The Korean Football Association has fired its manager, Tottenham Hotspur legend Jurgen Klinsmann, after its disappointing semifinal loss to Jordan in the Asian Cup, and in the wake of an explosive incident involving a fight between two of its stars.
We reported a couple of days ago that news was leaked — likely by the KFA itself — of a physical altercation over a ping-poing game between Korea players that involved Korea and Spurs captain Son Heung-Min and PSG player Lee Kang-in and that resulted in Son dislocating two of his fingers. Son can be seen sporting a bandage on his right hand during Tottenham’s 2-1 win over Brighton last weekend.
The incident has spread like wildfire throughout the Korean media and was apparently the last straw for the Korean federation; after a recent meeting of high-ranking Korean football executives, it was recommended that Klinsmann be fired after less than a year in charge. Announcing his termination, KFA president Chung Mong-gyu didn’t give a boilerplate “we thank Jurgen for his service” statement, but rather a detailed explanation of how and why he failed.
“The KFA has decided to change the national head coach following a comprehensive review.
“Coach Klinsmann failed to demonstrate leadership that we expected from the national team coach, including game management, player management and work attitude, which elevate the competitiveness of the national team.
“Klinsmann’s attitude and competitiveness as head coach has fallen short of people’s expectations and it was agreed that this would not be improved going forward, so we have decided to change leadership ahead of 2026 World Cup qualifying games.”
Ouch.
Klinsmann has been extremely unpopular among Korean football fans since his appointment. Under his leadership Korea has obviously underachieved, and despite a great deal of talent including Son, Lee, and Wolves striker Hwang Hee-chan, they never really showed a whole lot of offensive efficacy in the Asian Cup and significantly underwhelmed. They failed to register a single shot on target in the semifinal loss against Jordan and Klinsmann’s tactics were dubbed “Zombie football” by an unimpressed Korean media, despite a 13 match unbeaten streak during Klinsmann’s tenure.
Son has not spoken publicly about Klinsmann’s tenure or his opinions about playing under the former Tottenham legend, which is almost certainly the right course of action. Instead, as Korean captain Son has repeatedly tried to shoulder the vast bulk of Korea’s perceived failures as a football team, asking fans to criticize him as team captain rather than focus ire on other players.
It’s not known yet who Korea will appoint to replace Klinsmann, but the KFA will want a new head coach in soon so the team can shift its focus to World Cup 2026 qualifying.