Changing coaches will not save Korean football, youth expert says

Hong Myung-bo leaves after a press convention saying his resignation as head coach of the Korean nationwide soccer staff at Chivas Valle Verde in Zapopan close to Guadalajara, Mexico, June 28, following the squad’s group-stage exit from the 2026 World Cup. Yonhap

Korea’s nationwide soccer staff faces mounting criticism following a group-stage exit on the 2026 World Cup in North America. The squad completed the event with one win and two losses, prompting head coach Hong Myung-bo to resign. The staff’s poor efficiency renewed controversy over his 2024 appointment, sparking requires structural reform.

The disaster has prolonged to the nation’s under-23 staff forward of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Video games in Japan in September. The U-23 squad completed fourth on the AFC U-23 Asian Cup in January after being eradicated by Vietnam in further time. The staff additionally misplaced 1-0 to Kyrgyzstan in a pleasant final month.

Japan presents a stark distinction, as their senior staff reached the knockout stage on the World Cup with one win and two attracts, together with a 4-0 victory over Tunisia and a 2-2 draw with the Netherlands. Whereas Japan suffered a 2-1 loss to Brazil within the spherical of 32, its U-23 staff beat China 4-0 within the Asian Cup closing to safe back-to-back titles. The victory established Japan because the event’s most profitable nation, with championships in 2016, 2024 and 2026.

To know this rising hole, the Hankook Ilbo interviewed Tom Byer in a video name on July 6. The 65-year-old New York native is extensively thought of an essential determine in Japanese youth soccer, having moved to the nation within the late Nineteen Eighties and finally constructing a community of 150 academies. Named one among trendy soccer’s six “soccer architects” by The Athletic final yr, Byer mentioned Korean soccer should set up long-term objectives.

Youth soccer coach Tom Byer speaks from Tokyo throughout a video interview with The Hankook Ilbo, July 6. Captured from Zoom

Q: May you introduce your self?

A: After enjoying faculty soccer in the USA, I moved to Japan in 1986 to hitch knowledgeable membership. I retired as a participant after three years and began teaching, focusing totally on youth gamers between the ages of 6 and 12. In 1998, a Japanese tv community featured me in a phase referred to as “Tomsan’s Soccer Technics” on a youngsters’s tv present, the place I appeared for a couple of decade. Since then, I’ve shared my soccer philosophy globally via writing, tutorial DVDs and different media platforms.

Q: What do you emphasize most when coaching gamers?

A: Technical capacity. I drew closely from the strategies of the famend Dutch coach Wiel Coerver, who lived from 1924 to 2011. His strategy focuses on the significance of primary ball management abilities, the primary contact and the power to beat defenders one-on-one. I spent practically all of my time creating and selling these coaching mechanisms. In my youth academy community, we focus strictly on technical coaching. Gamers like Takumi Minamino of AS Monaco, Wataru Endo of Liverpool and Ritsu Doan of Frankfurt got here via our youth academy community.

Q: Has this technique been efficient in creating Japanese soccer?

A: Japan totally understands the significance of technical capacity. In case you watch Japanese gamers practice, you will notice an enormous emphasis on this. Though the Japanese nationwide staff narrowly misplaced 2-1 to Brazil within the World Cup knockout stage, they confirmed nice potential. Many nations now surprise how Japanese soccer reached this stage of growth. In fact, Japanese soccer nonetheless has an extended option to go, however their gamers now match nearly anybody in technical capacity.

Tom Byer, entrance, enters a stadium in Yokohama, Japan, through the closing of a Japanese youth soccer event in June 2008. Courtesy of Tom Byer

Q: You run a training program referred to as “Soccer Begins at Dwelling.” What’s the philosophy behind it?

A: The thought has closely influenced my total profession. There are 211 FIFA member nations, however solely eight nations have ever received the World Cup. I needed to grasp why. Is it as a result of their coaches are superior? Have they got higher infrastructure? No. My analysis confirmed the reply lies in soccer tradition. In these champion nations, youngsters encounter soccer as a pure a part of their tradition at a a lot earlier age. They develop into acquainted with the ball through the “golden age” — ages 2 to five — which is the perfect time to start out enjoying.

Q: You beforehand highlighted Korea’s Son Heung-min as a main instance of this philosophy. Why?

A: He’s the prime instance of the “Soccer Begins at Dwelling” philosophy. I all the time start my lectures with Son’s story. Raised by his father, Son Woong-jung, a former participant himself, Son performed soccer from a really early age. Lee Kang-in of Paris Saint-Germain additionally began enjoying throughout early childhood. Whereas Korea presently has many good gamers, I firmly consider extraordinary gamers like Son and Lee will not be produced in formal academy programs. They’re born at residence, in backyards and on neighborhood streets.

Q: Why is coaching throughout early childhood so crucial?

A: It’s the interval when youngsters have the best capability to study new abilities. In case you give a ball to a baby between the ages of two and 5, their intuition is to kick it away. I counsel dad and mom to coach youngsters to roll and manipulate the ball with the soles of their ft as an alternative of kicking it. Mother and father should stay by their aspect throughout this course of. When youngsters expertise constructive feelings whereas enjoying with their dad and mom, these sensory experiences develop into imprinted on their brains. That is how they grasp primary abilities via a strategy of deep studying.

Tom Byer delivers a lecture to Philippine Soccer Federation officers in Agusan del Sur, Philippines, September 2024. Captured from YouTube

Q: Are there life like hurdles to implementing this in Asia?

A: Asian dad and mom usually view sports activities as a distraction from lecturers, which makes this troublesome to apply. Nonetheless, scientific proof reveals the precise reverse is true. Ball management coaching actively aids a baby’s cognitive growth. In accordance with neuropsychologist Dr. John J. Ratey, the mind areas used to manage a ball additionally deal with cognitive capabilities resembling reminiscence, focus and primary arithmetic. This implies beginning soccer in early childhood really has a constructive impression on future educational success.

Q: The fallout from Korea’s disappointing World Cup efficiency continues. How do you view this case?

A: Altering the pinnacle coach may produce fast event outcomes, however that alone can’t substitute a long-term participant growth system. It’s going to naturally take time to persuade officers on the Korea Soccer Affiliation (KFA) or Ok League golf equipment. Nonetheless, I need to emphasize this: If Korea fails to acknowledge the significance of creating technical abilities through the “golden age” between ages 2 and 5, there shall be no progress. In reality, issues might worsen. To develop into a worldwide powerhouse, the soccer tradition should change.

Q: What rapid steps ought to Korean soccer take?

A: I strongly suggest that the KFA, Ok League and authorities officers learn a white paper revealed by the Scottish Soccer Affiliation in October 2025 titled “Evaluation of Youth Growth in Males’s Soccer.” The examine analyzed 22 legendary gamers, together with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, and located all of them shared the frequent expertise of encountering soccer through the “golden age” I emphasize. This report gives a transparent path ahead. If Korea builds a correct system and develops younger gamers effectively, the nation can return to the highest of Asian soccer.

This text from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Occasions, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Occasions.