New coach could be gamble for Team Korea

Former U.S. men's national football team coach Jurgen Klinsmann takes part in a press conference in St. Louis, Nov. 12, 2015. The former German star athlete was hired Feb. 27 to coach South Korea's national soccer team. / AP-Yonhap

By John Duerden

The man charged with leading South Korea to the 2023 Asian Cup ― to be played in January 2024 ― and, hopefully, the 2026 World Cup is Jurgen Klinsmann. While few doubt his credentials as a player for winning the 1990 World Cup with West Germany and starring for Inter Milan, Bayern Munich and Tottenham Hotspur, his coaching credentials are more debatable.

The Korea Football Association (KFA) is hoping that the 58-year-old is the man to take the Taeguk Warriors forward after four years of Paolo Bento. The Portuguese tactician's time in Seoul was not always smooth but he did deliver a place in the Round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup, just a third appearance in the knockout stages for the country.

Klinsmann was a media pundit during that tournament. In fact, one worry is that apart from an ill-fated 76-day spell in charge of Hertha Berlin in 2019, he hasn't coached since 2016. Back then, he was in charge of the United States, a job he started in 2011. He took the team to the 2012 CONCACAF Gold Cup, the continental title, and into the final 16 of the 2014 World Cup. Before that, he took Germany to the semifinal of the 2006 World Cup on his home soil.

That is now not far from 20 years ago. Even in 2006, there were questions as to whether he was the one that drove Germany forward, with many having the opinion that his assistant Joachim Low, who went on to lead the team to the 2014 title, was the tactical brain of the operation. Quite how tactically astute Klinsmann was when he was working in big soccer jobs was always a question, and after an almost seven-year absence from the bench, it is an even bigger one now.

Michael Muller, head of the National Team Committee at the Korea Football Association (KFA), is also German and the man in charge of the search for a new coach. He dismissed such concerns. "Football is not only tactics. Football is individuality. It's about teamwork, how to motivate your team in special situations," Muller said. “He is not only informed about tactics; he is informed about modern devices, tools and match analysis. Jurgen Klinsmann absolutely has tactical abilities."

That will be seen over the coming years with the first glimpse coming on March 24 against Colombia and Uruguay. Those friendlies kick off the build-up to the Asian Cup in January. Amazingly, Korea has not been a champion of Asia since 1960. If Klinsmann can deliver that title then the critics and doubters will be silenced and his appointment will be seen as a success. That is, assuming the team qualifies for the 2026 World Cup, which it should now. This would see Asia with eight teams instead of the usual four.

Until then, the German is going to have to show he can cut it at the top level. Korea has a world-famous coach but not a world-class one. Despite the name value of the legendary former striker, this appointment is more of a gamble for South Korea than Jurgen Klinsmann.