Jürgen Klinsmann, head coach of the Germany national soccer team, made an appearance at the Soongui Arena (also known as the Incheon Football Stadium).
Klinsmann was in town to watch the second leg of the 2023-24 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League (ACL) Group G match between Incheon United and “Philippine Champions” Kaya FC Iloilo (Philippines) on Wednesday. Klinsmann watched the match from the press box with the Korean Football Association (KFA) staff.
According to Incheon officials, Klinsmann informed the club of his intention to attend the game on the day before the match.
Klinsmann, who coached two A matches in Europe last month (Wales-Saudi Arabia), traveled to South Korea with the national team due to the negative publicity. He was thought to be working in South Korea, but left for his home in Los Angeles, California, on March 20, just five days after arriving.
Naturally, the public sentiment turned even colder. In addition, fan sentiment worsened when Klinsmann appeared on ESPN, a global sports media outlet, and worked harder on the sidelines, including predicting English Premier League (EPL) matches. The ‘foreign oil’ controversy continued.
Still unable to clear up the controversy, Klinsmann stepped foot on South Korean soil once again about 10 days before the team’s exhibition match against Tunisia on the 13th. He immediately started watching the K League.
However, it is unclear what Klinsmann’s intentions were when he traveled to the stadium to watch Incheon play. There were no Incheon players on the 24-man roster for the October A match. In fact, Klinsmann hasn’t selected an Incheon player since taking over the national team in March. The opposing team, Kaya, also has no Koreans.아톰카지노
Considering Klinsmann’s actions, such as canceling a trip to Bayern Munich last month to return to Korea, it’s hard not to feel like he’s watching Incheon and Kaya’s match with an eye toward criticism that he’s not following the K League. The day before the game, Klinsmann announced the 24 Taeguk Warriors who will play in the October A match.
Of course, it’s also possible that Klinsmann watched the Incheon game to better understand Korean and Asian soccer.
On April 4, Klinsmann will travel to Pohang to watch the ACL group stage match between the Pohang Steelers and Wuhan Shenzhen (China).
Ahead of the A match against Tunisia and Vietnam, Klinsmann will start working with the national team players at the Paju National Football Center (NFC) at 2 p.m. on the 9th. Klinsmann will hold a media conference on the same day to explain the background of the player selection.
No Responses