Former national coach Jürgen Klinsmann wants to triumph with South Korea at the Asian Cup. He started with a victory – like compatriot Uli Stielike once did.
Jürgen Klinsmann won the opening game of the Asian Cup with the South Korean national team. His favorite team beat Bahrain 3-1 (1-0). Inbeom Hwang scored the opening goal for the 2002 World Cup fourth-place team in the 38th minute at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Al-Rajjan. Kangin Lee made the decision with a brace (56th minute and 68th).
Bahrain had meanwhile equalized through Abdullah Al Hashash (51st). Klinsmann used Bundesliga legionnaires Minjae Kim from FC Bayern Munich, Jaesung Lee from FSV Mainz 05 and Wooyeong Jeong from VfB Stuttgart for the South Koreans.
South Korea with seventh win in a row
Like Uli Stielike, the former world champion as a player made a successful debut with the South Korean team at the Asian Championship. In 2015, they ended up coming second behind the then host Australia. The also former German international was in charge of South Korea’s selection from 2014 to 2017.
Klinsmann took over the job in Asia at the beginning of last year. Right from the start he set himself the goal of bringing the Asian Cup back to South Korea for the first time in more than 60 years. With the success over Bahrain, the team achieved their seventh win in a row. South Korea’s other group opponents are Jordan on Saturday and Malaysia on Thursday next week.