Sociologists have described the phenomenon of strong attachment and belonging to a particular group to which they belong with the concept of ‘in-group’. On the other hand, they say that they feel alienated and exclusive to the ‘outgroup’ to which they do not belong.
In the world of sports such as soccer and baseball, it is even more prominent. The culture of passionately cheering for a team to which they feel a sense of belonging is no different from east to west. How would you feel if your current team faced off against their home country?
There are many Korean sports leaders who have advanced overseas. Park Joo-bong, a legend in the world badminton world, served as the leader of the British and Malaysian national teams, and is currently the manager of the Japanese national badminton team. From 2004 to the present, he has been in charge of the Japanese national team for 18 years, making it a world-class strong team. I wonder how Park would have felt when the Japanese national team and the Korean national team faced each other in various international competitions. It is possible that the expectations of the role as a Korean and the role expectations of the Japanese team manager were conflicting, resulting in an internal conflict. Such cases are frequent in sports such as taekwondo and archery, which have many overseas advancements.
A ‘prank of fate’ has come to the Korean national football team coach Paulo Bento. He is Portuguese. As a result of the '2022 Qatar World Cup' group draw announced on April 1, Korea was tied in Group H along with Portugal, Uruguay and Ghana. Bento is faced with a strange situation where he has to lead his own team and face his home country.
Bento's relationship with Korea goes back 20 years. During the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, Portugal met Korea in Group D of the group stage. During this time, Bento played as a midfielder for the Portugal national team. In the second half of the match, the defender who blocked Ji-Sung Park's penetration was Bento. In the end, Bento could not stop Park Ji-sung's agile movement and had to watch the winning goal in front of his eyes. With this goal, Korea advanced to the round of 16 and Portugal were eliminated. At that time, Luis Figura was a world-class forward, but it was a painful defeat for Portugal, who were eliminated. On the other hand, Korea, led by coach Guus Hiddink (Netherlands), got 2 wins and 1 draw, and reached the round of 16 for the first time in the group with 1st place in the group, and then went to the semifinals.
At the time, Bento, who retired from playing for the last time in a match against Korea, made a name for himself as a coach. He served as the Portuguese national team manager from 2010 to 2014, placing Portugal in the semi-finals of the 2012 European Championships, and also experienced the finals of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Bento is now heading to the Qatar World Cup as the head coach of the Korean national team. People have high expectations for Bentuho, who set the record for most wins (28 wins) in A matches while serving as the longest-serving coach of the Korean national team. I am curious to see how Bento, who belongs to the Korean national team and Portugal, will feel.