"I know everything from Choi Kanghee to Kim Ki Dong and Lee Jung Hyo".
A Chinese journalist met at the Mix Zone after a match between Indonesia and Qatar led by Shin Tae-yong on Wednesday, and he knew the names of Korean leaders. Names of current K-League coaches Kim Ki-dong (FC Seoul) and Lee Jung-hyo (Gwangju FC) were mentioned one after another, starting with coach Choi Kang-hee, head coach of Shandong Taishan, a Chinese league team.
A Chinese reporter who said he is a member of the Chinese media "Titanzhou Bao (Titan Sports)," brought up Shin Tae-yong, saying, "There are many great coaches in Korea. That's why Chinese teams prefer Korean coaches."
"Indonesia's Shin Tae-yong and Malaysia's Kim Pan-gon are representative Korean leaders that Chinese teams were interested in. Kim Pan-gon said Chinese teams sent love calls last winter, but they failed due to the Asian Cup schedule. Kim Pan-gon is a really good coach," in complimenting Korean leaders who are showing their skills on the international stage.
Shin Tae-yong and Kim Pan-gon are coaches who have proven their leadership in Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia. Shin, who serves as both the Indonesian A team and the U-23 team, is receiving a lot of support in Indonesia. Kim is also leading Malaysia's performance, including a 3-3 draw with South Korea at the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup.
"Don't you know Choi Kang-hee who is currently in Shandong? I didn't think Choi would come back as a leader after leaving Shenhua, Shanghai, but I came back to China through Shandong. This is proof that he is a great coach," Choi said.
When Choi Kang-hee talked about establishing the "Jeonbuk Dynasty" by leading Jeonbuk Hyundai in the K-League, the dialogue naturally continued to the K-League. Surprisingly, the reporter even knew the names of Seoul's Kim Ki-dong and Gwangju's Lee Jung-hyo, two strategists representing the K-League.
"As far as I know, Kim Ki-dong and Lee Jung-hyo are really good coaches. Chinese teams are also interested in the two coaches. Chinese teams love Korean coaches very much," a Chinese reporter said. "They are also paying attention to the two strategists in the K-League." 안전 토토사이트
The reporter covered the Seoul-Pohang Steelers game just before he came to Qatar, so he had a photo of Kim Ki-dong. When he showed Kim's photo, the Chinese reporter raised his thumb, saying, "This is him. What a great coach."
They also briefly talked about the match between Korea and China. Korea, led by Hwang Sun-hong, will face China in the second group match.
"I heard that Korea is having difficulties in recruiting players from European leagues. Korea's power is much weaker than expected. I think this tournament will be difficult," he said with some provocation.
"China will win, though" came up close to his chin, but he smiled and answered briefly, "I know. Good luck to China, too."
Coach Shin Tae-yong came out of the locker room and appeared in the mixed zone, and thanks to his light greetings, he was able to end the conversation with the Chinese reporter.