After returning from a two-match road trip, A national team coach Jürgen Klinsmann and coach Cha Doo-ri visited Jeonju Castle.
Klinsmann and Cha visited the site of the Hana OneQ K League 1 30th Round match between Jeonbuk and Gangwon (1-3 loss) at Jeonju World Cup Stadium at 2 p.m. on the 16th. The Korea Football Association announced on the 15th that “Coach Klinsmann will watch the match between Jeonbuk Hyundai and Gangwon FC at Jeonju World Cup Stadium on the 16th, and will visit Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 17th to watch the match between FC Seoul and Gwangju FC.”
As announced, Klinsmann arrived early at Jeonju Castle to meet with Jeonbuk Technical Advisor Roberto Di Matteo before the game and checked on the status of Jeonbuk’s players.
Two Jeonbuk players, Moon Sun-min and Ahn Hyun-beom, were on the bench for the two European matches in September. They started from the bench. Kim Jin-soo, Hong Jeong-ho, Jeong Tae-wook, and Choi Cheol-soon started in the back four, while Han Kyo-won, Ryu Jae-moon, Boateng, and Lee Dong-joon lined up in the midfield. Up front were foreign players Jun Amano and Gustavo. Moon Sun-min and Ahn Hyun-beom were substituted at the start of the second half when the score was 1-2.
Moon created several chances with his trademark daring moves into the box, but the heavy rain that fell like a water bomb on the field in the second half prevented the team from taking advantage of the opportunity. There was no dribbling, passing, or ball control on the pitch, which was transformed into a water park in the blink of an eye, and the extreme water conditions made technical soccer impossible.
Klinsmann’s last visit to a K League stadium was on June 24, when he coached FC Seoul against Suwon Samsung in a super match. Since then, Klinsmann has been checking K League players through an analysis program at home in the U.S., and former coaches Cha Doo-ri and Michael Kim have been intuitively observing the K League scene. It is unlikely that Klinsmann, who visited the K League grounds for the first time, could have seen much of Jeonbuk and Gangwon. He will also visit the Seoul-Gwangju match on Sunday.먹튀검증
Klinsmann returned home through Incheon Airport with the A team after completing a two-game European tour on Nov. 14. Initially, Klinsmann planned to stay in Europe to check on the German side, including Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich). However, he had to change the schedule due to the negative public opinion in Korea. It is reported that the KFA conveyed to Klinsmann the sentiments of domestic fans and strongly requested his return, which he accepted.
In an interview after his return, Klinsmann said, “I was able to find positives from this call-up. “I came in because a lot of people were waiting for me (laughs), and I heard from a lot of people in the association that usually when the players come back from an away trip, the coaches come back with them, so I thought about that again,” Klinsmann said. “Actually, I was scheduled to watch Bayern Munich and Leverkusen this week, and it wasn’t a big deal to change my schedule, so I thought it would be a good idea for me to travel with the team, so I came in, and I think I’ll see you guys again this weekend,” he said, foreshadowing his K League intuition. “When I was working in Germany or in the United States, it was rare for me to be welcomed by so many people when I went abroad like this, so it’s actually a new thing. I wanted to have a new experience of being welcomed by so many people after a friendly match like this,” he said, explaining why he changed his plans.
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Klinsmann, who took over the reins of the South Korean men’s national soccer team from Bento in February, has not been a fan favorite. He was promised a permanent residence in Korea when he was appointed, but he has been in and out of the limelight with fans and the media due to his frequent trips abroad. Klinsmann has been criticized for his frequent trips to the United States since his days with the German national team. Although Klinsmann said he would “stay in Korea,” he has already traveled abroad four times in his first six months, spending only 67 days in the country. There were concerns on the field that he wasn’t watching the K-Leaguers properly, and in the case of Ahn Hyun-beom (Jeonbuk Hyundai), who made his A-Match debut, he was criticized for not knowing how to utilize him by selecting him without watching him. While there are criticisms about the frustrating performance, it is more about the emotional discomfort of continuing his personal and independent career as a ‘world-class celebrity’ rather than a Korean coach. He was interviewed for nearly an hour by on-site reporters including Sports Chosun on the sidelines of the second match of the A-Match Europe, but said, “You don’t have to watch the K League,” and “I won’t change. If you don’t like it, find another coach,” he said, adding fuel to the fire of angry fans.
In his return interview, Klinsmann said the team was on a positive path, and he wanted to evaluate himself at the Asian Cup in Qatar in January. “It’s all about getting to the Asian Cup. We’re confident that we’re going to do well. Of course, if we don’t do well, we will be criticized and tested. That’s the fate of a coach. But I have a lot of experience with tournaments,” he continued. “We don’t have much time until the October A matches. After the October A matches, we have the World Cup qualifiers. I’m in Korea now, but I’ll be traveling back and forth to watch the games in Europe.” As for rumors of interest from the recently vacated German national team, Klinsmann dismissed them, saying, “Right now I’m focused on winning the Asian Cup.” Finally, Klinsmann called for positive support. “No matter how strong we are internally, if you create negative publicity externally, the team will falter,” he said. “That’s what happened to Germany at the World Cup in Qatar. Everything was negative, and they were eliminated in the group stage. The national team is the people’s team. Until the Asian Cup, if everyone creates a positive atmosphere, a good result will be possible,” he said. As promised, he visited a K League game shortly after returning home to interact with fans.