Klinsmann looking to extend undefeated run in S. Korea football coaching debut

All News 10:48 March 23, 2023

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, March 23 (Yonhap) -- When Jurgen Klinsmann makes his much-anticipated South Korea coaching debut Friday night in a friendly against Colombia, he will try to stretch a undefeated run by tacticians in their first matches for the country.

According to the Korea Football Association (KFA), Kim Ho became the first full-time head coach of the men's national football team, prior to the 1994 FIFA World Cup. However, some of his successors also coached the under-23 men's team, and others were on the bench on a temporary basis.

It wasn't until Cha Bum-kun took the reins in 1997 that full-time national team coaching became an established practice.

South Korea head coach Jurgen Klinsmann watches his players during a training session at the National Football Center in Paju, some 30 kilometers northwest of Seoul, on March 21, 2023. (Yonhap)

Not counting caretaker managers, Klinsmann is the 14th men's head coach since Cha.

Six South Koreans and seven foreigners have come before Klinsmann, with one of the homegrown coaches, Huh Jung-moo, overseeing the team in two different stints.

Together, they had eight wins, four draws and one loss in their first matches in charge. That one loss was charged to the Dutchman Guus Hiddink in January 2001, though he went on to become the most successful coach in South Korean football history, after guiding the Taegeuk Warriors to the semifinals at the 2002 World Cup.

Huh lost the first match of his second tour of duty in January 2008, but no national team coach has lost in his debut since then.

Cho Kwang-rae's team defeated Nigeria 2-1 in a friendly in August 2010, and Choi Kang-hee beat Uzbekistan 4-2 in a friendly in February 2012. This is the biggest offensive output in the first match of a new South Korea head coach.

Hong Myung-bo oversaw a goalless draw against Australia at the East Asian Football Federation East Asian Cup in July 2013. Some 15 months later, German coach Uli Stielike led South Korea to a 2-0 win over Paraguay in a friendly.

South Korea head coach Jurgen Klinsmann (R) watches his players during a training session at the National Football Center in Paju, some 30 kilometers northwest of Seoul, on March 22, 2023. (Yonhap)

His successor, Shin Tae-yong, coached a goalless draw with Iran in his debut in a World Cup qualifying match in August 2017.

Paulo Bento, hailing from Portugal, won his first match with South Korea, beating Costa Rica 2-0 in a friendly in September 2018. Midfielder Lee Jae-sung scored South Korea's first goal in that match and is back on Klinsmann's team this month.

Bento enjoyed the longest tenure in South Korean men's national team history, capping off his four-plus years in charge with a trip to the round of 16 at last year's World Cup in Qatar.

Now comes Klinsmann, the German football legend who won the 1990 World Cup as a player and finished third at the 2006 World Cup as head coach of his native country.

The kickoff between South Korea and Colombia is 8 p.m. Friday at Munsu Football Stadium in Ulsan, some 310 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

After that, South Korea will host Uruguay at 8 p.m. Tuesday at Seoul World Cup Stadium.