With the World Cup in Qatar coming to an end, Portuguese manager Paulo Bento's contract extension talks with the Korean Football Association (KFA) have come to an abrupt end. Rumors were rife that the CFA had been interested in inviting him to take charge of the national team and had thrown out an olive branch. However, that wish seems to have gone with the wind. According to Polish media outlet TVPSport TV, it has been revealed that the 53-year-old coach is set to move to Polish soccer, with President Kulesza set to make an official announcement of the major appointment in the near future.
Paulo Bento
Back at the beginning of last year, former Poland boss Paulo Sousa suddenly announced the termination of his contract in favor of Brazilian Flamengo. On the eve of the World Cup qualifying play-offs, President Kulesza made a temporary change of heart and instead of insisting on hiring a foreign coach, appointed 52-year-old Czeslaw Mihnevich as the new Poland manager.
Kulesha and Mihnevich
Although Mihnevich's managerial career has not been a smooth one, he has led Poland in a pragmatic style to achieve three major successes: successfully reaching the World Cup final round, maintaining UEFA A qualification, and reaching the World Cup round of 16.
According to the previous agreement between the Polish Football Association and Mihnevich, the contract will be renewed once the set goals are reached. However, Mihnevic was widely criticized by the media and fans for being too conservative in his tactics. Pressured by public opinion, Kulesza finally decided not to renew his contract.
Kulesha
The selection team under Kulesha then quickly focused on the candidates for the new coach, invariably internationally renowned coaches in soccer. After Steven Gerrard declined the offer, Vladimir Petkovic and Paulo Bento emerged as the favorites.
The three favored candidates
Petkovic, the Bosnia-Herzegovina-born Swiss-born coach, has a wealth of experience in Swiss soccer and made his debut in the top five leagues as head coach of Lazio in 2012. He has guided Switzerland to the knockout stages of both the UEFA Europa League and the World Cup, and produced the team's best record at Euro 2020. However, during his time in charge of Bordeaux, he left the club due to poor results.
Petkovic (name)
In contrast, Paulo Bento has no experience of coaching in the top five leagues, but has had a great deal of success at national team level - leading Portugal into the quarter-finals of Euro 2012, and in the recently concluded World Cup in Qatar, he managed to lead South Korea out of the group stage dilemma.
Paulo Bento
Earlier in the week, Polish FA president Kulesza told the media that the new coach was bound to be an expatriate and that a final selection would be announced in the near future, and a new report on TVPSport TV suggests that the new coach is none other than Portuguese Paulo Bento, who will also be integrating a local Polish coach into his coaching team.
