Korean coach: 'Vietnam is a weak opponent'
The comment was made by Klinsmann in an online press conference with Korean media yesterday, August 21. The new Korean coach said he would like to meet Brazil, Argentina or England, but in October, Europe has a Euro 2024 qualifier and South America a 2026 World Cup qualifier.
Korea ranked 28th FIFA, 67 places higher than Vietnam. The friendly match between the two teams will take place in Korea on October 17 during the FIFA days. Coach Klinsmann said: "I have never wanted to play against a weaker opponent, but that is the most suitable solution right now. I want to prepare for the World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers so I am looking for an Asian team, so I choose Vietnam".
Meeting Vietnam is seen as an opportunity for Korea to experience confronting a large defense and find a way to neutralize it. Due to the focus group for the FIFA days team, Korea will have the strongest force including stars Son Heung-min (Tottenham), Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), Hwang Hee-chan (Wolves), Lee Kang -in (PSG) or Lee Jae-sung (Mainz 05).
The last time the two teams met was in the second qualifying round of the 2006 World Cup with a 2-1 victory in September 2004. In six confrontations, Korea won five, and the only defeat was 0-1 in the 2004 Asian Cup qualifiers with the goal of Pham Van Quyen's life.
Coach Klinsmann accepted to lead Korea in February 2023, replacing his predecessor Paulo Bento after the kimchi team stopped in the 1/8 round of the 2022 World Cup. After four friendly matches, Korea drew Colombia in turn. 2-2, El Salvador 1-1, lost to Uruguay 1-2 and Peru 0-1.
In September, Korea will train in Europe, meeting Wales and Saudi Arabia respectively. In October, the team faced Tunisia before meeting Vietnam.
Klinsmann is a legendary German football striker, who won the World Cup in 1990, Euro 1996. In the history of scoring and playing for the national team, he is fourth with 47 goals and eighth with 108 games. As a coach, he led the German team to win the third prize of the 2006 World Cup, and then brought the United States to the round of 16 of the 2014 World Cup.
