On a day of depressing news about the detention of teammate Son Jun-ho (Shandong Taishan) in Chinese police custody, Klinsmann’s team was ready for its first victory.
South Korea’s national soccer team, led by coach Jürgen Klinsmann, practiced at Daejeon World Cup Stadium on the afternoon of June 18, two days before their second exhibition match against El Salvador.
Klinsmann, who took over in March, has yet to record his first win.
The team drew 1-1 in two matches in March, and suffered a 0-1 defeat against Peru in Busan on March 16.
Even though it’s an exhibition game, the players are all aware that the ‘first win’ can’t come any sooner.
On top of that, El Salvador is coming off a 0-6 defeat against Japan on Nov. 15, when they lost a player in the first three minutes of the game.
With the exception of Son Jun-ho and Ahn Hyun-beom (Jeju), who had to withdraw due to injury, all 23 players, including Son Heung-min (Tottenham), practiced today.
With only the first 15 minutes of training open to the media, Klinsmann lined up his players in a 4-2-3-1 formation from the start and familiarized them with their roles. Coach Michael Kim, acting as an interpreter, relayed Klinsmann’s instructions through his throat.
In the fast-paced drills that followed, the Taegeuk Warriors let out a loud roar that echoed through the empty stadium.
“The players are hungry for victory right now,” Hwang In-bum told reporters before the practice.
Earlier in the day, news broke that Son Jun-ho had been detained by Chinese police.
He was detained while returning home from Shanghai Hongqiao Airport on March 12 and had been under criminal detention and public security investigation until the previous day.
The charge is “soliciting non-state actors. Suspicions include involvement in match-fixing and possible bribery during the transfer to Shandong, but there is no word yet from the authorities.
According to local sources, the switch to a custodial investigation means that the police have officially begun the process of bringing Son to justice.
The Korean Football Association and the national team are frustrated.
“We were told that (the conversion to custody) is a concept that has been converted from a temporary investigation to a formal investigation,” said a team official. While Son continues to be under public security investigation, the KFA has no way to confirm it.”
Klinsmann was surprised to learn of Son’s detention this morning, the official said.
Son is not a “former national team player. He is technically part of Klinsmann’s team, even though he is not participating in the A-Match training and game schedule.
This is because he was selected by Klinsmann while selecting the national team ahead of the A-Match. At the time, Klinsmann explained the reason for the ‘surprise selection’ by saying, “I want to let Son Junho know that we are with him in this difficult time and support him 100%.”
Son’s picture and name are also listed on the Korean Football Association’s website in the section that introduces the current national team members.
It’s not hard to understand Klinsmann’s desire to send a small message of support to Son, who was once a teammate and now finds himself behind bars.먹튀검증
However, there are some who argue that it is not normal for a player who is currently under investigation as a criminal suspect in another country to be included in the national team representing his country.
“The squad hasn’t heard anything about it, so I’m very cautious to talk about it right now,” national team midfielder Lee Jae-sung (Mainz) said when asked about Son Jun-ho’s detention before training. “I don’t have anything to say about it.
South Korea and El Salvador will kick off at 8 p.m. on Tuesday at the Daejeon World Cup Stadium.