"Please Come Back, Bento" — Social Network Service (SNS) Post Draws 80,000 Users, Leaving Foreign Media Stunned

[Financial News] Foreign media outlets are also paying close attention to the South Korea national football team after its early exit from the 2026 FIFA World Cup. In particular, Portuguese media have given prominent coverage to the former coach's recent status and the public mood in South Korea, drawing attention because he led the team to the round of 16 at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
On the 22nd local time, Portugal's major sports outlet A Bola reported that the former coach had now been out of work for more than a year, saying, "Paulo Bento is still waiting for an interesting offer."
It added, "He took charge of the United Arab Emirates national football team in July 2023, but stepped down after a 2-1 win over North Korea in March last year and is now a private citizen without a job."
The reason major European media are once again focusing on Bento's next move is the explosive reaction from South Korean fans, which has been tied to the national team's shocking World Cup elimination.
Despite having members of the so-called golden generation, including Son Heung-min, Kim Min-jae and Lee Kang-in, the South Korea national football team finished the group stage with one win and two losses, failing to advance to the round of 32. Even though foreign media had described its group with Mexico, Czechia and South Africa as the easiest in World Cup history, the team kept underperforming, and coach Hong Myung-bo eventually announced his resignation on the 29th at the Guadalajara base camp in Mexico.
Once the head coach position became vacant, South Korean fans immediately turned their attention to Bento. That quickly spread beyond national borders and led to a surge of interest in Teresa Bento's personal SNS account.
A post Teresa Bento uploaded a week ago drew more than 4,400 comments in just six days, with Korean fans pleading, "We miss Bento," "We want to see Bento's build-up football, not that strange back three," and "Please come back. We need you." The post has also approached 80,000 likes, showing an unusually strong response.
The international sports world is revisiting the fact that Bento steadily introduced his build-up football philosophy to the South Korea team for four years starting in 2018. Although there were setbacks at the Asian Cup and controversy over player selection, he still guided the team to a 2-1 win over Portugal at the Qatar World Cup and a place in the round of 16.
Bento left South Korea after failing to narrow differences with the Korea Football Association (KFA) over contract terms. Now, as Portugal's media suggest, attention is turning to whether he could once again emerge as a candidate to lead South Korean football through its current crisis.
moon@fnnews.com Moon Young-jin Reporter