Korean national football team adds coaches Joao Aroso, Tiago Maia

The announcement comes five days after six Korean coaching staff members joined manager Hong Myung-bo’s side — Park Kun-ha, Kim Dong-jin, Kim Jin-gyu, Yang Young-min, Lee Jae-hong and Jung Hyung-gyu.

From left: Joao Aroso and Tiago Maia [KFA]

Two Portuguese assistant coaches, Joao Aroso and Tiago Maia, have joined the Korean national team led by new manager Hong Myung-bo, the KFA announced Wednesday.

The announcement comes five days after six Korean coaching staff members joined Hong’s side — Park Kun-ha, Kim Dong-jin, Kim Jin-gyu, Yang Young-min, Lee Jae-hong and Jung Hyung-gyu.

Aroso, 52, started his coaching career at Portuguese club Sporting as a conditioning coach in 2003 under Fernando Santos, who later won the Euros as the Portuguese national team manager in 2016.

Aroso then worked as an assistant coach in 2005 at Greek team AEK Athens under Paulo Bento, the former Korean national team boss who reached the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup with the country for the first time in 12 years.

The two coaches also worked together at Sporting, with Aroso taking the assistant coach role under then-Sporting manager Bento and staying in his position until 2009.

After that role, Aroso took another assistant coach job at the Portuguese senior national team through 2015 during which he worked with then-national team boss Bento again, eventually spending eight years with him.

Aroso moved on to become his country’s U-15 national team manager for one year and took the helm of Portuguese club Braga B from 2017 to 2018 and then spent a nine-month stint with the Morocco U-20 national team in 2020.

He returned to club football by taking another assistant coach role at Portuguese team Vitoria de Guimaraes from 2022 to 2023. His last job was a technical director role at fellow Portuguese team Famalicao.

“Technical coach Joao Aroso is a proven leader who has been on the pitch for a long time analyzing the world football trends,” Hong said in a press release Wednesday. “I expect that his flexible and proactive tactics reflecting the trends will assist the national team.”

Korean national team manager Hong Myung-bo speaks during a press conference at the KFA House in central Seoul on July 29. [YONHAP]

Fellow national team assistant coach Maia, 40, also took an assistant manager role at multiple European clubs like Loko Moscow, Vitoria Setubal and Estoril Praia and most recently worked as a scout for Benfica B — a reserve team of Portuguese club Benfica.

National team boss Hong picked the two assistant coaches after interviewing multiple coaches in Europe last month, but his talks with a favored fitness coach candidate failed. The KFA said Hong will find a different candidate later.

Aroso and Maia will jet into Korea this week to watch K League games ahead of the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers starting next month.

For Hong, the qualifiers will mark his return as national team manager after his first spell from 2013 to 2014, which ended following an exit from the 2014 World Cup where Korea secured zero wins for the first time since 1998.

Hong was announced as a new permanent manager last month after the KFA sacked Jurgen Klinsmann in February, despite the former Ulsan HD manager’s previous indication to reject the offer that came in the middle of the ongoing 2024 K League 1 season.

Hong’s yet-to-be announced squad will face their first test in a qualifier against Palestine at home on Sept. 5.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]