Korea face Saudi Arabia as Klinsmann criticism grows

Korea’s upcoming friendly with Saudi Arabia on Tuesday means either redemption or further humiliation for national team manager Jurgen Klinsmann.

Korean national team manager Jurgen Klinsmann, second from right, trains with his squad at Cardiff International Sports Campus in Britain on Friday. [KOREA FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION]

Korea’s upcoming friendly with Saudi Arabia on Tuesday means either redemption or further humiliation for national team manager Jurgen Klinsmann.

The Taeguk Warriors recorded a goalless draw with Wales in a friendly on Thursday last week, extending Klinsmann’s winless streak to five games with Korea.

Even before Thursday’s draw, he held the title of the only foreign manager in Korean history to not secure a win in their first four matches in charge — a 2-2 draw with Colombia and 2-1 loss to Uruguay in March and 1-0 loss to Peru and 1-1 draw with El Salvador in June.

Korea will need to improve on a number of factors to be in with a chance of securing Klinsmann’s first win. The team lacked cohesion overall against Wales, failing to make solid goal-scoring opportunities and showing vulnerability in defense.

Despite having forwards Son Heung-min and Cho Gue-sung — both in solid form with their respective clubs — play together, the team only managed three shots while allowing 10.

The midfielders did not seriously press Wales hard enough, allowing them to make threatening passes in dangerous positions.

Klinsmann regularly touts his aggressive approach to football and even said during a press conference in March that he would rather win a game 4-3 than 1-0, but his side has only managed four goals in five games, while conceding six.

Saudi Arabia, however, have also struggled since beating Argentina — who later went on to win the Qatar World Cup — in the World Cup group stage last year.

Since the 2-1 victory over Argentina, the Middle Eastern side have only secured one win in the Arabia Gulf Cup group stage and lost all friendlies.

The most recent 3-1 loss against Costa Rica on Friday last week came despite new manager Roberto Mancini taking the helm. Mancini is an Italian manager who won multiple titles, including the Euro 2020 with Italy.

The team still showed a good performance against Costa Rica despite the loss, recording over 60 percent ball possession and managing seven shots on target out of 13 in total.

Failing to manage a win against Saudi Arabia, however, will only exacerbate public criticism of Klinsmann.

Since his appointment, Klinsmann has faced criticism for a perceived lack of tactics, a critique that has followed him throughout his managerial career. Those comments resurfaced last week after the Wales draw.

That is not the only criticism he has received. Korean fans are also unhappy that Klinsmann has not been staying in Korea to watch K League players in action, instead going overseas to monitor Europe-based players.

Despite the criticism, Klinsmann has a firm position about the matter.

“The only way for me to improve this team and this program is I come to Europe say hello and I talk to people all day long,” he said in an interview released by football YouTube channel Dalsu Live on Monday. “When I come to Korea, in and out, in and out, that is the only way I can improve. If not, it’s better somebody else. No problem.”

He was also included in Bayern Munich’s legends squad for a charity game against Chelsea in London on Saturday, raising speculation that he may have chosen to have the Korean national team in London to allow him to take part, despite playing Saudi Arabia in Newcastle — about 248 miles away from London.

A Korea Football Association official, however, said Friday that Klinsmann will not play in the charity game, although it is true that he was invited.

Klinsmann’s squad completed training in London and headed to Newcastle on Monday.

The friendly with Saudi Arabia will kick off at St James’ Park on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. or on Wednesday at 1:30 a.m. in Korea.

Tuesday’s match will wrap up the two friendly-series this month. The Taeguk Warriors will then gather again in October as they take on Tunisia on home soil.

A sign of improvement in the upcoming friendlies is crucial for Klinsmann, as he will face his first real test when Korea participates in the AFC Asian Cup in January next year.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]