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| ▲ This photo provided by Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors on June 9, 2023, shows the K League 1 club's new head coach, Dan Petrescu. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ This image provided by Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors on June 9, 2023, shows the K League 1 club's new head coach, Dan Petrescu. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
football club-coach
K League giants Jeonbuk appoint Dan Petrescu as new head coach
By Yoo Jee-ho
SEOUL, June 9 (Yonhap) -- South Korean football giants Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors announced Friday they have named Dan Petrescu as their new head coach.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, though industry sources said the Romanian tactician is signed through 2025.
Jeonbuk, who have won a record nine K League 1 championships, got off to a sluggish start in the 2023 campaign, winning just three of their first 10 matches to find themselves in the relegation zone early on. Head coach Kim Sang-sik stepped down on May 4, and top assistant Kim Do-heon has been running the show as caretaker boss since.
Jeonbuk have posted four wins, two draws and one loss under Kim Do-heon to climb to seventh place, a stretch that included a 2-0 win over Ulsan Hyundai FC, the defending champions and the current league leaders, on June 3.
Jeonbuk will now task Petrescu with maintaining that momentum over the final 21 matches of 2023.
"He is a proven winner and has a high level of understanding of Asian football," Jeonbuk said in a press release. "He is a Romanian football legend, having left his mark both as a player and a coach."
Petrescu, 55, earned 95 caps for Romania and represented the country at the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cups, and also at the 1996 and 2000 European Championships. He logged 150 matches for Chelsea, winning the FA Cup in 1997 and the League Cup the following year
In his globe-trotting coaching career, Petrescu has run clubs in Romania, Poland, Russia, Qatar and China.
Notably, Petrescu coached CFR Cluj to titles in the top Romanian league in five consecutive seasons, from 1998 to 2022.
Petrescu is the second foreign head coach in Jeonbuk history, joining Portugal native Jose Morais, who led them from 2019 to 2020. Jeonbuk won K League 1 titles in both years.
Petrescu will be formally introduced at a press conference next Wednesday.
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