Jurgen Klinsmann emerges as frontrunner for Korea head coach role: Reports

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Jurgen Klinsmann emerges as frontrunner for Korea head coach role: Reports

Jurgen Klinsmann  [AP/YONHAP]

Jurgen Klinsmann [AP/YONHAP]

 
Former Germany and United States manager Jurgen Klinsmann is in advanced talks with the Korea Football Association to take over as the new manager of the Korean national team, the JoongAng Ilbo reported Wednesday.
 
According to the JoongAng Ilbo citing an unnamed German football official, Klinsmann is in advanced talks with the KFA to take over the top post at the Taeguk Warriors. KFA officials are expected to fly to California, where Klinsmann lives, later this week to continue discussions in person.
 
Similar reports have been made in Germany, with football magazine Kicker reporting that Klinsmann is the frontrunner for the Korea manager role.
 
Klinsmann is a huge figure in European football, both as a player in the late 1980s and 1990s and as a manager over the last two decades.
 
Klinsmann was one of the top German strikers in the 1990s, picking up 108 caps for Germany including winning the 1990 World Cup and 1996 Euros.
 
He spent a large part of his playing career with VfB Stuttgart, where he got his big break, moving to Inter Milan in 1989. Klinsmann moved to Monaco and then Tottenham Hotspur for two years each, before heading back to Germany to play for Bayern Munich.
 
He won the UEFA Cup twice, with Inter and Bayern, where he also won the Bundesliga.
 
Klinsmann managed the German national team from 2004 to 2006, leading the side to a third-place finish at the 2006 World Cup. He briefly managed Bayern Munich from 2008 to 2009, then took the helm at the United States for five years from 2011 to 2016.
 
The spell in the United States marked the most successful period of Klinsmann’s managerial career, as he helped revitalize the squad and lead it to win the Concacaf Gold Cup and qualify for the 2014 World Cup. His tenure wasn’t without controversy, however, with his selection for the World Cup excluding top-scorer Landon Donovan and focusing on a number of players with German heritage.
 
Since leaving the United States, Klinsmann has had one managerial post with Hertha BSC from 2019-20. He has been working as a pundit since, including at the 2022 Qatar World Cup where he controversially accused the Iranian football team of using dirty tactics to beat Wales, blaming it on the country’s footballing culture.
 
Korea has been without a manager since finishing in the round of 16 in Qatar. Former manager Paulo Bento left the squad after the tournament, having failed to agree new terms with the KFA.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]
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