First steps on long journey for Korean football

Korea began a new era in football with a 3-0 win over Ecuador on Thursday. Robert Moreno has been named interim head coach for the next six games after Korea’s poor 2026, including a World Cup group-stage exit. The team will next face Uruguay, Venezuela and Uzbekistan, with two more November matches still unscheduled.

Former coach Hong Myung-bo’s World Cup exit led to a parliamentary hearing and a police investigation.

Moreno’s contract runs until the end of November, and he could stay on longer if results and performances go well.

Korea has not won the Asian Cup since 1960.

Moreno previously coached Monaco, Granada and Sochi after leaving Spain’s national team setup.

Published Sep 28, 2026 12:42 pm KST

Son Heung-min shakes hands with Korean national team interim head coach Robert Moreno during a friendly against Ecuador at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. Yonhap

A new era in Korean football started Thursday with a 3-0 win over Ecuador. It was not about the visitors from South America but very much about the home team. After Korea's terrible 2026, the Taeguk Warriors seem finally to be focused on football.

Former coach Hong Myung-bo's disastrous showing at the World Cup led to the team's exit in the group stage, a parliamentary hearing and a police investigation. After all that, Robert Moreno has been selected as interim head coach for the next six games. After the friendly with Ecuador comes matches with Uruguay, Venezuela and Uzbekistan, followed by two more games in November that have yet to be arranged.

If all goes well, Moreno — whose contract expires at the end of November — is likely to be handed the position for a longer term. Considering the team's recent lows, it would have to go quite badly for the Spaniard not to get an extension. This could include coaching the team for the Asian Cup in January, a tournament that Korea has not won since 1960. The question is whether Morena can stay for longer.

Robert Moreno, interim head coach for the Korean men's national football team, speaks during a press conference for the upcoming friendly against Uruguay at Seoul World Cup Stadium in Seoul, Sunday. Yonhap

His resume looks good on the surface but a closer examination reveals some concerning areas. Taking charge of current world champion Spain, in 2019 was a definite plus but his run was not without controversy. He took over from Luis Enrique, who stepped down for family reasons, but was then dismissed by Enrique on his return after nine games away. “I do not want anyone with that personality on my staff,” Enrique said. “Ambition is a virtue but over-ambition is not. It is a great defect. That is why I took the decision I took. I told him that day that I didn’t ever see him as a No 2 on my staff.”

It ended a successful relationship and Moreno went into club coaching. First was Monaco in France, then Granada in Spain and then Sochi in Russia. He lasted less than a year in the first two jobs and 20 months in the last, but tthe Russian club accused him of relying too much on artificial intelligence (AI) to do his job. Moreno denied the allegation, saying he only used AI for translation.

There is a lot riding on this for everyone. The coach, who apparently impressed in the interview and presentation, wants a new start — as does the team, the fans, the media and pretty much everyone.

The World Cup was such a low point that even modest improvement will be celebrated. Results are not important at this stage, but some good performances and exciting play are needed. It will take time to put a smile back on the face of Korean football fans, but at least that journey has finally started.

韩国队周四以3-0战胜厄瓜多尔，开启了足球新篇章。在经历了包括世界杯小组赛出局在内的2026年韩国队糟糕战绩后，罗伯特·莫雷诺被任命为球队的临时主教练，执教接下来的六场比赛。球队接下来将分别对阵乌拉圭、委内瑞拉和乌兹别克斯坦，此外还有两场11月份的比赛尚未安排。

前教练洪明甫的世界杯离任引发了国会听证会和警方调查。

莫雷诺的合同到11月底到期，如果成绩和表现良好，他可能会续约。

韩国自1960年以来就再也没有赢得过亚洲杯冠军。

莫雷诺离开西班牙国家队后，曾执教过摩纳哥、格拉纳达和索契。

发布于2026年9月28日下午12:42（韩国标准时间）

周四，在京畿道水原市水原世界杯体育场举行的韩国队与厄瓜多尔队的友谊赛中，孙兴慜与韩国国家队临时主教练罗伯特·莫雷诺握手。（韩联社）

韩国足球的新时代于周四以3-0战胜厄瓜多尔拉开帷幕。这场比赛的主角并非来自南美的客队，而是主队韩国。经历了糟糕的2026年之后，太极虎似乎终于将全部精力投入到了足球本身。

前任主教练洪明甫在世界杯上的糟糕表现导致球队小组赛出局，并引发了国会听证会和警方调查。此后，罗伯特·莫雷诺被任命为球队的临时主教练，执教接下来的六场比赛。在与厄瓜多尔的友谊赛之后，球队将先后迎战乌拉圭、委内瑞拉和乌兹别克斯坦，随后还有两场11月份的比赛尚未安排。

如果一切顺利，莫雷诺——他的合同将于11月底到期——很可能获得一份长期合同。考虑到球队近期的低迷表现，除非情况非常糟糕，否则这位西班牙人应该不会失去续约机会。这可能包括带领球队参加明年1月的亚洲杯，韩国队自1960年以来就未曾染指过这项赛事。问题是，莫雷诺能否继续执教下去。

韩国男足国家队临时主教练罗伯特·莫雷诺周日在首尔世界杯体育场举行的赛前新闻发布会上发表讲话，该赛事是韩国男足国家队即将与乌拉圭进行的一场友谊赛。（韩联社）

他的履历表面看起来不错，但仔细审视就会发现一些令人担忧的地方。2019年执教卫冕世界冠军西班牙队无疑是一大优势，但他的执教生涯并非一帆风顺。他接替了因家庭原因辞职的路易斯·恩里克，但在离开西班牙九场比赛后，恩里克又将他解雇了。“我不想让这种性格的人待在我的团队里，”恩里克说道。“雄心壮志是美德，但过度的野心却不是。那是一个很大的缺陷。这就是我做出那个决定的原因。那天我就告诉他，我从未想过让他担任我的二把手。”

这段成功的合作关系就此结束，莫雷诺开始执教俱乐部。他先是在法国摩纳哥，然后是西班牙格拉纳达，最后是俄罗斯索契。他在前两份工作中都只待了不到一年，在索契也只待了20个月，但这家俄罗斯俱乐部指责他过度依赖人工智能（AI）来完成工作。莫雷诺否认了这一指控，称他只将人工智能用于翻译。

这件事对所有人来说都至关重要。教练在面试和演讲中表现出色，他渴望新的开始——球队、球迷、媒体以及几乎所有人也都希望如此。

世界杯的失利对韩国队来说无疑是低谷，因此即便只是小幅进步也值得庆祝。现阶段成绩并不重要，重要的是球队能拿出精彩的表现和激动人心的比赛。让韩国球迷重拾笑容还需要时间，但至少这段旅程已经开启。