“I Will Take Charge of the Team until July 2004"

“I have no intention to resign by the Asian Cup Final Round.”

Humberto Coelho, the coach of Korea’s national soccer team which was defeated by Vietnam and Oman consecutively at the Second Preliminary Second Round of the 2004 Asian Cup Soccer Match in Oman, stated his opinion at the press conference held at Incheon International Airport, saying, “The reason I came to Korea is for the Asian Cup. Even though the result was poor, the team entered the final round. So I will manage the Korean national soccer team until July of next year, and I’ll follow the association’s decision at that time.”

The Korean national soccer team subdued Nepal with a score of 7-0 at the Second Preliminary Second Round E group match held at Polis Club Stadium in Oman to reach the final round in second place behind Oman, with four victories and two losses.

Coelho said, “Players are in a bad mood because of these miserable defeats. The next national team needs not to be disappointed and instead has to play confidently. I think players learned a lot through this experience.”

Coelho also revealed his true thoughts, saying, “The current national team is considerably different from last year’s World Cup national team, and the key players are abroad. I cannot call up all the necessary players at this time. And I hope you consider that player turnover is high.”

Coelho is expected to attend the technical committee meeting and to give a report about the result of Asian Cup Second Preliminary round.

Sang-Ho Kim hyangsan@donga.com