South Korea and Tunisia play a soccer national team exhibition match at the World Cup Stadium in Seoul on Friday. South Korea’s Lee Kang-in scores the second goal. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Oct. 13 (Korea Bizwire) –Although South Korea won the soccer match against Tunisia with a convincing score of 4-0, many South Korean soccer fans are uncertain about the tactics used by Jürgen Klinsmann, the head coach of the South Korean national soccer team. People have compared Klinsmann’s performance to that of his predecessor, Portuguese coach Paulo Bento.
Korean soccer fans have nicknamed Klinsmann a ‘telecommuting coach’ because, despite initially saying he would be based in Korea, he has spent most of his time abroad. This has led to criticism that he is not taking his role as the head coach of the Korean national soccer team seriously.
As a result, Klinsmann is not very popular in South Korea. In fact, when Klinsmann’s face appeared on the scoreboard at the Seoul World Cup Stadium to introduce the team before a friendly match between South Korea and Tunisia, the crowd booed in unison.
This was in contrast to the cheers that erupted when Son Heung-min (Tottenham), who started the game on the bench, appeared on the screen.
This lack of popularity is a consequence of the team’s performance in their four domestic A matches in March and June. Klinsmann’s team had two draws against Colombia (2-2) and Uruguay (1-2) in March, and they lost two games against Peru (0-1) and El Salvador (1-1) in June.
Klinsmann’s first win came in a September A match in England, not at home, where they secured a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Saudi Arabia on September 13 at St. James’ Park in Newcastle, England. This was only his sixth game in charge.
Jurgen Klinsmann, head coach of the South Korean men’s national football team, speaks at a press conference at the National Football Center in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on Oct. 12, 2023. (Yonhap)
Because the results haven’t shown strong leadership and he has been frequently traveling abroad, domestic soccer fans have become increasingly critical. Fans feel that Klinsmann’s constant travel and failure to stay in Korea, contrary to his initial promises, suggest that he doesn’t care about the Korean team.
This has raised concerns about the team’s ability to perform well at the upcoming Asian Cup, especially without a clear tactical philosophy.
The 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup was originally supposed to take place in China in July but has been moved to Qatar, now scheduled for January-February 2024. Under Klinsmann’s leadership, South Korea aims to win the tournament for the first time in 64 years since 1960.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
