With a severance payment worth millions
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Jürgen Klinsmann is no longer coach of the South Korean national football team. The South Korean association KFA announced the end of the cooperation with the 59-year-old at a press conference on Friday. President Mong-gyu Chung criticized the player management and work ethic of the former DFB coach, who was unable to meet the high expectations. Klinsmann had previously thanked his players, his coaching team and the fans in South Korea on Instagram. He has a million-dollar severance package waiting for him.
“Thank you for all your support in getting us to the semi-finals of the Asian Cup and for the incredible journey over the past 12 months in which we did not lose 13 games in a row until the semi-finals. Don’t stop fighting,” wrote the former national coach. The severance payment is the equivalent of almost 5 million euros, which Klinsmann is now contractually entitled to. The contract would have been valid up to and including the 2026 World Cup.
Klinsmann only took over the position of head coach of the fourth-place team in the 2002 World Cup a year ago. His contract ran until the final of the 2026 World Cup. Last week he and his team surprisingly failed in the semi-finals of the Asian Cup against Jordan. Fans then unfurled a large banner in front of the KFA building demanding that the national coach be fired. The team didn’t shoot at the opponent’s goal once in the game. Klinsmann scored an average of 1.88 points from 17 games. Even before the last Asian Cup, there had been criticism of him because, in the opinion of many South Koreans, he had spent too much time abroad.
On Thursday it was reported that a commission in Seoul had recommended ending the collaboration with the former national coach. Recently, a serious dispute made headlines. On the evening before the semi-final against outsiders Jordan there was a serious argument. Team captain Heung-Min Son (Tottenham Hotspur) dislocated a finger.
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