Hong Myung-bo's resignation felt 'forced': commentator Park Moon-sung

South Korea national football team head coach Hong Myung-bo [Yonhap]

Football commentator Park Moon-sung said Monday that Hong Myung-bo's resignation as South Korea national football team head coach was unavoidable.

Speaking on CBS Radio's "Park Sung-tae's News Show" that day, Park said Hong had "fielded the worst World Cup with the best squad," adding that had the resignation announcement not come in the early hours of Monday, "the backlash would have been far greater."

Park said Hong had at least chosen to step down on his own terms, but noted that fans and observers still seemed frustrated. "Those who watched the video of him reading out a one-sided statement and walking away — what would they say? It gave the feeling of a forced apology, like, 'I don't think I did anything that wrong, but I'll do it since they're telling me to,'" he said.

Park said the World Cup is an event that brings the nation's energy together once every four years, but added that "this time, people seemed to suffer from start to finish."

"People waited four years for this joy, and it didn't come," he said. "So how on earth do you take responsibility for ruining a World Cup like this? Does just stepping down make it all go away? There are a lot of people saying exactly that."

When the host asked why Park had been seen in tears during the group-stage match against South Africa — a moment that had circulated widely — Park said he was both hurt and frustrated. "Not just me, but many people had raised concerns that if the team prepared this way and went in this way, this result was inevitable," he said. "Those issues were never corrected, and the World Cup was played anyway."

"The performance and the result were truly devastating," he added. "It wasn't a case of playing well and losing — not a 'good fight, bad result.' We just lost. In terms of both content and outcome, how are you supposed to accept this?"

'Lazy in reading the opposition's tactics'

On the match against South Africa, Park said the coaching staff had been "lazy in reading the opposition's tactics." He noted that the South African coach had said before the match that he knew exactly how South Korea would play and had analyzed them — and after the final whistle declared that Korea had moved exactly as he had predicted. "Anyone who watched South Korea at this World Cup would feel it: there were almost no moments where things clicked and you thought, 'wow,'" Park said.

Park added that there were individual flashes — Lee Kang-in doing something brilliant with his left foot — but that he never once saw multiple players moving as one cohesive unit. "Did we see organic, fluid play this time? We did not," he said.

On the question of who should succeed Hong, Park said he had no particular candidate in mind and was not fixed on whether the next coach should be Korean or foreign. "There are plenty of people who would be willing to take on the role of national team head coach, even on a short-term basis — many would raise their hands," he said. "I hope they take their time and don't rush it."

Players on Hong Myung-bo's World Cup squad, which failed to advance from the group stage, will each receive 80 million won ($57,800) in appearance fees. No performance bonus will be paid following the team's group-stage elimination.

yul@heraldcorp.com