Before the friendly football match between South Korea and Tunisia at the Seoul World Cup Stadium in Mapo-gu, Seoul, on 13 September, fans booed Jürgen Klinsmann (GER) as he was introduced.
It was a rare sight at an international match.
Fans are disappointed with Klinsmann, who has only won one, drawn three and lost two matches since taking over in February this year, as well as his lack of commitment to the job, as he has mostly stayed abroad.
However, that is expected to change today as South Korea, ranked 26th in the FIFA rankings, thrashed Tunisia, ranked 29th, 4-0.
At the end of the first half, the fans’ frustration and disappointment seemed to linger.
Despite three shots on target, none of them were on target, and Cho Kyu-sung (Meatwillan) was unable to make an impact up front as Tunisia lined up with five defenders.
Only the occasional breakthrough by left-back Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton) brought the fans to their feet.
However, the mood changed dramatically in the second half as Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain) put on a ‘one-man show’.
Lee opened the scoring on his A-League debut with a left-footed free-kick in the 10th minute of the second half and added a second with a left-footed turn in the 12th minute.
Lee’s goal came on the back of a gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games earlier this month.
The two goals set the tone for the rest of the game, and South Korea went on to score an own goal through Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich) and a late consolation through Hwang Eui-jo (Norwich City) in stoppage time, the most goals in a single game since Klinsmann took over.
It was a big win and a big story as Son Heung-min (Tottenham) was not fully fit and was benched, while Hwang In-beom (Zvezda) was suddenly replaced by Hong Hyun-seok (Hent) after pulling a muscle in the warm-up.
It was the first time in 13 months that Tunisia had conceded more than three goals in a game since a 1-5 defeat to Brazil in September last year.
Since then, they have been a defensive force, never conceding more than two goals in a game in nine matches, but on this occasion they were beaten by four second-half goals from South Korea.
Tunisia kept clean sheets against France and Denmark in their three group games at last year’s World Cup in Qatar.
Defensively, South Korea kept three clean sheets in a row, including wins over Wales (0-0) and Saudi Arabia (1-0) in September.
With ‘Iron Pillar’ Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich) at the centre of the defence, the trend of conceding in four consecutive matches since Klinsmann took over has changed to three clean sheets in the last three matches.
With three draws and two defeats in five games since taking over, Klinsmann’s side have now won two in a row, including the recent victory over Saudi Arabia.
The next opponent on Sunday is Vietnam, who are ranked 95th in the FIFA rankings, so Klinsmann’s side have a chance to turn their fortunes around with three straight wins ahead of the Asian Cup in January 2024. 스포츠토토