Freshly minted as head coach of South Korean men’s football team, Hong Myung-bo said Tuesday he will give everything he has to lead the squad.

At his first news conference as the national team head coach on Tuesday, Hong said he will not be deterred by the “challenging circumstances” he faces.

“I will use all of my football experience, knowledge and wisdom,” Hong said at the National Football Center in Paju, north of Seoul. “I will dedicate my body and soul for South Korean football.”

Hong was named the new bench boss on Monday, six days after South Korea qualified for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Choi Kang-hee, who had repeatedly said he would only lead South Korea through the World Cup qualifiers, resigned as head coach in the immediate aftermath, and the Korea Football Association promptly shortlisted Hong as one of four candidates for the job.

The KFA identified Hong as the “strongest candidate” of the four and didn’t even bother to name other three coaches in the running. Then on Monday, the KFA announced a two-year deal with Hong, a former South Korean national team captain who played in four consecutive World Cups starting in 1990.

Hong also coached South Korea to the bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics, the country’s first Olympic football medal, and has also enjoyed success with national teams at lower age groups.

The KFA has entrusted Hong with overhauling the senior team that backed into the 2014 World Cup. South Korea lost to Iran 1-0 in the final qualifier and barely beat out Uzbekistan on the goal difference tiebreaker for the final automatic berth out of their qualifying group.

Choi, Hong’s predecessor, faced heavy criticism for his shoddy offensive schemes that failed to generate much firepower. Hong said on Tuesday he will devise “Korean” strategies that he thinks will work best for his players.

“We’re not Spain or Germany,” he said. “I am going to have the team play a Korean style of football that capitalizes on players’ work ethic. I want us to maintain superiority in possession on offense and stay organized and cohesive on defense.”

Most of the youngsters who were coached by Hong at lower age groups are now integral members of the senior team. Barring injuries or sudden loss of form, Ki Sung-yueng of Swansea City and Kim Bo-kyung of Cardiff City, both in the English Premier League, and two FC Augsburg teammates in Germany’s Bundesliga, Koo Ja-cheol and Ji Dong-won, will play for South Korea at next year’s World Cup.

Hong stressed that roster spots aren’t assured for his former pupils.

“I spent some fantastic moments with those players, but I can’t say the past will guarantee anything for the future,” he said. “I want to do my job properly as the national team head coach. There is one year left (until the World Cup) and no one knows what will happen in that time. I will keep my eye on the players.”

One player that probably won’t be on the World Cup team is Park Ji-sung. The Queens Park Rangers midfielder retired from international play in January 2011, but he has been under growing pressure to return to the national team and give a much-needed jolt to the struggling unit.

Park himself has said he will not rejoin the national squad, and Hong said he will respect the veteran player’s decision. The coach said he doesn’t feel any one player will make a difference at any rate.

“Sometimes it’d be best for one particular player to be the leader, but I prefer 23 captains on my team than one captain,” he said. “I will always put the team first, and I will not select any player who doesn’t honor the team spirit.”

Hong is one of the highest-profile former players to take over the South Korean bench. The charismatic defensive stalwart appeared in 136 international matches, the most by a South Korean. He’s also the first Asian to play in four consecutive World Cup finals.

He was the captain under the Dutch head coach Guus Hiddink at the 2002 World Cup, where South Korea reached the semifinals for the first time.

Hong recently received coaching training under Hiddink with the Russian pro club FC Anzhi Makhachkala, and said Tuesday he cherished the time spent with his mentor.

“I was able to learn not just about football but life,” he recalled. “It also gave me the strength to get back on my feet and go for new ventures.”

Hong said he had turned down the head coaching job twice in the past, both times while still coaching the Olympic team. He said he was approached for the third time when he was working with Hiddink for FC Anzhi Makhachkala.

“In my five months there, I realized how great South Korean players are (for a coach),” he said. “I found it difficult to work with players there. But as far as their approach to practices and games and their respect for opponents, South Korean players are great. They really changed my heart.”

Hong also disclosed that he had been offered a five-year deal but settled on a two-year contract, which critics have said may not give Hong enough time and space to work with the team.

The new coach said he wanted to push himself harder.

“I felt that I would get too loose if I am guaranteed the job until 2018,” he said. “I needed something to motivate myself. I told the KFA that I would sign for two years because I wanted to stay desperate.” (Yonhap News)