User talk:354 days abandoned due to controversy, Klinsmann leaves behind only 'anger-inducing laughter'

National soccer team coach Jürgen Klinsmann, who failed to achieve his dream of winning the Asian Cup for the first time in 64 years, is answering questions from reporters after returning to Korea through Incheon International Airport Terminal 1 on the afternoon of the 8th.

At the end of February last year, coach Jurgen Klinsmann (Germany), who took charge of the Korean national soccer team, was dishonorably dismissed amid poor performance and various controversies. He is kicked out after about a year, and all that is left is his ‘laughter’ that causes the anger of fans.

On the morning of the 16th, the Korea Football Association held an emergency executive meeting, including Chairman Chung Mong-gyu, at the Football Center in Jongno-gu, Seoul and announced the dismissal of Coach Klinsmann. It has been exactly 354 days since the appointment of Coach Klinsmann was announced on February 27 last year.

The previous day (15th), the Football Association's National Team Strengthening Committee looked back on the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup and reached a consensus on the dismissal of coach Klinsmann. After a long meeting, it was concluded that it was no longer difficult to coach Klinsmann.

Hwang Bo-gwan, head of the technical division, explained, “The committee decided that Coach Klinsmann could no longer demonstrate leadership as the national team coach, so a consensus was reached that a replacement was needed.”

After receiving the Power Enhancement Committee's recommendation, Chairman Chung convened an emergency executive meeting the next day and decided to dismiss Director Klinsmann.

After the executive meeting, Chairman Chung said, “I am sorry for disappointing soccer fans by failing to meet expectations at the Asian Cup,” and added, “The association has decided to replace the national team coach. Coach Klinsmann directly announced, “He failed to demonstrate the coaching ability and leadership we expected, including in game management, player management, and work attitude.”

◇ Brilliant star player, but failing as a leader

The Korea Football Association appointed coach Klinsmann as coach Paulo Bento's successor after the 2022 Qatar World Cup. His contract period was four years until the 2026 North and Central America World Cup finals.

Many people expressed doubts when 'big name' Klinsmann was appointed as the new leader of the Korean national team. As a player, Klinsmann was considered the best striker in the world, but his achievements as a leader were below expectations.

He coached the German national team from 2004 to 2006 and made a successful start by finishing third in the 2006 World Cup in Germany, but since then, his performance has been close to 'failure'.

After taking over as coach of Bayern Munich, a prestigious team in the German Bundesliga, in the summer of 2008, he was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League and finished second in the league. In particular, Philipp Lahm, who played for Munich at the time, said, “Coach Klinsmann gave almost no tactical instructions. He caused controversy by revealing, “He only did physical training.”

Afterwards, Coach Klinsmann was appointed as the head coach of the U.S. national team in 2011, but his greatest achievement was advancing to the round of 16 of the 2014 Brazil World Cup. He was sacked as his slump continued ahead of the 2018 Russia World Cup qualifiers.

In particular, when he took over as head coach of Hertha Berlin (Germany) in November 2019, he made a skit about quitting his job as coach via the Internet after 10 weeks. Because of this, when he announced that he would take over as Korea's coach, the German media criticized KFA for making an incomprehensible decision.

◇ Korean soccer has regressed for a year, and even internal strife within the national team has a ‘sad ending’

South Korea's Son Heung-min is disappointed after losing 0-2 between Jordan and Korea in the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Qatar Asian Cup semifinal match held at Al Rayyan Ahmed bin Ali Stadium in Qatar on the 6th (local time) and failing to advance to the finals. .

Korea, which was well-received for its forward pressure and build-up soccer under coach Bento, has regressed since coach Klinsmann. Klinsmann himself declared 'offensive soccer', but he had no special tactics and only played soccer that relied on the individual skills of players such as Son Heung-min (Tottenham) and Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain).

Klinsmann, who set sail against Colombia (2-2 draw) in March of last year, had a shaky start, failing to win in five consecutive games. After the association introduced the full-time coach system for the A national team in 1992, Coach Klinsmann was the first coach to fail to win in five games after taking office.

Coach Klinsmann's leadership, which rarely yielded victories and was almost 'colorless and odorless', received a lot of criticism. Some even sarcastically said, ‘(Heung-min), please play soccer.’

There were some good times for a while. Klinsmann, who won his first win in six games by winning 1-0 in a friendly match against Saudi Arabia held in England last September, raised his hopes of winning the tournament for the first time in 64 years by winning six games in a row before the Asian Cup.

However, when the Asian Cup began, the national team fell below expectations. Korea won 3-1 against Bahrain in the first match of the group stage, then struggled against Jordan (2-2 draw) and Malaysia (3-3 draw) and passed the preliminary round in second place in the group.

They advanced to the semifinals with a penalty shootout against Saudi Arabia in the round of 16 and an overtime win against Australia in the quarterfinals, but lost 0-2 against Jordan after a poor performance where they could not even hit a single effective shot.

The Taegeuk Warriors lost their chance to challenge for the title for the first time in 64 years with their worst performance, conceding 10 goals in 6 games. The offensive line did not work well together, and in particular, it was revealed that infighting broke out between Son Heung-min and Lee Kang-in ahead of the Jordan match. 스포츠토토맨