Korean Football Association Chung Mong-gyu “A devastating defeat in the Korea-Japan war, regret… Don’t blame Bento.”[전문]

[이데일리 김소정 기자] Chung Mong-gyu, president of the Korea Football Association, apologized for the devastating defeat of the Korea-Japan War.

On the 26th, the Korea Football Association issued a statement titled’Written to the People’ in the name of Chairman Chung Mong-gyu.

Korea Football Association

Chairman Chung said, “I am very sorry to be the president of the Football Association to the soccer fans, footballers and the people who were disappointed in the defeat of the Korea-Japan match that took place yesterday.”

“The association decided that it was the only opportunity to strengthen the national team’s strength ahead of the World Cup qualifiers, and despite the burden of Korea and Japan, we pushed forward this game.” I would like to express my sincere apology for causing great concern,” he added.

However, he pointed out that the accusations of Bento were not correct. “The responsibility of the football association is even greater for not fully supporting the game in the best possible condition,” he said.

He said, “I will use this work as a mirror to support me more actively.”

On the morning of the 15th, the coach of the football team Paulo Bento held a press conference on the announcement of the list of Taegeuk Warriors to be launched at the Jongno-gu, Seoul, and answers questions from reporters. Photo = Yonhap News

The day before, Korea lost 0-3 to Japan in the Korea-Japan match held in Yokohama, Japan on the afternoon of the 25th.

After finishing the game, Bento said, “I couldn’t play the game I wanted today and a lot of mistakes were made. There were many scenes where the ball was taken away from the danger area. I met a lot of conceding situations. In the second half of the game, it was aggressive and strong, but Japan showed a better match. “Today’s defeat is a legitimate outcome without excuses.”

◇ The following is the full text of the Korean Football Association

As the president of the Football Association, I am very sorry to the football fans, footballers, and the people who were disappointed with the defeat of the Korean and Japanese matches of the national team held yesterday (25th).

The association determined that it was the only opportunity to strengthen the national team’s abilities ahead of the World Cup qualifiers, and despite the burden of the Korea-Japan match, this match was promoted.

We sincerely apologize for the fact that we did our best to fight against quarantine in difficult situations, but for causing great concern due to insufficient performance.

I don’t think it is fair to blame Bento on this defeat. In particular, the responsibility of the Football Association is even greater for failing to fully support the game in the best possible condition.

We will use this work as a mirror to support you more actively. We will listen more closely to the voices of the field, such as clubs and leaders, and talk.

In the World Cup qualifying round that will start in June, we will do our best to become a national team that gives football fans and people a new and changed national team, joy and hope.

Once again, I sincerely apologize.