Provided by OSEN | 2023.03.10 09:30
“I am trying to make the first target to win the 2023 Qatar AFC (Asian Football Confederation) Asian Cup. Furthermore, I want to recreate the World Cup semifinal glory that Korean football has achieved and enjoyed.”
This is the goal set by coach Jurgen Klinsmann (59), who will lead the Korean national soccer team. At the first official press conference held at NFC (National Football Training Center) in Paju on the afternoon of the 9th, Coach Klinsman clearly revealed his direction. It was an ambitious entry ticket that showed a sense of recognizing the various controversies that arose in the process of appointing him as a manager and trying to calm them down.
Of course, it’s just a target you want to hit. “Even if people make things up, it’s up to heaven to accomplish them.” Like this lamentation of Zhuge Liang, there is no way that his intentions will come true. However, the shape of his destiny will inevitably change depending on how director Klinsman demonstrates his capabilities, and it is a goal and a ticket that attracts attention. Wouldn’t it be nothing more than a cause for concern if the national team commander, who had taken the first step with ‘inborn limitations’, would be able to walk down the right path?
Maybe that’s why, as things from 33 years ago suddenly overlapped, I couldn’t help but feel a new bitter feeling. Is it really a leap to think that ‘what is easily obtained is easily thrown away’?
Will Klinsman, holding the ‘delicious cup’, avoid the fate of KTA’s futility?
On August 8, 1990, the Korea Football Association (KFA) announced the replacement of the national team coach ‘suddenly’. It was a ‘surprise selection’ to appoint Ilhwa Chunma (then) coach Park Jong-hwan as the head coach of the national team at the 1990 Beijing Asian Games. Just five days ago, coach Lee Cha-man, who led Korea to its first ever championship by leading Korea to three consecutive victories in the 1st Dynasty Cup, was fired. It was a lightning strike from a clear sky for coach Lee, who was engrossed in planning a gold strategy for the Asian Games without a break after returning home.
As for the KFA, it was the embarrassment of going up and down a lot of gossip. The situation Park was in at the time fueled this. At the end of April of that year, it was coach Park who had not long since returned to the Ilhwa command tower after living like a savage due to the club’s ‘temporary resignation’ measure. Even as a professional team command tower, he was driven into a deep swamp and managed to get out of a crisis situation where he was barely able to escape. “It was a choice that the KFA had no choice but to make because the most powerful person in the first government of the Fifth Republic was behind them,” was said as an open secret.
It goes without saying that at that time, while sitting at the head coach of the national team, Coach Park assured me with one voice, “I will aim for a gold medal in the Asian Games.” In that tournament, Korea only finished third. In the semi-final against Iran, they suffered a blow (0-1) after extra time. In the bronze medal match against Thailand, they won 1-0 thanks to Hwang Bo-gwan’s winning goal. Of course, coach Park, who was just trying to save face, couldn’t avoid the fate of having to step down from the national team coaching tower.
The river and mountain changed four times. However, the KFA administration does not seem to have taken a single step forward. Time seems to be a simple flow of time for KFA. It is regrettable that ‘administration in person’ and ‘administration in closed rooms’ are still prevailing.
The KFA might protest, saying, “We have a well-organized system.” However, as can be seen from the confusion that arose during the process of appointing the national team coach, the complete system did not work at all. It turned out that the Power Reinforcement Committee, which is an agreement, was not in operation. It is truly shocking to see that there has never been a single attempt at sympathy to form a consensus between Michael Müller, chairman of the Power Reinforcement Committee, and members of the committee.
Moreover, Chairman Müller’s out-of-body excuses were like pouring fuel on a burning house. “Tactics is not everything in football. Teamwork and management of star players are more important”, “I was appointed considering his human nature and interest in the Korean national soccer team coach rather than ability”, “I cannot follow Bento’s soccer philosophy”, etc. raised questions and raised controversy. It became the fuse that amplified it. Some people said, “Didn’t you follow the will of the high-ranking officials in a situation where Chairman Mueller didn’t know? I feel sorry for him, who was just a shield.”
Director Klinsman may also fall into a scapegoat. As the proverb goes, “dried persimmons are sweet to eat first,” he grabbed the job as head coach of the Korean national soccer team, but he doesn’t know when and which fate he will face. A coach of a country’s national team is often described as a ‘poisoned Holy Grail’.
The KFA completed the selection process for the national team coach without much effort. When director Klinsman suddenly emerged as a candidate after no explanation was given about his selection process, it is impossible to erase the impression that he made a hasty decision and announced it.
It is natural for a person to feel that the result is more valuable when he puts all his effort and sincerity into it. It is difficult to feel the value of what comes easily. It is not uncommon to throw things away without thinking about them without knowing how precious they are. However, what is easy to overlook at this time is that you can fall into the empty space you created.
At the Qatar AFC Asian Cup, which will be held in January and February next year, will coach Klinsman hit the target with his first title in 64 years? I don’t know if the Korean national team’s record will determine his fate.
Former Best Eleven Editor-in-Chief
[저작권자 @머니투데이, 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]