Former national coach Jürgen Klinsmann also wants to live in the East Asian country for his new job as head coach of the South Korean national soccer team.
He was able to meet all the criteria for the coach selection “and he is ready to stay here in (South) Korea,” said the technical director of the South Korean Football Association (KFA), Michael Müller, in Seoul. He is looking forward to welcoming Klinsmann to South Korea in the next few days.
The association had announced the day before that the former German international would be the new coach of the 2002 World Cup fourth-placed team. Accordingly, Klinsmann’s contract runs until the end of the World Cup in 2026. The native Swabian will succeed the Portuguese Paulo Bento, who announced his departure after the South Koreans were eliminated from the round of 16 at the World Cup in Qatar.
prevailed against numerous candidates
According to Müller, Klinsmann had prevailed against initially 61 candidates for the post of head coach. Five coaches from abroad were finally shortlisted, until finally only two were left. The conversation with Klinsmann that followed went so well “that we made a clear decision,” said Müller, who used to work in the youth division of the German Football Association (DFB). He did not name any other candidates.
In addition to specialist knowledge, experience, motivation and ability to work in a team, environmental factors including the willingness to live in South Korea were one of the five KFA selection criteria. Klinsmann convinced him with “his strong personality”, said Müller. He is not only a coach, but also a manager and motivator. “He wants success.”
For Klinsmann it is the third job as national coach. From summer 2004 to summer 2006 he looked after the German national team – including at the home World Cup almost 17 years ago. From July 2011 to November 2016, the now 58-year-old ex-professional was the US national coach. He is due to make his debut as coach of the South Korean national team on March 24 in an international match against Colombia.
