Coach Kike Flores (Getafe), who was once considered a candidate for coaching the Korean national soccer team, was sacked after being hit by Lee Kang-in.
Getafe announced on its official website on the 27th (Korean time), “We have decided to end the contract with manager Quique Flores.”
“Coach Flores and his coaching staff are no longer part of Getafe,” he said.
Coach Flores,ㅋㅋㅋ벳 who was appointed as a firefighter at Getafe, which was in the bottom 20th place in the league last season, succeeded in retrieving the team and finished the season in 15th place in the league, successfully remaining in La Liga.
Getafe also entrusted the 2022/23 season to coach Flores, but as a result of a winless streak with 2 draws and 3 losses in the last 5 league matches, the ranking has fallen to 17th, just above the relegation zone.
Getafe, worried about relegation again following last season, decided to sack Flores with only seven games left until the end of the season.
Lee Kang-in (RCD Mallorca), the future of Korean football, had a considerable influence on the background of Flores’ dismissal.
Getafe scored the first goal against Mallorca in the 30th round of La Liga in the 2022/23 season held on the 24th, but suffered a 1-3 come-from-behind defeat while allowing Lee Kang-in to score multiple goals.
On this day, Lee Kang-in scored an equalizer to balance the game, dribbling about 70m in extra time in the second half when he was leading 2-1, and scored a key goal to sink Getafe.
Coach Flores, who failed to stop Lee Kang-in and lost against Mallorca, failed to avoid being fired as he lost 1-2 in the next game against UD Almeria in the 31st round of the league.
Coach Flores is the coach who was chosen as the number one candidate for the head coach of the Korean national soccer team in the past. After the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the Korea Football Association selected coach Kike Flores as the successor to Shin Tae-yong.
At the time, Kim Pan-gon, head of the national coaching staff, negotiated and persuaded in Spain to appoint Flores as coach, but failed to reach an agreement on financial issues and ultimately broke down. Afterwards, the Football Association appointed coach Paulo Bento as the national team’s command tower.
It is a strange fate that Flores, who was considering going to Korea, was sacked after being hit by Korean player Lee Kang-in.
