Jurgen Klinsmann, manager of South Korean national team, looks on during the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup semifinals against Jordan at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Al-Rayyan, Qatar, February 6, 2024. /CFP
Jurgen Klinsmann, manager of the South Korean men's national football team, has been sacked, the Korean Football Association (KFA) announced on Friday.
"The KFA has decided to change the national head coach following a comprehensive review," South Korean football governing body president Chung Mong-gyu said in a statement. "Klinsmann has failed to display managerial capability and leadership expected of a national head coach in areas ranging from tactics, personnel management to work attitude and others required to bring about competitiveness to the team."
Son Heung-min of South Korea runs in the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup semifinals against Jordan at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Al-Rayyan, Qatar, February 6, 2024. /CFP
An advisory committee within the KFA on Thursday suggested firing Klinsmann, who took over the team less than a year ago. South Korea failed to end their 64-year-long Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup title drought under Klinsmann in Qatar in February. Despite boasting one of the best squads on paper in the tournament, South Korea were knocked out by Jordan in the semifinals, a match in which they failed to muster a single shot on target.
"Klinsmann's attitude and competitiveness as head coach has fallen short of people's expectations and it was agreed that this would not be improved going forward," Chung said. "So we have decided to change leadership ahead of 2026 World Cup qualifying games."
Klinsmann has been working from Los Angeles, California, instead of in South Korea, for most of the time since he became South Korea's manager. KFA's technical director, Hwang Bo-Kwan, considered this "disrespectful" towards the public.
Lee Kang-in of South Korea passes in the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup semifinals against Jordan at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Al-Rayyan, Qatar, February 6, 2024. /CFP
Firing Klinsmann only partially eases South Korea's troubles because a brawl between star players Son Heung-min and Lee Kang-in has continued to haunt the team, though both apologized after it happened.
At the dinner before the Asian Cup semifinal match against Jordan, Lee and several young players went to play table tennis after finishing their meals quickly. It has been reported that Son asked them to return to the table, and the two sides first exchanged words before the argument turned physical. Son injured his finger in the fight.
Son, 31, captains Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League and is seen as South Korea's best player on their roster. Lee, 22, plays for Paris Saint-Germain and is considered a rising star for the national team.