The new Korean national team coach expects steady progress over the next years – know all about it in an exclusive Volleyball World interview
After three years coaching his native Puerto Rico, Morales believes he’s ready to lead Korea
Korea’s women’s national team was one of the sensations of the Tokyo Olympics, making it to the semifinals in the Japanese capital and finishing fourth for the second time in the last three editions of the tournament in 2021.
Not much, however, has gone right for the Asians since then as they won just one match in major international volleyball tournaments in the following three seasons, at the 2022 World Championships, and are coming from back-to-back winless campaigns in the Volleyball Nations League.
The bad results that will keep the Koreans out of the Olympics for the first time since Beijing 2008 asked for change and 42-year-old Puerto Rican Fernando Morales was the one selected to start turning things around after three successful seasons with his country’s national team.
Set to start working at the VNL 2024, Morales, a former setter with the Puerto Rican national team, understands Korea are in a different era after the international retirement of superstar Kim Yeon-Koung and he believes that steady and consistent work is the only way to make the Asians return to the place they occupied not long ago in the international scene.
A few weeks before he officially starts his work with the team, Morales took the time to chat with Volleyball World in an exclusive interview.
Volleyball World: What motivated you to leave your country’s national team after three successful seasons and take on Korea? What kind of challenges do you expect walking into such a different culture, both on and off the court?
Morales: It was really hard to leave the Puerto Rico national team, definitely the hardest part about this decision. But I think this is a great opportunity for my coaching career that might lead to other opportunities. There are a lot of challenges, first the language and then the culture. But it is something I am used to as I played 14 seasons overseas in seven different countries, so I think I am ready for this challenge.
VW: What do you take from your experience with Puerto Rico, which was your first with a national team? Any lessons you learned that you think will help you going forward?
Morales: A lot of very positive things. First, having this first national team experience will help me a lot in the rest of my…
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