McCarthy and Houllier are Korea candidates
Wednesday, 5 December 2007 12:35Wolves manager Mick McCarthy or former Lyon coach Gerard Houllier are set to be unveiled as the new coach of South Korea, the Korea Football Association announced today.
The Taeguk Warriors have been searching for a new coach following Pim Verbeek's decision to step down after leading South Korea to third-place at the 2007 AFC Asian Cup in July.
McCarthy has previous international management experience having guided the Republic of Ireland to the 2002 World Cup finals.
Houllier, meanwhile, is currently France's technical director after leaving Lyon earlier this year.
KFA president Chung Mong-joon revealed a shortlist had been cut to two names and a final decision will be taken within the next few days.
'A decision will be made in the next two or three days,' Chung told reporters at KFA House in Seoul.
'We are about 80% of the way to finishing the process. The media reports that the two candidates are Houllier and McCarthy are correct.
'We have received the final answer from both candidates and now we have to agree on a contract.'
The South Koreans could be in for a surprise if McCarthy is appointed as coverage of the story has mistakenly made use of an image of former Ireland physiotherapist Mick Byrne, who was with the team at the Korean/Japan World Cup in 2002.
Update: Wolves revealed they would make a statement about McCarthy being linked to the job later today.
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