South Korea take Singapore ‘very, very seriously’, says coach Jurgen Klinsmann
Sign up now: Get the biggest sports news in your inbox
Players at the Asian Champions League game between Lion City Sailors and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors at Jalan Besar Stadium.
PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
SINGAPORE – Theirs is a battle between David and Goliath.
On one side stand South Korea, ranked 24th in the world and third in Asia, who have appeared at the last 10 World Cups, including the previous edition in Qatar last December, when they reached the round of 16.
On the other are Singapore, 155th in the world and 31st in Asia, who have never even come close to qualifying for the football showpiece.
Furthermore, the Taegeuk Warriors, led by Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min, will have a capacity crowd of over 66,000 behind them when the teams meet in their Group C World Cup qualifying match at the Seoul World Cup Stadium.
So it is no understatement that the hosts are anything but overwhelming favourites on Thursday.
And yet, South Korea coach Jurgen Klinsmann is not taking anything for granted.
Last week, the German legend and his assistant, former South Korea international Cha Du-ri, made a trip to Singapore to watch the Asian Champions League game between Lion City Sailors and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
Klinsmann, who wanted to have a closer look at Jeonbuk’s South Korea internationals and also the Singapore national players, refused to be drawn on the possibility of his team serving out a lopsided scoreline.
In their last competitive ties in 1989, Singapore lost 3-0 home and away during the first round of Asian World Cup qualifiers.
When asked if the objective for his team on Thursday was to register a resounding victory, Klinsmann told The Straits Times: “No, no. The aim is very simple, it is to win the game. That is the clear message to the team.
“We don’t think that we are superior by any means. We are the favourites but the game starts 0-0. And then anything can happen.”
Son echoed his coach’s feelings, saying at a pre-match press conference on Wednesday: “There’s no easy game and we take the game tomorrow as (seriously) as any other game that we (will) ever play.”
Klinsmann, who was appointed in February, cited their last outing in October, when they thumped Asean’s highest-ranked side Vietnam 6-0.
He said: “We played Vietnam in the last friendly and they had two chances before we scored. And then when it was 2-0, they hit the crossbar with a free kick. So they could have scored two or three goals.
“So, we take (Singapore) very, very seriously, with a lot of respect. It starts 0-0 and it will be a lot of work for us. We will not underestimate the Singapore team at all. They have quality players, they know how to play... and we expect a difficult game.”
After a shaky start to his tenure, Klinsmann has guided the Taegeuk Warriors to three straight wins in friendly matches.
For their upcoming qualifiers, including next Tuesday’s visit to China, Klinsmann has picked his strongest possible squad, featuring 11 Europe-based players, like Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain), Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich) and Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton Wanderers).
