gun-hee the day before at the Blue House dinner, saying, “Thanks to Paulo and the coaching staff I will always remember him in my heart.”
Not only the players, but also Bento’s neighbors regretted parting with him.
Recently, banners written in Korean and Portuguese, Bento’s native language, were hung in an apartment complex in Goyang City, Gyeonggi Province, where Bento lived during the contract period.
The banners read, “Thank you, Coach Bento,” “I’m proud to be Bento’s next door neighbor,” and “Hope all the memories with us are treasured memories.”
It was a message of gratitude from the residents who felt Bento’s affection for the Korea national soccer team and for reaching the round of 16 at the World Cup.
Bento’s future move is also attracting the attention of domestic football fans.
Some foreign media reported that Bento received a coaching offer from the Chinese Football Association on the condition of an annual salary of 2 billion won.
However, it is not clear whether the offer will be accepted because the conditions of treatment, such as salary, are not very different from those foreseen by the Korean national team, and coach Bento said he will return to Portugal for some rest.
In 2010, Bento was appointed manager of Chongqing Dangdai Lifan of the Chinese Professional Football League but was sacked after seven months due to poor performances.
