With crisp offense, Korea get monkey off Klinsmann's back

Son Heung-min of Korea, right, dribbles past Ali Al-Bulaihi of Saudi Arabia during the teams' friendly football match at St. James' Park in Newcastle, England, Sept. 12. Reuters-Yonhap

It took half a dozen matches but Jurgen Klinsmann finally has a victory as head coach of the Korean men's national football team.

Korea blanked Saudi Arabia 1-0 at St. James' Park in Newcastle, England, on Tuesday (local time), for their first win under Klinsmann in six matches. It came on the heels of a lethargic goalless draw against Wales last Thursday.

The German-born coach can thank his players' crisp offense, not to mention some lucky bounces that led to the winning goal against Saudi Arabia.

Against Saudi Arabia, Klinsmann doled out almost the identical starting lineup from the Wales match. Only midfielder Hong Hyun-seok, who left the senior national team to join the under-24 squad getting ready for the Asian Games next week, was replaced by Wolverhampton Wanderers winger Hwang Hee-chan.

Despite the minimal change, Korea played as though they were an entirely different team.

They peppered Saudi Arabia with 19 shot attempts, including nine on goal. If not for some heroics by Saudi Arabian goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Owais, the match could have been a lopsided affair for Korea.

Against Wales, Korea managed one harmless shot on target, and their offense looked disjointed for the most part.

Facing Saudi Arabia, Korea looked much sharper and determined on offense. Attackers made smart off-ball movements to create passing lanes and stretch the defense, with some deft passes poking holes through the Saudi wall.

Korea head coach Jurgen Klinsmann smiles during his team's friendly football match against Saudi Arabia at St. James' Park in Newcastle, England, Sept. 12. Reuters-Yonhap

Cho Gue-sung scored the match's only goal in the 32nd minute, when he found himself in the right place at the right time to head in the loose ball after an ill-fated clearing attempt by defender Ali Al-Bulaihi.

Korea beat Saudi Arabia for 1st win under Klinsmann

2023-09-13 08:29 | Sports

But some creativity on Korea's part caused Al-Bulaihi to commit that mistake in the first place.

Lee Jae-sung centered the ball from the right side toward Son Heung-min, who faked taking the pass and instead let the ball roll through the wickets.

Hwang In-beom was the recipient of the ball behind Son, and by the time Hwang tried to feed the ball up front, Saudi Arabian defenders were scrambling to establish their positions. An off-balance Al-Bulaihi ended up kicking the ball up in the air, and as it floated toward the net, Cho got under it and headed it past Al-Owais.

Son was the creative engine for Korea, the captain coming to the rescue of his beleaguered head coach with an inspired performance.

He fired a couple of left-footed shots at Al-Owais, and was unlucky not to be awarded a penalty in the 35th minute when he was brought down by Hassan Al-Tambakti in the area.

Football statistics site FotMob credited Son with seven "key passes," or those that directly led to a goal attempt by a teammate.

On the defensive end, Korea survived some dicey moments caused by turnovers and botched passes, though they didn't affect the final outcome.

Klinsmann, who was appointed Korea's new boss in late February, needed this win in the face of mounting criticism over his perceived lack of commitment to his job. Klinsmann had been pounded for spending more time overseas than in Korea, despite his earlier pledge to live in his new host country and learn about its culture.

While Klinsmann stayed in his Los Angeles home or took occasional trips to Europe for personal matters, his assistants in Korea were left to do the legwork of scouting players in the domestic K League.

On their recommendation, Klinsmann has called up some new faces from the K League in recent matches, though he often played them out of position and failed to get the most out of international neophytes. Some of Klinsmann's lineup decisions only gave his critics more ammunition. They accused Klinsmann of not paying enough attention to the K League and instead wasting his time following Korean players in European leagues, when they didn't necessarily need extra scouting to be selected to the national team.

Cho Gue-sung of Korea celebrates his goal against Saudi Arabia during the teams' friendly football match at St. James' Park in Newcastle, England, Sept. 12. Reuters-Yonhap

In media interviews, Klinsmann has acknowledged that he is aware of such criticism and said he respected people's rights to express their opinions. Klinsmann has also insisted he would stick to his way of running the national team program and that results would soon start speaking for themselves. His oft-stated longterm goal with Korea is to win the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup title early next year in Qatar.

If the winless streak had lasted longer, though, Klinsmann might not even have been around to coach Korea at the Asian Cup, which kicks off on Jan. 12.

Tuesday's victory will buy Klinsmann some time, as he gears up for two more friendlies at home in October ― against Tunisia and then Vietnam ― followed by the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in November. (Yonhap)