Jurgen Klinsmann (59), appointed by the Korea Football Association as the new national soccer team coach on the 27th, is a familiar figure to Korean soccer fans. During the 1994 World Cup in the United States, Klinsmann left a strong impression on domestic soccer fans by scoring two goals in the final third game of the group stage against Korea and leading Germany to a 3-2 victory. During the 1988 Seoul Olympics, he visited Korea as a member of the West German national team.
Coach Klinsman’s contract period is about 3 years and 5 months from March to the end of the 2026 World Cup in North and Central America먹튀검증 (USA, Canada, Mexico). According to the agreement between the Korea Football Association and coach Klinsman, the salary will not be disclosed. Manager Klinsman accepted living in Korea as a condition of his contract during his tenure. His predecessor, former coach Paulo Bento, also lived in Korea with his wife. It is the second time after former head coach Uli Stielike that a German coach has taken the helm of the Korean national soccer team. Former coach Stielike led the national team for two years and nine months from September 2014 to June 2017. Coach Klinsman said through the Korea Football Association on the 27th, “I am very happy and honored to be the coach of the Korean national team. He knows very well that Korea has been developing for a long time and producing results. I will do my best to achieve a successful result at the 2026 World Cup.”
Coach Klinsman, who was called the ‘blonde bomber’ as a player, is a world-class striker. He played for the German national team for 11 years from 1987 to 1998, scoring 47 goals in 108 A-match matches. He also participated in the World Cup three times and scored 11 goals in all. He helped Germany win the 1990 World Cup in Italy and the 1996 European Championship by scoring three goals each. He scored 232 goals in 514 league games while playing for clubs such as the German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A, and the English Premier League (EPL). Coach Klinsman also played for Tottenham, Son Heung-min’s team.
After taking off his player uniform, he was also recognized for his skills as a national team leader. In the 2006 World Cup in Germany, where he took part as the conductor of his country’s national team, he placed the team in third place. He received a lot of love from the German people by leading the German national team, which was evaluated as an ‘old tank’ until the tournament, to the Final 4. In the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, he led the United States to the round of 16.
Coach Klinsman played Korea twice head-to-head as his coach, recording 1 win and 1 loss. In December 2004, when he was coach of the German national team, he lost 1-3 to Korea in an A-match held in Busan. In February 2014, when he was the head coach of the U.S. national team, he won 2-0 in an A-match against Korea held in the U.S.
As a club team manager, he did not show any outstanding achievements. In 2008, he took over as coach of Bayern Munich (Germany), but resigned due to poor performance after not completing a year. In November 2019, he rose to the command tower of Hertha Berlin (Germany), but resigned after 77 days after a conflict with the club. Since then, his hiatus as a leader has continued for nearly three years, and there are voices of concern among domestic soccer fans. Manager Klinsman has an excellent ability to dominate his team with charisma based on his brilliant career as a player, but there are also evaluations that he lacks distinct color and detail in terms of tactics.Coach Klinsman, who is scheduled to return to Korea next week, will make his debut as the head coach of the Korean national soccer team on March 24th in a friendly match against Colombia in Ulsan. Coach Klinsman and the Korea Football Association decided to form the coaching staff after discussing opinions, but it is known that FC Seoul’s head of the power reinforcement division, Cha Doo-ri, will be reviewed as one of the candidates. Coach Klinsman and Cha worked together in the FIFA technical research group during the World Cup last year in Qatar. It is said that in the process of contacting the Korea Football Association (KFA) to appoint Klinsmann as head coach, Cha made a bridge.