South Korea may be the favorites to take on Bahrain when the two countries clash for the opening match of Group E at the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup in Qatar on Monday, but South Korea coach Jurgen Klinsmann is I don’t look at the match that way.
“According to the information we have gathered, it will be a very difficult game tomorrow,” Klinsmann said at a pre-match press conference in Doha on Sunday. The match between world No. 23 South Korea and No. 86 Bahrain will be played at Al Rayyan’s Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, just west of Doha, on Monday at 2:30 p.m. local time and Monday at 8:30 p.m. Seoul time. will be kicked off.
“We do not underestimate the Bahrain team for a second,” the coach continued. “We have a lot of respect for them. We have to do everything we can to win this game. This is how we will approach every game in this tournament.”
South Korea aims to win the Asian Cup for the first time since 1960. The length of the drought is puzzling, given South Korea’s status in Asian football and the level of talent over the past few decades.
In particular, this year’s Asian Cup team is widely regarded as the most talented Korean national team in history. Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min will also wear the Taegeuk Warriors armband, along with other leading European-based players including Bayern Munich’s Kim Min-jae, Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in and Hwang Hee. We also join him. Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Klinsmann, who was appointed as the South Korean national team coach in February last year, said he believes his team has “the qualities to win the tournament.”
“I think we have a very strong team. The goal is to stay until the end of this tournament and play in the final,” he said. “But it’s going to be a marathon. Every match is going to be suspenseful. There’s going to be drama. This is what tournaments are and there’s drama in tournaments. Hopefully we can make it all the way. But that’s just one step away.” Time. “
Despite Klinsmann being ruled out for Monday due to a hip injury, fans who attended the press conference with Klinsmann said he did not want to lose the match in Qatar.
“I think we’re very well prepared as a team, and the players individually are ready,” said Hwang. “We want to win every game and never lose. If we keep doing that, we will obviously get the result we want in the end.”
He said he knows fans’ expectations are higher for this year’s team, but he and his teammates embrace the pressure.
“Whether it’s European players or Korean players, we’ve played a lot of games in each season. But when we come together for the national team, we realize how tired and tired we are. We don’t talk about whether we’re there or not. It’s a pleasure for us, ‘so that we can be with the national team too,’ said the fan. “We mainly talk about what we have to do to play better and create positive energy. That was a big part of the build-up to this tournament. It’s about to start and we want to get out there and post a good result. “
Bahrain will likely take a defensive stance against South Korea, and Klinsmann said his team will need to adjust accordingly.
“If Bahrain play a more defensive style, we have to adapt to what we face, respect it and find solutions. In the last few games we played against defensive-minded teams, but very “We had good results,” he said. “Even if you play against a defensive team, you can always be hurt by counter-breaks and set-pieces. It will become a hot topic.” (Yonhap)