German manager Jurgen Klinsmann faces calls from an advisory committee for the South Korean FA to be sacked.
Klinsmann failed to get South Korea to the Asian Cup final earlier this month, with his side losing 2-0 to Jordan in the semi-finals on February 6. Jordan then went onto lose the final 3-1 to Qatar last weekend.
But despite Klinsmann’s contract running through the 2026 World Cup, the advisory committee has recommended the South Korean FA sack him immediately. An executive board will make the final decision on the former USA manager’s future.
“For various reasons, there was a conclusion that coach Klinsmann can no longer exercise leadership as the national team’s coach and needs to be replaced,” Hwang Bo-Kwan, South Korean FA’s technical director Bo-Kwan Hwang, said on Thursday.
South Korea fans criticised Klinsmann’s demeanour during the Asian Cup, arguing that he smiled too often when things weren’t going well during games. Unconvincing results meant that South Korea only just managed to scrape through to the knockout stages, while penalties were needed in the last 16 against Saudi Arabia.
A 96th-minute penalty was needed to take their quarter-final against Australia to extra-time, before the Socceroos received a red card to hand their opponents the advantage.
South Korea eventually came unstuck in the semi-finals, though, when Jordan – a team that only managed to draw with in the group stages and who are ranked 64 place below them in the FIFA rankings – dispatched them.
While on-field performances failed to live up to expectations, Klinsmann’s off-field attitude has also faced criticism. Indeed, Bo-Kwan Hwang also branded the 59-year-old “disrespectful” for his decision to conduct much of his work from Los Angeles, USA, rather than South Korea – which he had originally promised when taking the job.
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