Former Coach Heo Choke: "Months of Effort Destroyed by Players' Physical Fights"

Austrian Media Op-Ed Blames Players
"Claiming Jeong Mong-gyu Pressured Our Dismissal"

"The physical fight between Son Heung-min and Lee Kang-in the day before an important match destroyed months of effort"

Andreas Herzog (55, photo), former head coach who left the South Korean national football team along with former coach J?rgen Klinsmann, spoke out. In an article contributed to his home country's Austrian media Kronen Zeitung, he blamed the players.

Andreas Herzog, former head coach of the South Korean national football team
Photo by Yonhap News

In the article on the 16th (local time), Herzog said, "After achieving good results in the Asian Cup, Klinsmann and I expected to continue working in Korea," adding, "This was especially true because we met the requirements to extend the contract until after the 2026 World Cup." He and Klinsmann were reportedly satisfied just with the fact that the team reached the semifinals of the Asian Cup. He continued, "There was tremendous pressure on Chung Mong-gyu, the president of the Korea Football Association," and expressed regret, saying, "(President Chung) always supported us but eventually had to give in."

Herzog argued that the players and the media should take responsibility for the loss against Jordan. He said, "No one expected that the night before an important match, top stars Son Heung-min and Lee Kang-in would get into a scuffle, causing generational conflict within the team," adding, "The emotional physical fight naturally affected the team spirit." He also pointed out, "We only saw them at training, but I had never experienced this in the dining hall," and criticized, "Everything we had painstakingly built up over several months was destroyed in just a few minutes." Herzog also blamed the media. He wrote, "The year in Korea was short but rewarding and beautiful," but "the past few months showed that if the media tries to find something negative, they will definitely find it."

Meanwhile, former coach Klinsmann (59) also repeatedly claimed in a phone interview with German media that the Asian Cup matches were "successful from a sporting perspective." On the 17th, German current affairs magazine Der Spiegel reported that Klinsmann described the matches at the time as "the best," but "when he arrived in Seoul, it was Lunar New Year, and no one had time to talk with him." The phone call between Klinsmann and Der Spiegel appears to have taken place before his dismissal shortly after the Asian Cup.

Even on the 16th, the day his dismissal was decided, Klinsmann received criticism for praising himself on his social media, saying, "An amazing journey of 13 unbeaten matches over 12 months until the semifinals. Keep fighting." Der Spiegel reported that Klinsmann returned to California, USA, where he lives with his wife, and pointed out, "More than any statistics or matches explaining why he is no longer the coach of the Korean national team, it can be summed up in one phrase: 'California is more important to him.'"

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.