SEOUL, Jurgen Klinsmann, on his way out as head coach of the South Korean men’s national football team, has blamed the country’s disappointing showing at a recent tournament on disharmony among players rather than tactical issues, a senior South Korean football official said Thursday.

Hwangbo Kwan, technical director of the Korea Football Association (KFA), made the revelation following a meeting of the National Team Committee at the KFA headquarters in Seoul. After reviewing South Korea’s elimination in the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup in Qatar, the committee members decided to recommend Klinsmann’s dismissal to the KFA’s Executive Board.

KFA President Chung Mong-gyu will have the final say on Klinsmann’s fate.

Hwangbo said participants of the meeting laid out “a number of reasons” why Klinsmann, who attended the meeting via video, could no longer function as the national team’s head coach.

Hwangbo said the committee members discussed South Korea’s lack of tactical struc
ture at the AFC tournament, especially in the 2-0 loss to Jordan in the semifinals.

It was South Korea’s second meeting against Jordan in the tournament, following a 2-2 draw during the group stage.

“Participants said we were not tactically prepared to play Jordan in the semifinals, even though we were playing them for the second time,” Hwangbo said. “Klinsmann said there was some discord within the team and it affected the team’s performance on the field.”

Hwangbo and Klinsmann were referring to a row that took place on the eve of the semifinals. British media first reported on Wednesday that national team captain Son Heung-min had dislocated a finger in his right hand during a scuffle with midfielder Lee Kang-in over a game of table tennis during team dinner. The KFA promptly acknowledged the incident happened and Lee apologized for his role in the case. Klinsmann is believed to have been present when the players came to blows but couldn’t prevent it from happening.

The case could degenerate into a “he
said/she said” saga, with Lee’s legal representatives denying on Thursday that he had thrown a punch at Son as has been widely reported.

Against this backdrop, participants of Thursday’s meeting questioned Klinsmann’s leadership, Hwangbo said.

“They said Klinsmann didn’t even get a pulse of the team and wasn’t aware of the conflict among his players,” Hwangbo said. “The members said Klinsmann was not able to set proper rules and guidelines for the team.”

According to Hwangbo, Klinsmann “did not acknowledge his lack of tactical preparation” at the Asian Cup. At his previous coaching stops, Klinsmann had been criticized for not offering his teams much tactical instruction, if any, and in some instances, players are said to have held their own tactical meetings because Klinsmann didn’t organize any.

As for the Son-Lee incident, Hwangbo said the KFA was in the process of ascertaining more details of the case as they emerge, and the national governing body will make further statements as necessary.

Asked abou
t the possibility that players could be disciplined in connection with the incident, Hwangbo said, “This is not the moment to comment on that.”

Source: Yonhap News Agency