Bento reveals ‘reason for breakup’ “I wanted 4 more years…”

◀ Anchor ▶

Sunday night sports news.

Former coach Paulo Bento, who led the Qatar World Cup round of 16, directly revealed the reason for his breakup with the Korean national soccer team.

He also gave a sober evaluation of Ronaldo.

This is reporter Park Joo-rin.

◀ Report ▶

Former coach Bento, who led the team to advance to the round of 16 in the World Cup for the third time in history.

Despite numerous criticisms, he perseveringly pushed forward with his own football philosophy and gave inspiration and hope, but his 4 years and 4 months of companionship with Korean football eventually came to an end.

Former coach Bento, who returned to his home country Portugal on the 13th, directly revealed the background of the breakup in an interview with the local media.

It is said that in negotiations with the Football Association in September, they made up their mind regarding the difference in terms of the contract renewal period.

The Football Association proposed a plan to renew the contract until the Asian Cup, which is likely to be held in January 2024, and then extend it according to performance, but former coach Bento told the situation at the time that he wanted to guarantee four years until the 2026 World Cup in North and Central America.

[벤투/전 축구대표팀 감독]

“From 2022 to 2026, I thought it was only meaningful to lead a long-term project to hold the Asian Cup and World Cup qualifiers once more.”

The reason why the Football Association was cautious regarding the 4-year contract seems to have had an impact on the fact that the performance at the World Cup might not be guaranteed, and that public opinion surrounding Bento at the time was not good.

Former Bento coach recalled this World Cup and also mentioned Ronaldo.

“Ronaldo is the greatest player of all time, but the Portuguese national team doesn’t rely on him as much as they did a few years ago,” he added, adding a significant statement, “everything has an end.”

Also, regarding the scene where Ronaldo, who was being replaced in the game once morest us, had an argument with Cho Kyu-sung, he calmly evaluated it as “not beautiful”.

Former director Bento also expressed his gratitude, saying, “It was not easy to leave amidst the tremendous love and support of Koreans.”

While attention is focused on his next destination, he said he plans to take a break for the time being.

This is Park Ju-rin from MBC News.

Video editing: Minho Kim

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