Jürgen Klinsmann has signed a contract with South Korea until 2026
Quelle: dpa/Andreas Gora
Jürgen Klinsmann makes his comeback on the coaching bench. More than three years after his job at Hertha BSC, the 58-year-old will become the national coach of South Korea. He is to lead the Asian team to the 2026 World Cup.
GExactly 1115 days ago was the last game that Jürgen Klinsmann accompanied from the coaching bench – 1:3 against Mainz 05, as head coach of Hertha BSC. Now the 58-year-old has found a new coaching job. Klinsmann returns at country level and becomes the new national coach of South Korea. This was announced by the association of the Asian country on Monday.
Klinsmann is set to lead South Korea to the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada, and his contract includes that tournament. According to the South Korean association, the former national coach will take up his duties next week, and Klinsmann will also be relocating to South Korea for his term of office. He is also sure of German support in the association: Already at the beginning of January, 57-year-old Michael Müller, who used to work in the youth team of the DFB, was promoted to technical director.
South Korea lost to Brazil in the round of 16 at the World Cup in Qatar (1:4). Immediately afterwards, the Portuguese coach Paulo Bento announced his resignation. Klinsmann is now taking over as successor. “I am very happy and honored to be the head coach of the Korean national soccer team,” said the German in the association’s statement: “I am honored to follow in the footsteps of great coaches who have led the Korean national team, by coach Guus Hiddink to former coach Paulo Bento.”
Third job as national coach
It is Klinsmann’s third appointment as national coach. From 2004 to 2006 and thus also during the summer fairy tale in his own country, he coached the DFB team, between 2011 and 2016 the US selection. At the end of 2019, the inglorious commitment to Hertha BSC followed, which ended in February 2020 with a spectacular resignation via social media. Most recently, Klinsmann was on a FIFA committee at the World Cup that dealt with analyzing the tournament’s playing trends.
Klinsmann will meet with the South Korean squad for the first time in a friendly against Colombia in Ulsan on March 24. They then meet Uruguay on March 28 in Seoul before South Korea take part in the Asian Cup from June 16 to July 16. The tournament will take place at World Cup hosts and defending champions Qatar.
