Klinsmann’s second opponent in the domestic evaluation match in October was eventually confirmed to be Vietnam. It is the first time in 32 years that the Korean national soccer team has invited a Southeast Asian team to its home stadium to play an international match. With all the European teams convened, they will play an evaluation match against the 95th-ranked team in the FIFA rankings, backed by one-sided cheering.카지노사이트
On the 12th, the Korea Football Association (KFA) said, “Vietnam has been confirmed as the opponent for the national team’s friendly A match to be held on October 17th. As a result, the national team’s friendly matches during the October A-match period will be played against Tunisia on the 13th and Vietnam on the 17th,” he said. “The venue will be Seoul World Cup Stadium for the Tunisia match and Suwon World Cup Stadium for the Vietnam match, and both games will kick off at 8 p.m.” did.
Vietnam, led by coach Philippe Trussier (France), is ranked 95th in the FIFA rankings. It is also the team with the lowest FIFA ranking among the opponents that have played in friendly matches since the launch of Klinsmann (28th). In terms of historical record, Korea has an overwhelming advantage with 17 wins, 5 draws, and 2 losses. The last match was in the second qualifying round of the World Cup in Germany in 2004. The last friendly match against Vietnam was in 1974 in Bangkok, Thailand. It has been 59 years since 1964 that a friendly match was held at home at Hyochang Stadium.
It is the first time in 32 years that not only Vietnam but also Korean soccer has played a friendly match against a relatively weak Southeast Asian team at home. Since clashing with Indonesia at the President’s Cup International Football Tournament held in Daejeon in 1991, no friendly match has been held in Korea against a Southeast Asian team. However, KFA decided to break the trend that had been going on for over 30 years and invite Southeast Asian teams to their home for an evaluation match.
The A-match evaluation match between the Korean national soccer team and the El Salvador national team was held at the Daejeon World Cup Stadium in Yuseong-gu, Daejeon in June. Coach Klinsmann is watching the game in the second half. Coach Jurgen Klinsmann, who took office as the national team coach last March, is determined to achieve his first win through today’s match against El Salvador, ranked 75th in the FIFA rankings.
Regarding the background behind the promotion of a friendly match with Vietnam, the words of KFA and coach Klinsmann are somewhat conflicting. When it was initially announced that a friendly match against Vietnam would be held, the KFA’s position was that Coach Klinsmann wanted a friendly match against a team that defended closely. However, coach Klinsmann explained in a video interview with domestic reporters last month, “I did not want an evaluation match against a weak team.”
KFA’s administrative power is also on the chopping block. Of course, it is true that at the same time, the European Football Championship (Euro) qualifiers are held in Europe, and South American teams are also participating in World Cup qualifiers, so it is not easy to find suitable opponents. However, in the end, it was KFA’s role to schedule an evaluation match with an appropriate opponent, even under difficult conditions. For example, the Japan Football Association has already quickly scheduled a two-game warm-up match against Canada, a rising power in North and Central America, and Tunisia in October, and even announced the time and location of the game early last month. As for the September A-match evaluation match, while Korea will clash with Wales and Saudi Arabia, Japan quickly confirmed and announced a two-game series against Germany and Turkiye.
Above all, it is unclear what Korean soccer will be able to gain from this domestic evaluation match with Vietnam. It is in the same context that we have not invited a Southeast Asian team to our home for over 30 years. At least there is an aspect of experiencing the dense defense opponents that will be faced in next year’s Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup or World Cup qualifiers, but the problem is that confrontations with Asian teams that play dense defense are scheduled to continue in the future.
As of November, Korea will play two consecutive World Cup qualifiers against Singapore, Guam, and China. In the future, there are scheduled schedules that will inevitably require us to meet Asian teams consistently, including the World Cup qualifiers and the Asian Cup finals. Even if we want to avoid confrontations with teams that play close defense, we have no choice but to continue to do so. As we have no choice but to continue to be involved with Asian teams in future World Cup qualifiers, it was more important to schedule friendly matches with teams from other continents or with stronger power, and KFA’s answer was a home friendly match against Vietnam.
Moreover, Klinsmann is a team with the goal of winning the Asian Cup, and in particular, the team composition of this team has a strength that can be evaluated as ‘all-time best’. At least in Asia, this means that you are in a position to find a solution no matter what tactics your opponent uses.
The reason why Southeast Asian teams were excluded from the category of opponents for the A-match evaluation match for a long time was also because there was no income from the evaluation match. At least in 2016, an away friendly match was held in Thailand, but even in that case, the World Cup qualifier match against Kuwait was canceled and due to regulations prohibiting travel to the continent during international matches, a friendly match against an Asian team was forced to take place. This is why it is difficult for fans to easily understand this friendly match against Vietnam, especially the domestic friendly match.
Moreover, the Klinsmann is scheduled for an evaluation match against Saudi Arabia in Newcastle, England, at 1:30 a.m. on the 13th (Korean time). Although it was said that the friendly match against Mexico was canceled, there was still a lot of criticism towards KFA for going on a trip to Europe and arranging a friendly match with a Middle Eastern team as an alternative. This time, they went further and announced that they would invite Vietnam to their home room and play a friendly match.
Coincidentally, Klinsmann has been mired in a swamp of no wins (3 draws, 2 losses) for five games since his debut. Since the introduction of the full-time manager system, the five consecutive games without a win in his debut is a ‘disgraceful’ record, as Klinsmann is the first manager to do so. Looking back at the performance shown under coach Jurgen Klinsmann, it is unclear whether his first win will be possible before the home game against Vietnam. Among fans, there is even a sarcasm saying that the friendly match against Vietnam was scheduled for Klinsmann’s ‘first win’. This is a bittersweet situation for Korean soccer and Klinsmann.