[The Fountain] How will Klinsmann be remembered in Korea?
SONG JI-HOONThe author is the deputy sports news editor at the JoongAng Ilbo.
German soccer legend Jurgen Klinsmann, 59, has been appointed new head coach for the Korean national soccer team. He will take the helm for three years and five months until the FIFA World Cup Canada/Mexico/United States 2026.
In his professional career, Klinsmann was a handsome striker with blond hair. He dominated the soccer world from the late 1980s to the early 1990s with excellent performance and star quality. He played with the best strikers of his time, such as Marco van Basten (the Netherlands), Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina), and Roberto Baggio (Italy).
The peak of his career was when he led Germany’s victory in the 1990 World Cup in Italy. Four years later, he made a strong impression by scoring two goals in the group stage match with Korea in the U.S. World Cup, which ended with a 3-2 win for Germany.
The evaluation for his career as head coach is mixed. He led Germany to third place in the 2006 World Cup in Germany. In the 2014 Brazil World Cup, he put Team U.S.A. to the round of 16.
His club career was less impressive. He took the helm of Bayern Munich and Hertha Berlin in Germany, but did not last more than one season.
As his appointment came shortly after his predecessor Paulo Bento successfully advanced Team Korea to the round of 16 at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, Koreans are not that generous to him. There are more concerns than hope. Worrying factors include his management style of leaving strategies completely to the coaches and a rather long period of staying out of the football field. (He returned to the field in three years since 2020.)
But there are many things to look forward to. When Klinsmann led two national teams before, he aggressively discovered new players and attained a generational shift. He urges players to move to big leagues and big clubs, not to mention personally linking them to the clubs.
Regardless of the event or team, there is only one thing a football head coach needs to care about: taking responsibility for game results. We have often seen leaders who started out confidently but ran away when pressured by poor performance. In contrast, some head coaches were criticized at first but showed good results and became the “masters.”
How will Klinsmann’s era be remembered as the 74th head coach of the Korean national team?
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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