After coach Paulo Bento (54) left, a new coach was appointed to lead the Korean national soccer team. This is the legendary Jürgen Klinsmann (59), who was born in Germany and was active as a world-class striker. His contract period is 3 years and 5 months, and he will be in charge of the team until the 2026 World Cup in North and Central America.
I acknowledge his player career, but a question mark is attached to his coaching career. Previously, Klinsmann coached the German soccer team, and then took charge of Bayern Munich (Germany), the U.S. soccer team, and Hertha Berlin (Germany) in turn. He has had both success and failure. In the German national team, he was recognized for his leadership by finishing third in the 2006 World Cup in Germany, but he had to leave the team early due to poor performance in Munich and Berlin.
The years of the US national team, which led the team for a long time from 2011 to 2016, can be considered successful. He also won the Gold Cup in 2013 and advanced to the round of 16 at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, leaving bold results. But even with his successful coaching career, there were mixed likes and dislikes. It received a distinctly different evaluation from American soccer fans.
American soccer legend Alexi Lalas (53) expressed the same idea. According to Goal.com, a soccer media outlet on the 1st (Korean time), Lalas said through the podcast State of the Union, “It’s a good thing. Klinsman is in charge of the Korean national team. I wish you all the luck in the world. Good luck with Korea. . However, I hope only Clins doesn’t do well in the match against the United States,” he said, expressing his gratitude for being appointed as the manager of the Korean national team.
As for Klinsman, “It’s put him in an interesting position among American footballers. Some people like him, some don’t. There are people who admit that he did a good job, but he didn’t work as hard as he could. “Sometimes people say he just went his own way. But criticism of Klinsmann makes him see the big picture. Perhaps more of a managerial type than a technical one.” 메이저놀이터
In fact, coach Klinsman received a lot of criticism for ignoring American legend Landon Donovan. He pushed forward with his idea, leaving behind public opinion that Donovan should be elected. Nonetheless, he managed to make it to the round of 16 at the World Cup in Brazil. However, in the 2018 Russia World Cup regional qualifiers, he was sluggish and was hardened in 2016.
It is safe to say that the days of the US national team were Klinsman’s final career. He took charge of Berlin in 2019, but left the team after 3 months. After that, there was a leadership vacuum for a long time. Excluding his time in Berlin, he is restarting his coaching career after seven years with the Korean national team. Coach Klinsman will make his comeback through an evaluation match against Colombia on the 24th of this month. On the 28th, he is scheduled to play against Uruguay. Through the two games, it is expected that Klinsman’s color will be confirmed.
The Korea Football Association reduced the number of candidates to 23 and 5, starting with 61 candidates last month. In the middle of this month, the final candidates, including coach Klinsman, were narrowed down to two. In the end, coach Klinsman took the lead of the Korean national team. Regarding the appointment process, Michael Müller, head of the National Team Power Enhancement Committee, said, “I know that Klinsmann was in the candidate pool in the process of appointing the Korean national team coach in 2018. He really wanted to live in Korea and was interested. I know that,” he explained.