Lee Cheon-soo, a former soccer player and broadcaster. /Lee Cheon-soo’s Instagram
Former national soccer player Lee Cheon-soo expressed regret over the recent rumors of discord between Korean national team captains Son Heung-min (32, Tottenham) and Lee Kang-in (23, Paris Saint-Germain), saying, “In the past, it was a system where disharmony could not occur.”
Lee Cheon-soo said on his YouTube channel on the 15th, “I have been on the national team since I was young, but there were many people who said they ‘returned’ to me. There was a lot of age difference between seniors and juniors, but we still had one goal, so there was no discord.”
When asked if there were instances of conflict between seniors and juniors on the national team in the past, he said, “If I didn’t do it, it wouldn’t have happened.” He added, “But I am very good at greeting people and have never once done anything to my older brothers.”
Lee Cheon-soo was called a ‘bad boy’ when he was a player and often clashed with players on opposing teams, but he treated his seniors on the same team with respect.
Lee Cheon-soo said, “It wasn’t a system where there could be disharmony between seniors and juniors,” and “When the senior spoke, I said, ‘Yes, I understand.’ (I responded).”
Lee Cheon-soo claimed that the biggest responsibility for this incident lies with the coach of the Korean national soccer team, Jurgen Klinsmann, and said, “The coach is the commander-in-chief in charge of everything, so he is paid that much money to bring him in. What is the role of the director? It is to bring harmony and create peace. “If it doesn’t work out, he should swear like Coach Hiddink.”
Son Heung-min and Lee Kang-in after the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Qatar Asian Cup semifinal match between Jordan and Korea held at Al-Rayyan Ahmed bin Ali Stadium in Qatar on the 6th (local time). /News 1
Regarding Coach Hiddink, who led the Korean team to the semifinals at the 2002 World Cup, Lee Cheon-soo said, “Our goal was to advance to the round of 16. “At that time, we had succeeded in advancing to the round of 16 and were feeling relaxed ahead of the game against Italy,” he said. “Coach Hiddink called the players and had a ‘two-faced insult.’ “He said something like ‘I’m disappointed in you guys,’” he said.
Lee Cheon-soo said that the atmosphere of the team changed at that time and that is why they won the match against Italy in the round of 16, adding, “If not, we would have just lost.”
Meanwhile, Chung Mong-gyu, president of the Korea Football Association, held a press conference at the Football Center in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the afternoon of the 16th and announced that he would sack coach Klinsmann. It has been one year since Coach Klinsmann took office.
Previously, ahead of the Asian Cup semifinals, there was an argument between Korean national team captain Son Heung-min and young players such as Lee Kang-in, and it became controversial when it was revealed that Son Heung-min’s finger was dislocated in the process. Manager Klinsmann was held responsible for failing to control the conflict within the team.
2024-02-16 12:21:43
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