Former Portugal boss Bento set to take over as South Korea coach

Bengaluru, August 16: Former Portugal manager Paulo Bento is set to be appointed as the new head coach of the South Korean men's national team, according to reports in the country's local media.

Bento, a former Benfica and Sporting Lisbon midfielder, will succeed Shin Tae-yong and sign a contract to lead South Korea through the 2022 World Cup, according to the Yonhap news agency.

"Bento has been named as the new coach," Yonhap news agency quoted a Korea Football Association (KFA) official as saying.

A KFA spokesman declined to comment though, saying the new coach will be unveiled on Friday.

#Korea set to name Paulo Bento as new nat'l #football team head #coach #PauloBento https://t.co/XjshGC1xYf

— The Korea Herald (@TheKoreaHerald) August 16, 2018

The 49-year-old began his managerial career at Sporting CP and won two Portuguese league titles before being appointed as Portugal's head coach in 2010.

Bento was sacked following Portugal's group stage exit at the 2014 World Cup and subsequent home defeat by Albania in the opening match of the 2016 European Championship qualifiers.

He then had short spells at Brazilian side Cruzeiro, Greek side Olympiakos and most recently Chinese Super League side Chongqing Lifan.

Bento was appointed as the head coach of Chongqing in December but was fired last month with the team sitting 12th in the league standings and knocked out of the Chinese FA Cup.

Shin, who took charge of South Korea in 2017, led the team to a historic win over Germany at the 2018 World Cup, but stepped down after the tournament, following the Taeguk Warriors' failure to progress to the knockout stages.

South Korea's next major assignment at full international level is January's AFC Asian Cup to be held in the UAE. They were runners-up to hosts Australia at the last edition of the tournament in 2015.

(With inputs from Agencies).