It looks like Vietnam will be Klinsmann’s second opponent for the October domestic trials. There has been no official announcement from the Korea Football Association (KFA), but head coach Jürgen Klinsmann (GER) confirmed it in an interview. It has been 32 years since Korea has played an A match against a Southeast Asian team since 1991 against Indonesia.
Earlier, Klinsmann said in a video interview with domestic reporters on the 17th and 18th, “Nowadays, it’s not easy to find a matchup because there are so many games on every continent. We had an internal meeting and discussed ‘what we can get the most out of’ and decided to find a similar team that we can meet in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup next January,” he said. This came as he was answering a question about why he was pushing for an A match against Vietnam, which is considered an underdog. It’s a de facto admission of a test match against Vietnam.
In fact, when the news first broke that Vietnam was going to play an exhibition match, the KFA’s explanation was that Klinsmann wanted to play an exhibition match against a team that plays a tight defense. “I didn’t want an evaluation game against a weak team,” Klinsmann said. The KFA and Klinsmann immediately contradicted each other over the circumstances surrounding the selection of Vietnam for the friendly.
Of course, it is difficult to find a suitable opponent because the European Football Championship (Euro) qualifiers and the South American qualifiers for the North and Central American World Cup are taking place at the same time. However, this is not a problem unique to South Korea, nor is it the result of the sudden addition of Euro and World Cup qualifiers. It is up to the administrations of the national soccer associations to find the best trial opponents under difficult conditions. For the first time in 32 years, the KFA is organizing an exhibition match at home against a Southeast Asian team.
There is only one reason why we haven’t hosted a Southeast Asian team in over 30 years. There is only one reason why the KFA hasn’t hosted a Southeast Asian team in over 30 years. Vietnam’s FIFA ranking is the highest among Southeast Asian teams, but it’s only 95th. The gap with South Korea (27th) is also huge. With such a stark disparity in power, home advantage, and a full European squad, it’s hard to see how playing a Southeast Asian team in an exhibition match can yield much more than an A-match win. 소닉카지노
The last time we played a Southeast Asian opponent during an A-Match was against Thailand in 2016. However, this was due to special circumstances, such as the cancellation of the World Cup qualifier against Kuwait at the time, and FIFA’s ban on traveling to other continents during the A-Match, which forced us to look for an Asian opponent. The last time this happened was against Thailand in 1998 (King’s Cup – Friendly). It’s been a long time since a Southeast Asian team has been used as a test for Korean soccer’s quest to reach the top of Asia and the round of 16 at the World Cup.
Even if they are preparing for the Asian Cup next January, it’s hard to understand why they have so many matches against Asian teams in the future. Right now, after the September and October A-Match trials, the World Cup qualifiers begin in earnest. In November, there will be two Asian qualifiers, one in Singapore or Guam and the other in China and North and Central America.