Coach Klinsmann: "The Vietnamese team is not weak, Korea must be wary"

(Dan Tri) - Korean coach Jurgen Klinsmann assessed that the Vietnamese team is not a weak opponent and his team needs to be well prepared tomorrow (6:00 p.m., October 17).

"I have never thought that Vietnam is a weak team. We have to try our best because they are opponents that Korea can meet in the Asian Cup or World Cup qualifiers," coach Klinsmann said at a press conference before the friendly match between Korea and Vietnam at Suwon World Cup Stadium tomorrow (6pm, October 17).

Coach Klinsmann answers questions at a press conference before the friendly match between the Korean and Vietnamese teams on October 17 (Photo: Yonhap News).

Before this match, the Korean media and fans said that the Korean Football Federation (KFA) made a mistake when choosing a weak opponent like Vietnam for a friendly match. "The Vietnamese team is currently ranked 95th on the FIFA rankings. This is the opponent with the lowest FIFA ranking since Klinsmann led Korea to compete. For the first time in 32 years, Korea invited a Southeast Asian team to their home stadium and organized an international match. The last time they met Vietnam was in the second qualifying round of the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Up to now, Korea has not played any friendly matches with Southeast Asian countries. This is because Korea will not gain any benefit when playing against teams like Vietnam or Southeast Asia. Coach Troussier's team has just suffered 2 losses against China and Uzbekistan, and was eliminated from the group stage at the 19th Asiad," commented the Korean newspaper Edaily . However, the Korean newspaper explained that the reason KFA chose to play a friendly match with Vietnam was to prepare for the Asian Cup to be held in Qatar in January 2024. "Coach Klinsmann wants to play a friendly match with Vietnam to learn more about Asian football. You can experience the dense defense of the opponent that Korea will have to overcome in the Asian Cup," said Edaily .

South Korea played a friendly match with the Vietnamese team to experience the ability to defeat opponents who play a dense defense (Photo: AP).

At the press conference, coach Klinsmann also agreed, saying: "I also said this to our players today. We need to pay attention to what stages need to be prepared and what tests need to be checked." "Since this is the final evaluation match before the start of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, I have high expectations for the team's performance. It is important to maintain a positive performance at all times," coach Klinsmann added. Regarding the possibility of starting the star duo Son Heung Min (Tottenham) and Hwang In Beom (Zvezda) after both are having physical problems, coach Klinsmann said: "We still need to check their physical condition in today's training session. Everything is in question and we will make a decision after assessing how well they can play the match. What is more important is that I have to give opportunities to players who have had little playing time before." Coach Klinsmann also praised center-back Kim Min Jae, who replaced Son Heung Min as captain in the friendly match against Tunisia on October 13: "Kim Min Jae has made great progress in the past few years and his last match was also excellent. Honestly, I don't think there would be any problem if the captain's armband was given to someone else, because any of them would be worthy, like Lee Jae Seong for example."

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