With Hwang Sun-hong making a great achievement, it is now the turn of the A national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann. How will Klinsmann, who barely won his first victory in six games in September, finish the important schedule leading to the October A match-November World Cup qualifying-January Asian Cup.
The Korea Football Association held an online press conference at 10 a.m. on the 9th on Klinsmann’s convening of October A match players. 스포츠토토
The Korea Football Association announced on the 2nd a list of 24 men’s A national team members to play in two consecutive home matches for the Korean national soccer team invited by Hana Bank in October. Coach Klinsmann, who replaced the A national team roster announcement in September with a press release, again announced the A national team roster without a press conference, and only conducted a related interview a week later.
The national team, including Son Heung-min and Lee Kang-in, will convene at the Paju National Training Center at 2 p.m. on the 9th. Oh Hyun-kyu, Hwang Ui-jo, and Hwang Hee-chan will join late in the afternoon on the 9th, while Cho Kyu-sung, Kim Min-jae, Park Yong-woo, and Hwang In-beom will join on the 10th. South Korea will play friendly matches against Tunisia (8 p.m., Seoul World Cup Stadium) on the 13th and Vietnam (8 p.m., Suwon World Cup Stadium) on the 17th.
This October A match is an important process in preparation for the 2023 Qatar Asian Cup to be held in January next year. Although South Korea is called the “mainstream of Asian soccer,” it has not won the Asian Cup since the second tournament in 1960, and is thirsty.
Coach Klinsmann also clearly stated that his goal is to win the Asian Cup since he entered Korea in March after taking over as the national team’s head coach in February. Even when he drew with Wales in the A match in September and fell to a five-game winless (three draws and two losses), the longest since his appointment in the history of the national team’s full-time coach, he said, “The criterion for Korean soccer fans to evaluate Klinsmann is the Asian Cup to be held in January next year. For me, success in the Asian Cup is a win,” he replied.
First of all, the process to be done before the Asian Cup is not easy. In the A match between Tunisia and Vietnam, the team should continue its winning atmosphere against Saudi Arabia in September. The second qualifying round for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North and Central America will begin in November. South Korea, which belongs to Group C with China, Thailand and Singapore-Guam playoff winners, will face Singapore-Guam winners at home on Jan. 16 and China on Nov. 21 on the road.
Even so, China, which still has a bad manner in the Asian Games, is a tough opponent considering the injury to the squad. Klinsmann needs to lead the first two World Cup qualifiers to a winning streak to play in the Asian Cup in a breather. The Asian Cup is also not an easy journey to be lined with Asian powerhouses, including Japan, Australia, Iran and Saudi Arabia, who beat Germany to win four consecutive A matches. It is also evidence that Korea has not won the Asian Cup for more than 60 years, even though it has claimed to be the dominant player in Asia.
Strictly speaking, the Asian Games national team coach Hwang Sun-hong and the A national team coach Klinsmann can be seen as bad ties.
When Klinsmann said he would select a player who has been confirmed to the final roster for the Asian Games as a warm-up player for the national team, Hwang asked for understanding as the tournament was just around the corner, but no agreement was reached. In the end, Seol Young-woo, who was selected as coach Hwang Sun-hong’s wild card for the Asian Games, was also selected for Klinsmann’s September call-up for the A national team, and had to play a murderous schedule that continued nonstop from September to October to Korea-U.K. (A Match), Korea-China (Asian Games).
Coach Hwang Sun-hong, who was in a more urgent situation due to the imminent Asian Games at the time of the tug-of-war, returned home with gold medal around his neck in Hangzhou. With Hwang, who had a fight of nerves, completing his duties, what will Klinsmann do in the upcoming games. These are the moves of the two coaches that can only be compared more because of their bad relationship.