The situation of being a spy for Korean soccer

Jurgen Klinsmann, who was the “worst coach in the history of the Korean national soccer team,” was eventually kicked out. The Korea Football Association announced the replacement of Klinsmann at the Korea Football Center in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on Feb. 16. 토토

Chung Mong-gyu, president of the Korea Football Association, said at a press conference, “We gathered opinions after hearing about the contents of the national team’s power reinforcement committee on Wednesday. After comprehensive review, we have decided to replace the national team coach.” As a result, Klinsmann will leave the Korean national team in a humble manner in about a year since taking office in late February last year.

Klinsmann was a former star player who was evaluated as one of the best strikers in his professional career. However, he was not highly rated for his frequent misbehavior and incompetence as a leader. Even after taking the helm of the Korean national team, he has been embroiled in controversy due to negligence in duty due to his overseas stay and lack of tactics and leadership.

The 2023 AFC Qatar Asian Cup became a decisive moment to reveal the reality of Klinsmann. Klinsmann, who boasted that he would win the Asian Cup, was helplessly eliminated after being defeated by Jordan in the semifinals after a series of poor matches throughout the tournament despite his all-time record.

Klinsmann changed his words immediately after the tournament, avoiding responsibility for his performance, and he smiled one after another amid criticism, stimulating fans’ anger with his unrepentant and unserious attitude. Just two days after returning to Korea, he left for the U.S., his residence, and attended the Asian Cup evaluation meeting of the Korea Football Association by video. On top of that, recent media revelations revealed that there was internal strife in the squad, including Son Heung-min and Lee Kang-in, during the tournament, and revealed that his team management ability was also an illusion.

As the situation of the national soccer team has grown into a wave, the situation has become so serious that not only the soccer community but also the political and social circles are calling for the replacement of Klinsmann. The Korea Football Association, which had virtually neglected Klinsmann’s behavior, had no choice but to judge that it was no longer possible to lead the national team with Klinsmann.

Klinsmann became the shortest foreign coach to be sacked due to poor performance since the introduction of the former coach system in 1992. Coach Dick Advocaat of the Netherlands, who led the 2006 World Cup in Germany, led the team for about nine months, but his contract period had expired, not been dismissed. The late coach Pim Verbeek voluntarily resigned after finishing the Asian Cup in third place in 2007.

If we expand the scope to the domestic team, the late coach Park Jong-hwan, who was dismissed in two months due to the 1996 Asian Cup quarterfinal disaster and the 2–6 disaster against Iran, is the shortest. However, the modifier of the worst national team coach in history is no exaggeration, given that no one has ever been kicked out of the team, triggering an unprecedented social controversy due to poor performance and poor work like Klinsmann.

After hearing the news of his replacement at his home in the U.S., Klinsmann said on his SNS, “I sincerely thank all the players, the coaching staff and all the Korean soccer fans.” On the one hand, Klinsmann added the phrase, “It was an amazing journey without defeat for 13 games before the Asian Cup semifinals,” and still expressed his regret by praising himself for his achievements, contrary to criticism.

Major foreign media outlets such as BBC, Sky Sports, and Kicker in Germany also heavily reported Klinsmann’s replacement, saying, “Klinsmann was humiliated. Most foreign media also criticized that Klinsmann’s replacement was the result of his failure to produce results in the Asian Cup and to manage internal divisions in the squad.”

Although the big obstacle of Klinsmann has been removed, the national soccer team situation is not over yet. Rather, there are so many difficulties that it should be said that this is the real beginning.

The first is a mystery related to the suspicious contract and penalty issues with Klinsmann. The KFA paid a huge amount of money when it hired the Klinsmann division in February 2023. As Klinsmann was dismissed rather than voluntarily resigning, the coach with him must be paid a penalty for the remaining contract period, which is estimated to range in total from 7 billion to 10 billion won. Not only is this a huge burden on the KFA’s finances right now, but it can also be a major obstacle to recruiting a successor.

Klinsmann rarely stayed in Korea while serving as the coach of the Korean national team, and he was consistent throughout with his unfaithful work attitude, which was in fact called neglect and dereliction of duty. It is doubtful that the full penalty should be paid as it is, as there are considerable reasons attributable to Klinsmann for the normal contract. If the terms of the contract also included a clause that condoned Klinsmann’s misbehavior, this would be a record-breaking poor contract and personnel disaster. Most of the public opinion said that even if the penalty was paid, it should be settled at Chung’s expense, not the Korea Football Association’s finances.

The second is the KFA’s responsibility for the Klinsmann scandal and whether it has renewed its personnel management status. The biggest cause of the scandal was the KFA’s mistake in bringing in Klinsmann, who was considered to have ended his career as a leader overseas while completely ignoring the successful process of appointing a coach. The KFA is obliged to clarify in detail what justification and procedure Klinsmann was chosen as a coach and how he signed the contract.

Chairman Chung Mong-gyu accepted Klinsmann’s replacement due to public opinion, but declined to comment on his resignation. However, as Klinsmann was eventually kicked out after ruining Korean soccer, there are growing calls for all those involved in recruiting such figures and the final decision maker, Chairman Chung Mong-gyu, to naturally take corresponding responsibilities.

The third issue is the appointment of the next coach. As the second round of Asian qualifiers for the North-Central America World Cup is scheduled in March, it is urgent to appoint the coach as soon as possible. As time is running out and financial issues related to Klinsmann’s penalty are intertwined, it is practically difficult for a foreign coach to be appointed, and more weight is being placed on a coach who is a domestic player.