The Korea Football Association has sacked Tottenham Hotspur’s legendary coach Jurgen Klinsmann following the disappointing loss to Jordan in the Asian Cup semi-finals and an explosion involving a fight between two star players.
We reported a few days ago that news of an altercation over a ping-po game between Korean players involving Spurs captain Son Heung-min and PSG player Lee Kang-in was leaked, possibly by the KFA themselves. As a result, Son ended up dislocating two of his fingers. Son was seen wearing a bandage on his right hand during Tottenham’s 2-1 win over Brighton last weekend.
This incident spread like wildfire throughout the Korean media and was clearly the last straw for the Korean Federation. Following a recent meeting of South Korean soccer executives, it was recommended that Klinsmann be fired after less than a year in office. In announcing his dismissal, KFA president Chung Mong-gyu did not give a standard statement of “thank Jurgen for his accomplishments,” but instead explained in detail how and why he had failed.
“After comprehensive consideration, the KFA has decided to replace the head coach of the national team.
“Coach Klinsmann was unable to demonstrate the leadership that we expected from a national team coach, including match management, player management, and work ethic that would enhance the competitiveness of the national team.
“We agreed that Klinsmann’s attitude and competitiveness as head coach have fallen short of people’s expectations and that this will not continue to improve, so we have decided to replace him in leadership ahead of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. .”
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Klinsmann has been extremely unpopular among South Korean soccer fans since his appointment. Under his leadership, South Korea clearly underperformed, and despite having plenty of talent such as Son, Lee and Wolves striker Hwang Hee-chan, they failed to show any offensive effectiveness at the Asian Cup. I was totally overwhelmed. Despite not scoring a single shot on target in the semi-final loss to Jordan, and going undefeated in 13 games during Klinsmann’s tenure, Klinsmann’s tactics were dubbed “zombie football” by an unimpressed Korean media. ” was called.
Son has not spoken publicly about Klinsmann’s tenure or his thoughts on playing under the former Tottenham legend, but this is almost certainly the right move. Instead, South Korea’s captain, Son, has repeatedly tried to shoulder most of South Korea’s perceived failures as a soccer team, and instead of having fans focus their anger on other players, the team captain I’m asking you to criticize him as such.
It is still unclear who South Korea will appoint to replace Klinsmann, but the KFA hopes to bring in a new head coach soon so the team can shift its focus to 2026 World Cup qualification.
