As of: February 16, 2024, 7:58 p.m
By: Jannek Ringen
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Jürgen Klinsmann is no longer the national coach of South Korea.
His assistant coach Andreas Herzog unpacks juicy details from the last few days.
Doha - Against outsiders Jordan, the South Korean national team's big dream of their first triumph at the Asian Cup since 1960 was dashed. A 2-0 defeat meant that the favored South Koreans had to give up.
In the end, national coach Jürgen Klinsmann also had to leave.
However, there were several reasons for his departure.
Klinsmann sacked as coach of South Korea after almost a year
At the end of February last year, Jürgen Klinsmann was appointed South Korea national coach.
After a rocky start, he went 13 games unbeaten and led the team to the semi-finals of the Asian Cup.
However, there it was over against outsiders Jordan and the dream of their first title since 1960 failed to materialize.
On Friday, Klinsmann and his coaching team were officially fired.
The Austrian Andreas Herzog was also part of the coaching team for the South Korean national team.
In his column for the Austrian magazine
Krone,
Klinsmann's assistant coach spoke about the end.
By reaching the semi-finals, the coaching team's contract would have been extended until after the 2026 World Cup.
However, the inner workings of the team already indicated that something had to change.
Jürgen Klinsmann and Andreas Herzog on the South Korean sidelines.
© IMAGO / Ulmer/Team photo
South Korean top stars clash over food
Herzog also mentioned that the pressure on association president Chung Mong-gyu from politicians was enormous as the country dreamed of the title.
However, it was an internal team conflict on the evening before the important game that caused the team structure to collapse.
A few days before the release, the SID had reported a dispute between the two South Korean top stars Heung-Min Son and Kang-in Lee.
Son even dislocated his finger.
Herzog confirmed the incident and spoke of “wild, very emotional scuffles” that occurred between the two offensive players at dinner.
“Within just a few minutes, it brought together practically everything that we had laboriously built up over months,” said Klinsmann’s assistant coach, describing the incident and its consequences.
Duke grateful for South Korea adventure
Even though Herzog would have liked to have worked longer for the South Korean national team, he still looks back gratefully on the time they spent together.
“Together with Jürgen, I am still grateful to South Korea for the last year.
It was short, instructive - and still very beautiful," he explained at the end of his column.
(jari)