[Yonhap]
[Yonhap]

A Japanese media outlet has identified Gus Poyet, 59, the former Jeonbuk Hyundai manager, as the frontrunner to become South Korea's next national team head coach.

Japanese sports outlet Sponichi Annex reported Monday that Poyet, who led K League 1 side Jeonbuk Hyundai through last season, is the leading candidate for the post.

The outlet added that Poyet is set to serve as interim coach for six A-match fixtures scheduled between September and November.

The Korea Football Association is conducting an open recruitment process to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Hong Myung-bo. The application window ran from July 30 to 5 p.m. Monday, with the KFA's board having decided July 24 to entrust the six scheduled A-matches to an interim coach.

The KFA confirmed Monday that the application period for the men's national team interim head coach position closed at 5 p.m. that day, and said it plans to form an evaluation committee this week by appointing a number of performance enhancement committee members alongside external evaluators.

"Based on the submitted applications, we plan to review candidate suitability and conduct online interviews within next week," the KFA said. "We will finalize the priority order for negotiations based on the evaluation committee's results before opening talks."

The selection process will be conducted confidentially. The KFA said it is taking particular care to ensure a fair and thorough procedure amid recent turbulence in Korean football.

The KFA said it would not disclose details about the number or status of applications received, as doing so could affect subsequent evaluation and negotiation stages.

While the process is being kept under wraps, a leading candidate has already been named — from Japan.

Sponichi Annex reported that the KFA aims to complete the interim coach selection in August, describing Poyet — who took charge of Jeonbuk in 2025 and guided the club to its first K League 1 title in four years — as the top candidate. "According to sources, his appointment is almost certain," the outlet said.

Poyet began his coaching career in England in 2006 and went on to manage Brighton in the English Premier League from 2009 to 2013.

He has since managed Sunderland, AEK Athens, Real Betis, Girondins de Bordeaux and the Greek national team, and brings extensive experience in Asian football, having previously coached Shanghai Shenhua in China and Al Khalij in Saudi Arabia before joining Jeonbuk Hyundai in K League 1.


min3654@heraldcorp.com