Seoul: The South Korean men's national football team has announced the appointment of two new coaches in preparation for the upcoming FIFA World Cup, which is less than a year away.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Korea Football Association (KFA) revealed that Pedro Roma has been hired as the new goalkeeper coach, and Nuno Matias will take on the role of fitness coach under head coach Hong Myung-bo. Both coaches bring extensive experience from Portugal to the South Korean team.
Pedro Roma, aged 54, has previously held the position of goalkeeper coach for Portugal's junior national teams from 2011 to 2019 and from 2023 to the current year. He also served as the goalkeeper coach for the Bahrain men's national team between 2019 and 2023. The KFA announced that Roma will conduct goalkeeper clinics to develop young talents in South Korea during periods when the national team is not in training camp.
Nuno Matias, 41, has been associated with the Portuguese club Benfica as a strength and conditioning coach since 2021. Prior to this, he was the head of Benfica youth club's sports science team and also worked as a conditioning coach for their B team. The KFA highlighted Matias's role in helping Benfica reach the round of 16 at the FIFA Club World Cup held in the United States last month, suggesting that his experience will be beneficial for South Korea when the U.S., along with Canada and Mexico, co-hosts the 2026 World Cup.
The inclusion of Roma and Matias brings the total number of Portuguese coaches on the South Korean team's backroom staff to four, joining Joao Aroso and Tiago Maia. The KFA decided not to renew the contracts of assistant coach Park Kun-ha and goalkeeper coach Yang Young-min, following the expiration of their contracts after the East Asian Football Federation E-1 Football Championship on July 16.