Paulo Bento talks about ‘beautiful’ game against Portugal and wants South Koreans to give it their all

South Korea coach Paulo Bento this Thursday presented an “exciting and beautiful” duel against Portugal in the last round of Group H of the 2022 World Cup and assured that his team will do everything to win.

“At tomorrow’s game [sexta-feira]apart from natural favoritism [de Portugal], in the context of which we have already qualified, and since the draw is the first in the group, we can only qualify after the victory. This is a difficult, beautiful task that will put us to the test. Players will do everything to the last. goal [de passar aos oitavos] that it was before the start of the World Cup, ”said Paulo Bento to reporters.

The former Portugal coach – he coached the Kinas team from 2010 to 2014 – spoke to the media at a press conference on the meeting with Portugal, which was held at the Qatar National Congress Center in Doha.

The South Korean helmsman was sent off in the 3-2 loss to Ghana in the second round, so he will be absent from the “bench” at the Education City stadium, which will not affect anything, since his team technical specialist has the right to make decisions on his own .

“These are people who have been working with me for a long time, involved in the whole process, competent, prepared people who will definitely do their best. They will have autonomy and many of the decisions I make during the game are decisions. that come from them to me. They will continue to do so in the same spirit. The players are also identified with it,” he said.

Bento ensured that, having “tremendous pride” in being Portuguese, he would sing the Portuguese anthem in the podium, which was “totally normal for that”.

When asked whether it is better to be a player or a coach in the World Cup, Paulo Bento has no doubts and admitted that he cannot imagine that in his career he led two different teams in two World Cups.

“I don’t have the slightest doubt. Don’t come here [este cargo] so early. It just robs us of years of life, that’s all. And it makes us put up with people we don’t need. Let them play, let them play. I did not expect that I would be at two world championships as a coach of different countries. I really liked both, but now more than in 2014. [com Portugal]🇧🇷 You can only face it by enjoying it to the fullest,” he admitted.

Centre-back Kim Yong Gwon was also present at the conference to talk about Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo, although the Asians’ priority is to “unleash the passion” shown in the first two games.

“He is a very high quality, world class player, but to counter that I believe we have great players. As a team, we will do our best to defend and play together. We will apply our plan,” he said. explained.

On Friday, Portugal will play South Korea starting at 18:00 local time (15:00 in Lisbon) at the Education City stadium in Doha in the third round match of the Group H of the 2022 World Cup, which will last until December 18 in Qatar.

The Kinas team, who qualified for the round of 16 with a 2-0 victory over Uruguay, leads the group with six points, three more than Ghana, second and five more than the South Koreans coached by Paulo Bento and the Uruguayans, who simultaneously oppose the Ghanaians.