The Korean national team has lost the honor it gained at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The South Korean national soccer team, led by head coach Jurgen Klinsmann, lost 0-2 to Jordan in the semifinals of the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Qatar Asian Cup at Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayan, Qatar, at 0 a.m. on the 7th (Korea time).
Korea was expected to win, but Korea struggled as Jordan came out actively. Pass misses came out several times in the rear area and Jordan made the threatening scene more often. Cho Hyun-woo showed brilliant defense and overcame the crisis. The first half ended 0-0 without scoring.
Jordan scored the first goal. Al-Naimat blocked Park Yong-woo’s back pass at the eighth minute of the second half and entered the net. Al-Naimat calmly scored with a shot that crossed the goalkeeper’s height in a one-on-one situation. Jordan widened the score. At the 21st minute of the second half, Al-Tamari came to the center as he beat the defense from the right side and scored with a left-footed shot. In the end, the game ended with Korea’s 0-2 loss.
About a year ago, the Korean national team made a new history in Qatar. At that time, head coach Paulo Bento took the helm of the Korean national team. There was controversy over issues such as selection and appointment of players, but head coach Bento explained why he chose the players. Even when the performance was not good, head coach Bento gave an answer to the soccer he envisioned.
Bento’s tenacity led to good results. South Korea was in Group H along with Uruguay, Portugal and Ghana. There was no easy team. South Korea tied 0-0 against Uruguay in the first leg. It was a good performance, more than I thought it was a relief. In the second leg, they lost 2-3 after a close match against Ghana.
In order for Korea to advance to the round of 16, it had to beat Portugal in the third match. He was dragged to the ground by allowing a loss in the early hours, but Kim Young-kwon scored an equalizer. Son Heung-min’s counterattack and Hwang Hee-chan’s finishing goal made the team a 2-1 come-from-behind victory. The team will be able to advance to the round of 16 depending on the outcome of the match between Uruguay and Ghana. Uruguay beat Ghana 2-0. They had the same goal difference, but Korea advanced to the round of 16 with multiple goals scored. It was the first achievement in 12 years since the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
At the end of the 2022 라바카지노주소 World Cup in Qatar, Bento said goodbye to the Korean national team. Klinsmann came as a replacement. At the time of his appointment, there were many concerns about Klinsmann. Klinsmann has been away from the scene for a long time and has not shown good performance as a coach. Moreover, the evaluation of Klinsmann was not good due to Philippe Rahm’s revelation that he lacked tactics.
Klinsmann often became the subject of controversy. Rather than residing in Korea, he spent his time overseas and announced the national team roster in writing without any press conference. The move was different from previous coaches who led the national team. However, Klinsmann was confident in his way. Klinsmann steadily expressed confidence to win the Asian Cup.
South Korea has not been at the top since the 1960 Asian Cup. There was a lot of public opinion that this tournament was the right time to win. There were many players showing off their best skills in Europe, including Son Heung-min, Lee Kang-in, Kim Min-jae, and Hwang Hee-chan. The Korean national team started the Asian Cup with a lot of expectation.
However, they continued to display poor performance in the group stages and advanced to the round of 16 as the second-ranked team in the group. Both the matches against Saudi Arabia in the round of 16 and the match against Australia in the quarterfinals took place after a long struggle to advance to the semifinals. As they were hamstrung by Jordan in the semifinals, they had to secure another win.
It was the moment when Korean soccer regressed. Under Bento, Korean soccer has become second to none in the world. However, Coach Klinsmann showed his dependence on individual players’ skills rather than tactics, and led the golden generation to finish their journey in the Asian Cup helplessly. We need to reflect on whether Korean soccer is going in the right direction.
