Coach Jurgen Klinsmann recalled the time when he led the South Korean national team.
Klinsmann had an interview on Serbus TV in Austria on Wednesday. It was only two months after he assumed the helm of the Korean national team but was sacked due to poor performance and controversy over his attitude.
Klinsmann described his time as a coach for the Korean national team as fantastic. He said, “It was a fantastic experience throughout the year. The Korean national team had what it needed to make it to the quarterfinals at the World Cup, so I wanted to continue serving as the coach.” He said that he did not want to give up his coaching job because the team was so talented.
He also talked about the internal feud between Son and Lee Kang-in. “A young player (Lee Kang-in) who plays for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) accidentally made rude remarks to Son, the captain of Tottenham Hotspur. The two players got into a fight, and the young player (Lee Kang-in) dislocated Son’s finger,” Klinsmann said.
“We separated Son and Lee Kang-in and talked the next day, but we felt our tournament was over. Since I studied Korean for a year, I was able to read it with limited words. However, it was difficult to understand the dialogue between the players,” he added.
Klinsmann took the helm of the Korean national team in March 2023, replacing Paulo Bento. It is true that there was a question mark on the leadership of the U.S. national team and Hertha Berlin in Germany, but she was appointed.
In the first match since taking the helm of the Korean national team, the team tied 2-2 in an exhibition match against Colombia. Since then, the Korean team has had no win in four matches. It reported its first win in the match against Saudi Arabia after going through the matches against Uruguay (1-2), Peru (0-1), El Salvador (1-1), and Wales (0-0 draw).
Since then, he has continued to win games. He beat Vietnam and Tunisia at his home turf of Seoul, and also won two straight Asian qualifiers against Singapore for the 2026 North-Central America World Cup.
The result was good, but there was a frustrating aspect. It was pointed out that there was no tactic. Criticism continued that Son Heung-min, Lee Kang-in, and Hwang Hee-chan gave too much freedom to the outstanding players, and that it was difficult to find a tactic just for the coach. Nevertheless, Korean soccer fans expected to do well at the Asian Cup in Qatar, the Association of Asian Football Associations (AFC).
However, it was a completely different match. Despite Lee’s 3-1 victory in the first group match against Bahrain, it was effectively nothing short of a win based on Lee’s individual skills. Critics point out that Lee has no tactics. Several matches in the second and third group matches were held in draws by Jordan and Malaysia, both of which are considered below.
It was similar when they advanced to the tournament. They ran out of physical stamina due to consecutive extra-time matches. After 90 minutes of poor performance against Saudi Arabia in the round of 16, Cho Gyu-seong’s dramatic header goal allowed them to enter extra time and penalty shoot-out, and Cho successfully advanced to the quarterfinals thanks to stellar defense.
There was nothing different in the quarterfinals. The team also struggled with empty space against Australia. In the 45th minute of the first half, he had zero shots. He seemed to rely solely on players’ individual play 룸알바. There was no tactic that Klinsmann could use. Due to the players’ mentality, Hwang Hee-chan scored a penalty kick during extra time in the second half and Son Heung-min scored a free kick, which only enabled him to secure a ticket to the semifinals.
However, Korea suffered a crushing defeat in the semifinals. He lacked physical stamina and failed to fill the void left by the monster defender Kim Min-jae. Without detailed tactics, “Help me Soccer” failed to penetrate Jordan’s defense.
Angered by the unconvincing performance, fans demanded the replacement of Klinsmann, and in February, the Korea Football Association officially announced its separation from Klinsmann.