Korea Republic's football association said on Thursday it has failed in its attempt to sign Frenchman Gerard Houllier as coach of its national team.

The Korea Football Association (KFA) said on Wednesday it had narrowed its choice down to Houllier or Mick McCarthy. But McCarthy said late on Wednesday said he would stay with his current English club Wolverhampton Wanderers, and late on Thursday, the KFA said the Houllier deal was also off.

"A deal collapsed shortly before producing a contract with Houllier following the final negotiations because of opposition from the French football governing body and his family," said spokesman You Young-Cheol.

Houllier, 60, is a former head coach of the French national team who also managed Liverpool and Olympique Lyon, while McCarthy played for Ireland and guided its national team to the second round of the FIFA World Cup in 2002.

The South Korean managerial post has been vacant since July when Dutchman Pim Verbeek, who was unveiled on Thursday as Australia's new coach, resigned following a third-place showing at the AFC Asian Cup.

His successor will be expected to ensure South Korea make the FIFA World Cup finals in 2010, starting with qualifying in February next year. South Korea has been drawn with arch-rivals North Korea, Turkmenistan, and Jordan. The sooner Korea finds stability with a new coach the better.

After their improbable semi-final berth at the 2002 FIFA World Cup on home soil, South Korean football has been on a downhill slide. The team secured just one victory, against Togo, in the group stage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and scored a meagre three goals in six games at the Asian Cup this year.

Youth football is also not encouraging. South Korea hosted the FIFA U-17 World Cup from August to September but failed to reach the knockout round. While the U-20 squad displayed some offensive flair at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada in July, it too was eliminated in the first round.

There have also been well publicised discipline problems. In November, Lee Dong-Gook and Lee Woon-Jae were banned from the national team for a year after late-night indiscretions during the AFC Asian Cup.

Defender Kim Sang-Sik and forward Woo Sung-Yong were also hit with year bans by the KFA in what officials described as the harshest punishment in years. The popularity of the domestic league is waning, too.

Although the K-League has seen attendance rise by 18 per cent this season from 2006, the average number of fans per game this season was only 11,871 - less than half that in 2002.