I don't have any money, can you bring me? The future of soccer is up to youWe need to bring Bento, who led the next coach's unexpected candidate

Jun 28, 2025

스포츠조선 DB

Paulo Bento was mentioned as a candidate for China's next coach.

China's Dong Qiudi reported on the 28th (Korea time) 'The Chinese Football Association will appoint a foreign coach'

According to Shanghai media, the Chinese Football Association announced that all plans to appoint Chinese coaches were rejected after the East Asian Cup. It will take time for the Chinese national soccer team to find a new coach. They are adopting a global audition model. Although the nationality requirements for the coach have not been clearly announced, the Chinese Football Association is expected to appoint a foreign coach after a comprehensive review, it said.

Then 'If we enter the 2030 World Cup qualifying round, the appointment of a coach will be very important. Paulo Bento, who led South Korea and the United Arab Emirates, and Felix Sanchez, who led Qatar to the Asian Cup championship, are seen as very suitable candidates, he added.

AFP Yonhap News

China recently replaced head coach Branko Ivankovic. The reason was by far the responsibility for the frustration of advancing to the World Cup finals. China finished fifth in Group C in the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup. It did not make it to the fourth place, which could lead to the fourth qualifying round, and it was not possible to advance to the World Cup finals for the first time since the 2002 World Cup between Korea and Japan.

Ivankovic wanted to keep the Chinese national team in charge and get a chance again, but the Chinese Football Association immediately replaced Ivankovic and started looking for a new coach. However, it is known that Dejan Djurjevic will lead the team until the East Asian Cup for appointment through in-depth evaluation.

Famous Korean coaches such as Shin Tae-yong and Seo Jung-won, as well as European masterpieces Robert Mancini and Stefano Pioli, were mentioned as candidates for the next coach. However, the problem is the qualifying round set by the Chinese Football Association for the appointment of the coach. From 1 million euros to 1.2 million euros, it was far from enough to appoint a top coach. Some Chinese media outlets reported 'Ivankovic is also one-third of the salary he received in Oman. Iran's proposal was higher than that received from China. Ivankovic said he was able to become the coach of the Chinese national team by cutting his salary.

스포츠조선 DB

In this situation, Bento, who was in charge of South Korea, emerged as a candidate. Bento led Sporting and the Portuguese national team, and recently took charge of the Korean national team from 2018 to 2022 and reached the round of 16 away after advancing to the World Cup finals. However, after leaving South Korea, he was replaced due to poor performance during the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North Korea-China World Cup.

For China, he is an attractive enough coach candidate. Bento also has a lot of understanding of China because he has led Chongqing Dangdai, a member of the Chinese Super League. Another strength is that he has a lot of experience in the Asian national team.

However, it is unclear whether Bento will respond to the call of the Chinese national team despite his low salary. If Bento accepts the Chinese coach position, the possibility of facing South Korea in the 2030 World Cup Asian qualifiers cannot be ruled out. Attention is also expected to be paid to which candidate will receive a love call before the appointment of the Chinese national team coach is confirmed.

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.