“As soon as I heard about it (Jeonbuk Hyundai), I knew I had to go.”
When Dan Petescu (56-Romania) was named the seventh head coach of K League 1 side Jeonbuk Hyundai, he was serious. It wasn’t just lip service, but real emotion from experience.
At his inaugural press conference at Hyundai Motor Studio in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do, on Thursday, he admitted that he did not hesitate to come to Korea at all. “I’ve been through quite a few stages as a coach, and this is the biggest opportunity 메이저사이트 I’ve ever had,” said Petrescu, who quickly made up his mind as soon as he was approached by technical director Park Ji-sung and Di Matteo’s advisors, who were looking for a new head coach after Kim Sang-sik stepped down. I’m looking forward to it.”
Petrescu, who played for Genoa (Italy), Southampton, Chelsea, and Sheffield Wednesday (England), has played in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia since becoming a coach. In particular, his last club, Cluj, reached the top of the Romanian league in the 2021-2022 season.
He also has direct and indirect links to Jeonbuk. In the 2016 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League (ACL) group stage with Jiangsu Suning (China). Despite a 1-1 draw with Jeonbuk, he says, “I was amazed by the top-notch facilities and the atmosphere was amazing. I knew I wanted to come to Jeonbuk from then on.”
The risk, however, is that he will not be able to settle in one place for long, as he has moved around a bit too much. However, he said, “A manager’s life in football is full of risks and you have to take them. Every choice you make is a risk. I’ve been to teams where I stayed for five years and others where I left after one year. Here, you can stay for 10 years. You never know,” he dismisses.
He’s also not shy about his ambitions. He promised to win the title. “There is a big gap between us and leaders Ulsan Hyundai (44 points), but ultimately we want to be champions. We can’t look too far ahead, we just have to prepare one game at a time. We have to believe in each other. If not this year, we can do it again next year. We will challenge for the league and ACL titles again.”
Director Park Ji-sung, who was also present, was confident of Petrescu’s success. He has just completed his biggest project, accompanying Jeonbuk from an advisory role in 2021 to the responsible position of director. He believes that Petrescu, who is ▲attack-oriented, ▲direct, and ▲has a wealth of experience, fits the unique colors of Jeonbuk.
“I realized the difficulty of appointing a coach. “In many ways, it was the best choice for us. The transfer market will open soon. I will communicate with the coaching staff to make changes, focusing on the positions we need and the foreign quota we haven’t filled yet.”
Petrescu, who has brought with him head coach Valeriu Bordeanu (46) and physical coach Bogdan Aldea (42), both of whom have ties to the club as coaches and players, will lead a training session at the clubhouse in Wanju-gun, Jeollabuk-do, starting on the 15th to overhaul the squad.