JAKARTA - Ending a four-year term as coach of the South Korean national team which includes achieving the knockout stages of the Qatar 2022 World Cup, Paulo Bento will leave the Ginseng Country on Tuesday.
The Korean Football Association (KFA), as quoted by Antara via Yonhap news agency, announced Monday that Bento would depart from South Korea late Tuesday, officially ending his more than four years in the Taegeuk Knight force.
KFA said there was no schedule for the Portuguese coach's press conference at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul.
Earlier this month, the 53-year-old coach's squad qualified for the last 16 of the World Cup for the third time.
Son Heung-min and his friends started the tournament with a goalless draw against Uruguay and then suffered a 3-2 defeat to Ghana. Bento's team then bounced back for a dramatic 2-1 win over Portugal, which combined with Uruguay's 2-0 win over Ghana, sending South Korea to the last 16.
The South Korean team was eliminated by Brazil 4-1 in the round of 16 last Monday, but was still greeted as a hero when they returned to their country two days later.
Bento's contract expired after South Korea's completion of its 2022 World Cup run, and at that time he announced that since September he had intended not to sign a return contract with the team after the World Cup.
Bento was appointed South Korean coach in August 2018, and he is the longest-serving head coach in national team history.
Thank you #BENTO pic.twitter.com/RWJPyFUqhz
— theKFA (@theKFA) December 8, 2022
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