Former Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors manager Gus Poyet's second attempt to become the South Korean national team coach fails after being eliminated in document screening, following his status as a final candidate in 2024.

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Former Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors manager Gus Poyet, who had advanced to the final candidate list during the selection of the South Korean national team coach in 2024, failed to pass the document screening for this second attempt at the interim head coach position.

The Korea Football Association (KFA) announced on the 17th that it has completed document screening for applicants who applied for the open recruitment of an interim coach last weekend.

According to football circles, multiple domestic and foreign coaches applied for the interim head coach position this time, and among them, manager Poyet is reported to have been eliminated during the document screening phase.

Manager Poyet had previously been named as a candidate for the South Korean national team head coach. During the selection of the 2024 national team head coach, he competed as one of the final candidates. At that time, the KFA ultimately appointed manager Hong Myung-bo.

Subsequently, manager Poyet took charge of Jeonbuk in 2025, establishing a direct connection with South Korean football.

His achievements were also significant. In his first season at Jeonbuk, manager Poyet led the team to win both the K League and the Korea Cup, securing the double crown. However, after the season concluded, he parted ways with Jeonbuk and left the club just one year later.

After achieving success on Korean soil, he was once again mentioned as a candidate for the national team head coach. Manager Poyet also showed strong enthusiasm for this attempt. Even after multiple rejections from current YonginFC Technical Director Lee Dong-gook, repeated offers for the national team coaching staff position eventually secured his agreement to join. It is also reported that former Jeonbuk coach Choi Eun-seong, a legendary goalkeeper, was preparing to join the coaching staff.

However, manager Poyet's second attempt ended at an earlier stage than two years ago. While he reached the final candidate list in 2024, this time he did not even secure an interview opportunity.

Japanese media outlet All Football also reported on the news of former manager Poyet's elimination. The outlet stated, "Manager Poyet was not included in the final interview candidate list for the South Korean national team interim head coach position," and added, "The KFA recently notified applicants of the document screening results via email, and it is understood that manager Poyet also received notification of his elimination."

The KFA plans to conduct online interviews with candidates who passed the document screening. The interview schedule may be adjusted during coordination with each candidate.

The list of interviewees will not be disclosed. The KFA explained, "Considering privacy protection and the ongoing nature of the current selection process, we will not provide detailed information on the status of document applicants or the identities of successful candidates."

Following the interviews, negotiation procedures will commence. Based on the evaluation committee's results, the KFA will determine the priority negotiation order for candidates and proceed with formal negotiations starting from the top-ranked candidates.

The position of South Korean national team head coach is currently vacant. Former manager Hong Myung-bo, who led the national team since 2024, stepped down from his role after taking responsibility for the team's poor performance at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America. South Korea failed to advance from the group stage of the World Cup with one win and two losses.

Prior to appointing a permanent head coach, the KFA plans to operate the national team under an interim coach system during the A-match period in September and October. South Korea will face Ecuador on September 24, followed by a match against Uruguay on the 28th. They are also scheduled to play friendly matches against Venezuela on October 2 and Uzbekistan on the 6th.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original