Bento is like Hiddink… Disciples take the lead in entering Europe

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Coach Paulo Bento is known to have recommended central defender Park Ji-soo (29) to his home country Portugal. As the case of coach Guus Hiddink, who led his disciples to advance into Europe in the past, overlaps, attention is drawn to whether Bento will take a similar step.

On the 25th, Portimonense, which belongs to the Portuguese first division Primeira Liga, announced the signing of defender Park Ji-soo for the national soccer team. His contract is for 1 year and 6 months.

Portimonense is a team known in Korea as Lee Seung-woo played briefly in 2021. Under 20) Kim Yong-hak of the national team also plays for this team. 메이저사이트

Park Ji-soo said at the joining press conference, “Director Bento talked to manager Portimonense. Thank you.”

As it was revealed that Bento recommended Park Ji-soo to his country’s Portuguese league, a favorable response to Bento continues.

Park Ji-soo was likely to participate in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, but his World Cup appearance was frustrated by an ankle injury in an evaluation match against Iceland right before the announcement of his final list. His contract with his team was also over, and he became a free agent (FA). It seems that coach Bento, who did not forget Park Ji-soo, helped him go to Europe.

As a result, Korean soccer has two European central defenders along with Kim Min-jae, who is active in Naples, Italy. This is expected to help improve the team’s strength in the future.

Some critics say that Bento is reminiscent of Hiddink in the past as he actively participates in the European journey of his students after retirement.

After the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, Hiddink took Park Ji-sung and Lee Young-pyo to Eindhoven in the Netherlands and directed them. Song Jong-guk also moved to the Netherlands under Hiddink’s influence and played a big role in Feyenoord.

Accordingly, it is also noteworthy whether Bento will continue to support Korean students to go to Europe in the future. Coach Bento has not yet decided on his next destination. If Bento chooses a professional team rather than a national team, it seems likely that he will recruit Korean students in the future.