The situation
Paulo Bento will not be able to sit on the bench for South Korea in the last game of the group stage against Portugal. The coach was sent off against Ghana at the end of the match for claiming a last corner from the referee. His protests ended with a red card that will prevent him from leading Korea in the last game of the first phase against Portugal. In this way, Bento will not be able to be on the grass in front of ‘his’ selection of him. The coach wanted to apologize this Tuesday publicly. “I would like to tell my players that I am sorry. I didn’t have the best of reactions to the situation. After all, I am human. I don’t think I had enough respect for the referee, who he directs in the Premier. I feel very sorry for my players”, commented Paulo Bento, who sees his assistants prepared to take the reins of South Korea. “I have competent and capable coaches. They have been training with me the whole time. It won’t be exactly the same as having me on the bench, but they are good enough to do the job,” said Bento, who, according to FIFA, will not be able to communicate with any member of the coaching staff.” The South Korean coach has also analyzed his team’s options of going through to the round of 16.
The details
Bento needs to beat Portugal and hope that Uruguay will give him a hand with Ghana. His classification, at the moment, is complicated. “We will prepare for the match in a way that can help us maximize our strengths and minimize our weaknesses. This is not an ideal situation, but everyone on the team knows what we’ve been doing all along. Against Ghana, I think the result was not fair. You have to try to keep up the good work and learn from the mistakes of the last two games. Against a team like Portugal, you have to do your best”, added Bento.