“The goal is to continue to grow…it’s important to play the Asian Cup with the right roster”
Choi Yoon-jung Correspondent Lee Young-ho = “I think this is a good opportunity to check the players for the World Cup qualifiers starting in November and the Asian Cup early next year.”
When asked about the “color of football” they are trying to achieve, the answer was “preparing for the Asian Cup,” which is a bit of a departure from the expectations of football fans.
The South Korean national soccer team, coached by Jürgen Klinsmann, drew 0-0 with Wales at Cardiff City Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, on Sept. 8 (KST) in their first September A match, recording only one shot on target.
Against the Welsh (35th), who are ranked lower than Korea (28th) in the FIFA rankings, Klinsmann’s men were out-shot 4-10 and had only 1-4 shots on target.
They were fortunate to keep a clean sheet thanks to saves from Kim Seung Kyu (Al-Shabaab) and some Welsh ‘goalkeeping bad luck’.
Klinsmann’s team struggled with Wales’ thick defense and forward pressure, failing to build up properly, and the overlapping of the left and right fullbacks and the lack of killer passes from the central midfield led to a fundamental question: what is football for?
“I would say it’s a process, it’s necessary,” Klinsmann said in his official post-match press conference, after five games without a win (three draws and two losses), “and I think it’s a good opportunity to check the players in preparation for the 2026 North and Central American World Cup qualifiers starting in November and the Asian Cup in Qatar early next year.”
When asked about the ‘color of football’ in particular, Klinsmann said: “You need to see the players’ abilities and capabilities through matches. “We’re going through a generational change. The coaching staff is constantly thinking about it.”
The following is a one-on-one interview with Klinsmann.
— How did you feel about the game?
It was a very difficult game. Both teams struggled to execute their game plan and didn’t create many chances on goal. But it was an evenly matched game.
We had a lot of difficulty breaking down their back five. They defended well. It was a good game for us to see how we need to prepare and execute against a team like Wales.
— On what he wanted to show against Wales.
First of all, we want to continue to grow the national team. As you saw today, we had a lot of young players on the field, and we need to see how they develop. The young players need to get some game time and see how they perform.
On the road to the Asian Cup, it’s important to see how the younger players can work together with leaders like Son Heung-min (Tottenham), Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich) and Lee Jae-sung (Mainz).
There have been a lot of changes compared to the March A match. We have a lot of younger players, who will have to prove themselves on the pitch.
— Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain) was not able to join us. Our assessment of the new players is.
Lee is a talented and creative player who can surprise you on the pitch. We need creative players like him when the opponent plays five at the back and it’s difficult to break down the defense, but it’s a shame he wasn’t able to join us today.
Yang Hyun-joon, who I saw play for Celtic (Scotland), also did well at the end. It will be very important to see how much he grows and develops.
We struggled in attack today. It was quite difficult to break down the Welsh backline, and we struggled to penetrate deep into their territory in our attack. It’s interesting to see the growth and development of the national team with the new players coming in.
— How we utilized Son Heung-min.
Heung-min is always a challenge no matter what position he plays because opponents always have two or three dedicated markers.
Today, he started in the center, but he tried to create space for himself a lot, and there were scenes where he dropped down and got a goal.
There were also scenes where he shot while creating space, and that’s the kind of player he is. Obviously, he had a difficult game, but I’m happy with his performance today.
— In the buildup, there were crosses and back passes. What is your solution?
Of course, it would have been nice to have more forward passes, but the opponent’s defense was tight and there was no space. When we have space, we can make forward passes and play aggressively. We ended up passing the ball around a lot to find passing lanes.
Depending on the opponent’s game plan, our game plan has to be different. It would be nice to play a lot of aggressive forward passes, but the way they played today made that difficult.카지노
— On the color of the Klinsmann.
I would say it’s a process, and it’s a good opportunity to check the players in preparation for the 2026 North and Central American World Cup qualifiers starting in November and the Asian Cup in Qatar early next year.
We’ve seen quite a bit in the five games so far today. The national team goes through a lot of generational changes between World Cups, and you see new players come in and play, and I think we’re going through a generational change right now.
The coaching staff and I are still trying to figure out which players to include in the final roster. I think it’s going to be good.