South Korea is among the best teams in Asia, although it last won the Asian Cup in 1960; It is a fact that seems incorrect, however incongruous it may be with his world football position. However, as former Germany and United States coach Jürgen Klinsmann prepares to lead the Taeguk Warriors in their latest bid to win the trophy, he is working not only against the weight of history, but also significant skepticism. internal.
South Korea is one of the few teams competing in January’s Asian Cup that most global observers will consider themselves somewhat familiar with. It has attended every World Cup since 1986, finishing fourth as co-host in 2002 and advancing to the knockout stage twice since then. In 2022, they were part of a final round of Group H so exciting it likely contributed to FIFA abandoning plans for three-team groups in the expanded 2026 tournament. Meanwhile, South Korea’s U-23 team medaled bronze at the 2012 Olympics, subsequently advanced to the quarterfinals in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, and won the last three Asian Games titles. The K1 League is one of the strongest in Asia and 12 AFC Champions League titles are more than any other nation has won.
However, South Korea’s Asian Cup drought is 64 years and counting.
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“I think we are capable of winning this Asian Cup,” Klinsmann said in the presentation of his 26-player team, which has been included in Group E along with Malaysia, Jordan and Bahrain. “It takes a lot of work and a lot of special moments, but it’s absolutely doable. That’s why I can’t wait until this tournament starts.”
Klinsmann certainly has reason to be optimistic. Starting defender Kim Min-Jae was shortlisted for the Ballon d’Or after helping Napoli win their first Serie A title since 1990 last season before moving to Bayern Munich, while Hwang Hee-Chan scored 10 goals and He had three assists in 20 games for Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League this season and Lee Kang-In has established himself as a starter for Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1. Klinsmann has a strong contingent of European players complemented by the best in the K-League, especially at the back. .
And then there’s Son Heung-Min, the highest profile of all the Asian Cup players… and possibly the best.
Under new boss Ange Postecoglou, Son has experienced a renaissance at Tottenham Hotspur, scoring 12 goals and adding five assists in 20 Premier League appearances. Looking to fill the void of leadership and production left by Harry Kane’s move to Bayern, Son assumed responsibility for the armband and moved up a position in the middle of the park as a centre-forward for much of the season. He is thriving.
“Sonny is elite in every aspect,” Postecoglou said recently. “The example he sets as a person as well as a footballer. It’s inspiring to me when you see a person who has climbed a mountain many times in terms of his own football pedigree, but every day he loves what he does.”
There is a level of serendipity to the Son-Postecoglou connection that has helped the former improve his form ahead of what, at 31, is potentially his last chance to serve as South Korea’s driving force at continental level; Just over eight years ago, Postecoglou’s Australia provided Son and his teammates with a dose of heartbreak when the Socceroos defeated South Korea 2-1 in the 2015 Asian Cup final in Sydney.
Son forced the match into extra time in its desperate final moments, only to see two substitutes introduced by Postecoglou (Tomi Jurić and James Troisi) combine to score the winning goal in the 105th minute, securing Australia their biggest international trophy. .
The ripple effect of that game was profound. Son moved from Bayer Leverkusen to Spurs in the months after that result, for what was then a record fee for an Asian player. Postecoglou left the job in Australia after (simply) guiding them to 2018 World Cup qualification, beginning a journey that saw him win league titles with Yokohama F Marinos and Celtic before landing in north London during the off-season .
“I am very grateful to be working with [Postecoglou] “And I have learned a lot of things as a player and also as a human being,” Son told Optus Sport earlier this season. “I’ll do whatever he asks because he’s giving us a lot of good information as humans, as a coach.” So we’re very, very happy to work with him.”
Son will miss a large chunk of Spurs football during the Asian Cup, but Postecoglou was in no rush to downplay the Asian Cup even though it would mean he will lose his talisman. “I hope Sonny goes on and finishes second in Australia again, mate,” he said, “that would make me very happy.”
Postecoglou was joking, but South Korea knows something about second-place finishes, as the final hurdle has often been the toughest amid their Asian Cup drought. There was a penalty shootout loss to Saudi Arabia in the 1988 final, plus extra-time losses to Iran and Australia in 1972 and 2015, respectively. On three other occasions, they have been eliminated in the semi-finals, on penalties against Iraq in 2007 and Japan in 2011.
Klinsmann was named South Korea’s new coach last February, in a deal that will extend him until 2026 and replacing Paulo Bento, who resigned after leading the team to the round of 16 of the World Cup. Bento, for his part, is now in charge of the United Arab Emirates for their Asian Cup campaign.
Klinsmann, a serial winner during his playing career, heads to Qatar as one of the most credentialed coaches in the Asian Cup. As a coach, he led Germany to third place in the 2006 World Cup, possibly helping lay the foundation for the team’s victory in 2014, he was in charge of Bayern Munich and spent five years in charge of the United States. That tenure that featured continental success, a last 16 appearance at the 2014 World Cup and an emphasis on development and pathways.
But Klinsmann’s time with Bayern lasted less than a full season before he was sacked, with Philipp Lahm later writing that he was tactically inept. His tenure with the USMNT ended after he was fired with the bottom team in their World Cup qualifying group after a 4-0 loss to Costa Rica, setting the stage for failing to reach a World Cup final. World for the first time in 32 years. His last coaching role before South Korea was a disastrous 76-day spell in charge of Hertha Berlin from late 2019 to early 2020, which led to his German exit. Deutsche Welle “It is clear that assistant coach Joachim Löw was the real power” behind his successful time with the German national team.
Less than a year after taking over in South Korea, Klinsmann is once again under the microscope, even if a rebound in results has quelled rumors of a pre-Asian Cup sacking that emerged after failing to win in his first seven months. His in-game tactics and strategy have been criticized (criticisms familiar to USMNT fans) and he has been accused of not following through on a commitment to move to Korea; The media and fans have even calculated how much time she spends in Korea compared to his home in California.
Klinsmann has defended himself by pointing out the international nature of his role and stating: “I’m a workaholic. I love to work like Koreans love to work. If not, maybe I’m 24/7 at the country, I still work 24/7. However, he slammed critics of his request for Wales captain Aaron Ramsey’s shirt after the 0-0 draw in Cardiff, calling it “absolutely stupid” and insisting he was doing so on behalf of his son, Jonathan. .
However, the time for talking will soon end. If their reputation holds, South Korea will face heavyweights Iran in the tournament’s quarterfinals, the stage of the tournament at which they were eliminated in 2019 by eventual champions Qatar. Then-coach Bento recovered to guide the Taegeuk Warriors to the World Cup knockout stage, but there are doubts over whether Klinsmann will be given the same opportunity under similar circumstances.
The easiest way to avoid discovering it is to end the drought. That is a task eminently achievable with the talent available. But the history of Korean football suggests that this is much easier said than done.
