World Cup: Klinsmann predicts 'surprises' at Qatar 2022
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Technical Study Group member Jurgen Klinsmann during a press conference in Doha.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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DOHA – German legend Jurgen Klinsmann said on Saturday that an underdog could go far in what he is predicting will be a “World Cup of surprises” in Qatar.
The first Finals held in the Northern Hemisphere winter kicked off on Sunday. This is also just the second tournament in Asia.
The change from the usual June-July slot means this World Cup falls in the middle of the club season in Europe, where the majority of leading players are based.
“I think this could be a World Cup of surprises because if some of the kind of underdogs – maybe if it’s an African nation, if it’s an Asian team – if they are courageous, I think you can go actually far in this tournament,” Klinsmann told a press conference in Doha.
“It is not a tournament to sit back and defend. I think it’s a tournament that really invites you to go, be courageous and go forward.
“I don’t think you go very far if you just have a defensive approach in this tournament.”
Now 58, the former striker played in the West Germany team who won the World Cup in 1990 and later coached Germany to third place as hosts in 2006. He also won the Concacaf Gold Cup with the United States in 2013 and had spells in charge of Bundesliga sides Bayern Munich and Hertha Berlin.
Having also taken charge of the US in Brazil in 2014, he is now back at the Finals as a member of Fifa’s technical study group analysing matches at the tournament.
The group is overseen by iconic former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who is now Fifa’s chief of global football development.
While Klinsmann is backing “courageous” underdogs to shine, he believes that Argentina and Brazil are clear tournament favourites, despite European sides winning the last four World Cups.
He said previously: “Brazil have played a very successful qualification campaign and, like Argentina, have the feeling of having to prove they can do better than in the previous World Cups.”
Brazil were knocked out in the quarter-finals in 2018 and were a shockingly poor fourth on home soil four years earlier. Argentina exited in the round of 16 in Russia and finished runners-up in 2014.
The World Cup is starting just a week after the last matches were played in Europe’s leading leagues, leaving little time for national teams to prepare.
That has led to increased anxiety about injuries, but Klinsmann said he does not necessarily see the lack of preparation time as a problem, believing players are “fresh and hungry”.
“I believe that we are going to see a tournament of very, very high quality because the players didn’t need another preparation like they usually do before a World Cup,” he said. AFP
