Former national team head coach Andreas Herzok, who was kicked out of the Korean national team along with Jurgen Klinsmann, is raising eyebrows at the national team’s shooting as soon as his relationship with South Korea is over.
He introduced it as if the national team’s shock loss against Jordan in the Asian Cup was due to the players.
Recently, former coach Herzok put the blame on the players in an article in the Austrian media Kronen Zeitung. “No one knew that top stars Son Heung-min and Lee Kang-in would break out in the evening before the important game,” Herzok wrote, “The emotional struggle naturally affected the team’s spirit.”
“I’ve only seen it at the training ground, but I’ve never experienced it at a restaurant,” he said. “Everything we’ve built up for months was smashed in minutes.”
The national team was found to have had a physical fight at the table tennis court where Lee Kang-in played with several teammates due to a mixture of Son Heung-min’s rebuke of not gathering in one place at dinner time the day before the Jordan match and Lee Kang-in’s antipathy against it.
The British media “The Sun” reported this and the Korea Football Association immediately admitted to the internal strife of the team, leaving the national team in tatters.
Herzok, a former Austrian legend striker and even coach of the Israeli national team, was appointed to the Korean national team with Klinsmann, but was criticized for practically playing “two jobs” by concurrently serving as a broadcast commentator in his country.
However, Herzog emphasized that players including Son Heung-min and Lee Kang-in are responsible for the elimination. He also blamed the media. “It was a short but beneficial and beautiful time,” Herzog said. “The past few months have shown that if the media tries to find something negative, they will find it without fail.”
In addition, he also expressed the opinion that Chung Mong-kyu, president of the Korea Football Association, succumbed to political pressure.
“After a good performance at the Asian Cup, Klinsmann and I expected good things to happen in Korea,” he said. “However, things have gone awry for us over the past few days. Chairman Chung supported us, but ultimately gave in due to strong political pressure. It is a pity. We had no losses in 13 games right before our defeat at the Jordanian match since our inauguration.”
Earlier, German investigative media Spiegel announced in an interview with Jurgen Klinsmann that Chairman Chung had become a strong supporter of Klinsmann.
Klinsmann, who reportedly lived at a hotel near Yongsan Station in Seoul, said Chung’s office is located at Yongsan Station, which is “five minutes away” from his hotel. In fact, Chung’s HDC Hyundai Development headquarters is located at Yongsan Station.
Explaining Chung and Hyundai’s influence, Klinsmann said, “No way. It’s a huge deal.” Then, he told Spiegel that if something he doesn’t like, he will immediately contact Chung via text message and face-to-face.
However, Chairman Chung could not overcome the public’s opposition to Klinsmann’s incompetence and neglect of Korea. 업소알바
Still, Klinsmann told Spiegel that the outcome was a success in terms of sports. It was the best.” Spiegel said that Klinsmann made the remarks on the phone. “But when he arrived in Seoul, it was Lunar New Year’s Day and no one had time to talk to him.” The telephone conversation with the media seems to have taken place before the dismissal.
Earlier, Chung Mong-kyu, president of the Korea Football Association, held a press conference at the soccer hall in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 16th and announced his dismissal. Chairman Chung said at the time, “We received a report on the contents of the National Team Power Enhancement Committee the previous day at the executive meeting and gathered opinions, and after a comprehensive review, we decided to replace the national team coach.” As the National Team Power Enhancement Committee, an association advisory body on the operation of the national team, recommended the replacement of the coach the previous day, executives decided to break up with coach Klinsmann and notified him.
Since the middle of last month, the national soccer team has suffered a backlash since it failed to pass the semifinals at the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup in Qatar, and Klinsmann, who was criticized at the center, left the Korean national team without completing a year since taking office in late February last year.
While he was a world star as a player, Klinsmann, who took charge of the Korean national team, has been continuously criticized for his lack of tactical competence and frequent overseas stays amid mixed evaluations as a leader.
Whenever that happened, coach Klinsmann emphasized his goal of winning the Asian Cup, saying that he would be evaluated as the result of the Asian Cup, but despite the evaluation of Son Heung-min (Tottenham) and others as “all-time power”, the national team failed to make it to the semifinals in the Asian Cup.
Fans’ disappointment grew as they lost the semifinal match against Jordan, which they met for the second time only during the tournament after the group stage, after a poor match of “zero effective shots,” and the fact that Klinsmann, who returned home on the 8th after the tournament, left for the U.S., his residence, in two days also increased his anger. Amid mounting public opinion on the replacement of the coach, it was belatedly revealed that there was internal strife between players centered on Son Heung-min and Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain), and his team management ability was not well received.
However, Klinsmann posted a picture of the national team’s training on Instagram on Wednesday, just before the dismissal was decided, and wrote, “It was an amazing journey of 13 matches and no losses for 12 months before the quarterfinal match. Keep up the good work,” refusing to accept the decision.