Portugal’s Paulo Bento announced he was stepping down as South Korea coach on Monday after Qatar’s FIFA World Cup round of 16 loss to Brazil (4-1), a decision expected since “september”.
Paulo Bento is no longer the coach of South Korea. The Portuguese-born coach of South Korea announced his resignation after his men’s defeat (4-1) against Brazil on Monday evening in the round of 16 of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
“We have to think about the future, it will be without me, I have to rest. I announced it to the players and to the president (of the federation). It was a decision I made in September”, announced the technician in a post-match press conference.
“I thank the players”
“I thank the players, they gave their best, I was honored to be their coach,” added the Portuguese. He judged the defeat “fair, we have to congratulate Brazil, they were better than us. It’s the normal victory for a big team, a title candidate.”
But Bento said he was “very happy with the work of the boys.” “I think we can be proud after four years of work, for the third time in the history of Korean football we have come out of the pools,” he concluded.