The Asian Cup has passed. It’s disappointing, but now we have to prepare for the World Cup. Two years later, the 2026 North and Central America World Cup. With this Asian Cup as an opportunity, homework has piled up. In the North and Central America World Cup, 8.5 spots were allocated to the Asian region.
First of all, mercenary skills. It is the coach’s responsibility to maximize the team’s power by utilizing the resources on the roster as much as possible. This time, it was not enough to look at the entire long tournament schedule and plan the players’ condition and stamina. Among all players, five players – Kim Joo-seong (24, Seoul), Kim Ji-soo (20, Brentford), Lee Sun-min (30, Daejeon), Moon Seon-min (32, Jeonbuk), and Song Bum-geun (27, Shonan Bellemare) – have not played even a single minute in this Asian Cup. could not step on Veteran defender Kim Jin-su (32, Jeonbuk), who played 70 international matches (international competitions), only appeared as a substitute in one game (15 minutes). He said, “I haven’t been sick even once since the Malaysia game (where I came on as a substitute). Whatever the reason, I was unable to play the game. “He had a lot of emotions,” he said. He is an experienced defender who was named to the K-League Best 11 in 2022.
The main competitors, Qatar and Japan, activated all of their players except for one or two. The two Japanese players were reserve goalkeepers. In fact, everyone played the game. The number of players in this competition is 26. Normally, at international competitions, there were 23 people, but the number increased by 3. However, Coach Klinsmann limited this to 20 to 21 people. This is why people are pointing out, “Why did you take a player you weren’t going to use?” and “Was it right to worry about backup personnel?” Behind the scenes, some key players such as Son Heung-min (32, Tottenham) and Lee Kang-in (23, Paris Saint-Germain) suffered abuse. The aftermath was clearly evident in the semifinals.
The 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Qatar Asian Cup semifinal match between Korea and Jordan was held at Al Rayyan Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Qatar on the 6th (local time). Coach Klinsmann is preparing for the game with a bright expression. Al Rayyan (Qatar) = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com/2023.02.06
Klinsmann made almost no changes to the starting 11 players in the year since he took office as the Korean national team coach. Even if the team passes the World Cup regional preliminaries and qualifies for the finals, the age of key players will depend on it. Two years later, Son Heung-min will turn 34, and members of the line born in 1996, including Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich) and Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton), will also turn 30. It is rare for a soccer player to remain in his prime even after the age of 30. This means that if we continue to play “do it” style soccer while relying on a few key players like we do now, it will be difficult to expect improved performance in the 2026 World Cup.
Ultimately, the national team coach’s job is to lay the foundation for Korean soccer’s competitiveness through natural generational change while discovering new faces. The first step toward a ‘generational change’ will be taken by appointing various promising players to gain experience in big games. Substitutions during a game are also the starting point and lubricant for reform that a manager can carry out. This is similar to the reason why the timing of replacing a pitcher or changing the flow through the appointment of a pinch hitter are considered key to a manager’s tactics in baseball. Klinsmann has shown no focus on these tasks over the past year. He mostly stayed abroad, and people said, “Coach Cha Du-ri watches the K-League.” Commentator Kim Dae-gil said, “It is nonsense to work remotely in soccer, where you have to see and meet people (players) in person. “I haven’t seen any precedent,” he said.
The 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Qatar Asian Cup semifinal match between Korea and Jordan was held at Al Rayyan Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Qatar on the 6th (local time). The Korean players who lost the game are disappointed. Al Rayyan (Qatar) = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com/2023.02.06
Making the national team is the dream and goal of Korean soccer players. There is no motivation like this. Gwangju coach Lee Jeong-hyo (49) welcomed his former student Lee Sun-min in September of last year, saying, “I was happy as if it was my job” when he wore the Taegeuk symbol for the first time in his life. This is because we know very well that the experience of playing for the national team serves as nourishment for a player to take another leap forward. However, Lee Sun-min never appeared in this Asian Cup. Klinsmann did not pay attention to moderating K-League players. The competitiveness of the national team will not increase without the development of the domestic league.
Concerns inevitably arise as to whether Coach Klinsmann has a long-term vision for the development of Korean soccer. Commissioner Kim Dae-gil said, “The future of Korean soccer depends on whether Coach Klinsmann realizes that his methods are wrong and changes his direction.” If the director does not change, there is a need to draw his sword. However, the Korea Football Association is also having a headache over the penalty issue. If Coach Klinsmann is fired, the penalty that the Football Association will have to pay is estimated to be around 6 billion won. Some analyzes say that taking into account penalties for coaches, etc., the amount will exceed 10 billion won. Criticism of the Football Association is intensifying due to the unclear reason for appointing a manager and the issue of penalties. For one reason or another, Korean soccer is caught up in the ‘Klinsmann Dilemma’.
2024-02-08 09:31:00
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