In the semifinals of the Asian Cup in Qatar, the South Korean team lost 0:2 to the "dark horse" Jordan team and failed to complete the goal of winning the championship. The game sparked strong dissatisfaction among South Korean fans with the team and coach Jurgen Klinsmann, and the turmoil has not subsided.
Britain's 14th said that before the match against Jordan, South Korean players clashed over dinner, and the team's number one star Son Heung-min dislocated his finger as a result.
The report quoted sources as saying that some young players, including Li Gangren, left their seats to play table tennis after a quick dinner, while captain Son Heung-min expressed dissatisfaction with this and wanted his teammates to rest more. The young player retorted, and a physical altercation ensued.
Screenshot of Korean media report.
Then, South Korea's **KBS TV station asked the Korean Football Association ** for verification, and the other party confirmed the news and said that Zheng Mengkui, chairman of the Korean Football Association, was aware of the conflict in the national team.
The ** also reported that the night before the game, Son Heung-min and some other veteran players approached coach Klinsmann and asked to exclude Li Gangren from the list, but Klinsmann finally ranked Li Gangren in the starting lineup.
South Korea 0:2 Jordan match data. Asian Cup.
In that semi-final, South Korea played poorly. Against Jordan, ranked 87th in the world, South Korea did not have a single shot on target. Jordan, on the other hand, had a whopping 17 shots on goal, with 7 of them on target.
One of the few chances for South Korea came in the first half, when Lee Jae-sung's header from outside the six-yard box hit the post and another when an unmarked Hwang In-bum fired wide from near the penalty spot. And Son Heung-min and Li Gangren, the two striker stars, performed mediocre.
In an interview after that game, Son said: "I apologize to the players, the fans and the whole country. He also asked the fans not to criticize the players, "The players really didn't do anything wrong, if they want to condemn me, I can accept it." ”
I have to think about whether I can continue to play for the national team in the future, coach Klinsmann probably won't think about me anymore and I don't know what will happen in the future. Sun Xingmin said.
Data map: Son Xingmin (left) in the game.
In his post-match interview, Lee said: "I'm very sorry. What I want to say now is, please don't criticize any player, if you want to criticize, please criticize me. In the future, I will work harder to improve myself and play the football that the fans want. ”
Korean media reported that the clash of the South Korean team was mentioned at the recent high-level meeting of the Korean Football Association. But there are also voices that there are attempts to divert attention from "whether Klinsmann is out of class" to "team infighting". （*