The coaching staff of the national soccer team is having a hectic early May. This is to thoroughly prepare for the national team’s short- and long-term projects, such as future international competitions and A-matches.
Coach Jurgen Klinsmann (Germany) is focusing on the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup, which will be held in Qatar in January and February next year. He visited the Seoul World Cup Stadium on Children’s Day and watched the 11th round match between FC Seoul and Jeonbuk Hyundai in the ‘Hana 1 Q K League 1 2023’ and left for Doha, Qatar on the 7th. Coach Klinsmann, accompanied by Korea Football Association (KFA) Michael Müller National Team Strengthening Committee (Germany), attended the ‘Post World Cup Coaching Forum’ held in Doha on the 8th and 9th, followed by watching the Asian Cup group draw on the 11th and returned. .스포츠토토
Next year’s Asian Cup, in which 24 countries will compete, is the first test stage for ‘Klinsman’ looking forward to the 2026 World Cup, which will be held in three North and Central American countries (Canada, the United States, and Mexico) in three years. Although Korea has prided itself on being the best in Asia, it has rarely had a relationship with winning the Asian Cup. Two consecutive championships in 1956 and 1960 are all. Since then, only runner-up has been runner-up four times (1972, 1980, 1988, 2015), and in the quarterfinals of the 2019 tournament, ‘Bentuho’ was caught by Qatar. Korea was placed in Pot 1 along with Qatar, Japan, Iran, Australia and Saudi Arabia in this group draw.
Right after he took office, “My first goal is to win the Asian Cup. I can’t be satisfied with the finals and the runner-up. Coach Klinsman, who repeatedly emphasized that he goes out to win all competitions, inspects the stadium, training ground, and accommodations that the national team will use after the draw.
Unlike coach Klinsman, who resides in Korea, coaches staying in Europe are concentrating on checking overseas players for the second A-match in June, which will lead to Peru and El Salvador. Head coach Andreas Herzog (Austria), who checked midfielder Hong Hyeon-seok (Ghent), who is active in Belgium in April, watched the English Premier League (EPL) match against Aston Villa, where striker Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton) played, in England on the 7th. He encouraged the players behind him.
Coach Paolo Stringara (Italy) watched the Portuguese Primeira Liga match in Lisbon on the 6th and checked the condition of central defender Park Ji-soo (Portimonense). Park Ji-soo, who fell out of the final entry for the 2022 Qatar World Cup due to an unexpected injury, has been on the European stage since the beginning of this year at the recommendation of former coach Paulo Bento (Portugal). In particular, it is unclear whether Kim Min-jae (Napoli), who is scheduled for basic military training, will join in the second A-match in June, so Park Ji-soo’s inspection is meaningful in many ways.