Klinsmann 'disappointed, angry' after S. Korea blow late lead vs. El Salvador

▲ South Korea head coach Jurgen Klinsmann (C) gives orders to his players against El Salvador during the teams' friendly football match at Daejeon World Cup Stadium in Daejeon, 140 kilometers south of Seoul, on June 20, 2023. (Yonhap)

▲ South Korea head coach Jurgen Klinsmann (R) prepares to bring Son Heung-min off the bench against El Salvador during the teams' friendly football match at Daejeon World Cup Stadium in Daejeon, 140 kilometers south of Seoul, on June 20, 2023. (Yonhap)

▲ South Korean players react to a goal by El Salvador during the teams' friendly football match at Daejeon World Cup Stadium in Daejeon, 140 kilometers south of Seoul, on June 20, 2023. (Yonhap)

football-coach

Klinsmann 'disappointed, angry' after S. Korea blow late lead vs. El Salvador

By Yoo Jee-ho

DAEJEON, June 20 (Yonhap) -- Hidden behind Jurgen Klinsmann's weary smile after South Korea's 1-1 draw against El Salvador Tuesday night was a sense of disappointment and anger -- over how the Taegeuk Warriors couldn't hold on to their lead and conceded the late goal on home soil.

"A bit disappointed, because obviously, we wanted to beat El Salvador and we wanted to score more goals," Klinsmann said at Daejeon World Cup Stadium in the central city of Daejeon. Hwang Ui-jo scored for the hosts four minutes into the second half, but Alex Roldan's diving header off a free kick drew El Salvador level in the 87th minute.

"We could have scored four, five or six, but we did not," Klinsmann added. "They equalized at the end with a set piece. A bit angry about it."

With the draw on this rainy night, Klinsmann is still without a win four matches into his South Korean tenure.

South Korea also wasted a lead in taking a 2-2 draw against Colombia on March 24. They lost to Uruguay 2-1 on March 28 and suffered a 1-0 loss to Peru last Friday.

They came within about 10 minutes of handing Klinsmann his maiden win, though it really shouldn't have come down to that, given the number of opportunities that they had in the second half.

As for South Korea's inability to convert those chances around the goal, Klinsmann, a legendary goal scorer in his playing days, said there is no short cut to the solution.

"If you don't score the goals right now, then you have to work even harder and believe in yourself, and then you will score the goals in the near future time," he said. "There's nothing you can do besides working, working, working."

Klinsmann worked with a depleted squad this time, compared with March. His two main center backs, Kim Min-jae and Kim Young-gwon, were both missing due to mandatory military training and injury, respectively. Talisman Son Heung-min sat out the Peru match and played less than 30 minutes as a sub Tuesday as he recovers from a recent sports hernia surgery. Klinsmann saw five players earn their first international caps over these two matches this month.

"The quality of the two games in March was better," the coach acknowledged. "It's been a very interesting camp, with everything that happened the last 10 to 12 days. But this camp left us with a lot of different pieces to solve. Obviously, the backline was one of the big pieces."

It didn't help Kinsmann that his Europe-based players, coming off particularly long seasons that included the FIFA World Cup from November to December, had "heavy legs."

"I saw that already in training sessions, and we reduced the amount of things we did," the coach said. "You know, certain players, they just want to go into vacation. But for that, they tried everything, and they still gave their best."

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