Teresa Bento uploaded a photo of an electronic board with Taegeukgi illustrations and “Korea Republic” letters on her Instagram story on the 15th (Korea Standard Time).
The photo shows a photo that was taken in Qatar, where the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup is taking place. Teresa Bento displayed her affection by carving a light green heart on the Korean national flag. Fans who saw the photo reacted by saying, “It’s heartwarming that you attached yourself to Korea,” and “I miss BenMoney.”
Bento was appointed as the coach of the Korean national soccer team in August 2018 and led it for four and a half years.
Bento began to put soccer on the national team aiming for a quick attack change following his ball possession, and led South Korea to advance to the World Cup finals for the 10th consecutive time with his performance (7 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss) that washed away the anxiety of the previous two World Cup qualifiers in the Asian qualifiers for the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
In Qatar, Bento stuck to his style and this has worked in the world stage. Team Korea, which is in the same group with Uruguay, Ghana, and Portugal, beat third-ranked Uruguay in multiple points with one win, one draw and one loss, and led his team to advance to the round of 16 at an away World Cup for the second time ever.
However, his contract with the Korea Football Association failed to renew, and Bento was appointed as the coach of the UAE national soccer team. His contract period is three years, and his term of office is until the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
In the first Group E match of the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup held at Jasim bin Hamad Stadium in Doha, Qatar, Hwang In-beom’s first goal and Lee Kang-in’s multi-goal won the match 3-1. South Korea added three more points with the victory, but Jordan defeated Malaysia 4-0 to rank second.
The UAE, led by Bento, won its first victory by beating Hong Kong 3-1 on the 16th. South Korea and the UAE are likely to clash in the quarterfinals.
BY: 토토
