Jurgen Klinsmann is exploring alternatives on getting South Korea back to winning ways
Jurgen Klinsmann, who took over as South Korea coach from Paulo Bento, has faced criticism for his disappointing performance so far. Since his appointment in February, Klinsmann’s team has not won any of the four games they have played.
The Koreans had a successful run in the previous World Cup under Bento, reaching the knockout rounds. However, under Klinsmann’s leadership, they have only managed to draw twice and lose twice.
The team led by Klinsmann had a draw against Colombia in their first match, but then suffered defeats against Uruguay and Peru. In their most recent international game, they were held to a 1-1 draw by El Salvador.
“I hope I can correct that as quickly as possible because we absolutely believe we should have won all four games,” Klinsmann told a press conference in Seoul on Thursday.
“Not only one or two, in all four we were the better team and played impressive football, especially when you look at the Colombian first half, if you look at the second half against Uruguay and then the two games with Peru and El Salvador.”
“We were clearly the better team, had so many chances. But the chances didn’t go in. We have to put them in the next time and we will work on that.”
Klinsmann’s appointment by the Korea Football Association was unexpected, as it came three years after his previous coaching job at Hertha Berlin ended in disappointment.
The former striker acknowledged that he and his coaching team are still adjusting to their new surroundings as they work on developing their squad for the upcoming Asian Cup finals in Qatar in January.
“It’s a learning curve for us coaches and we’ve learned a lot in the last three months,” he said.
“We keep learning how the KFA works, how this federation functions.”
“At the same time we have other challenges. We have the Asian Cup, which is international. We have to think about the opponents.
“It’s a wonderful project but a lot of work.”
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