AFC Asian Cup: Klinsmann looks to Premier League pair Son Heung-min and Hwang Hee-chan to lead South Korea’s trophy bid
- Head coach Juergen Klinsmann will rely on European-based players as he tries to steer country to first title in 64 years
- 26-man squad will also include likes of Bayern Munich’s Kim Min-jae, and Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in
South Korea coach Juergen Klinsmann will look to captain Son Heung-min and his squad’s Europe-based players to steer the nation to their first Asian Cup title in 64 years when he leads his team into next month’s continental championship in Qatar.
Klinsmann has included Tottenham Hotspur’s Son in his 26-man squad as well as Bayern Munich defender Kim Min-jae, Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in and Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Hwang Hee-chan in an attempt to win a first title since 1960.
“When you go through the roster and you go through the skeleton of a team … I think you can be really proud as Korean fans and journalists,” Klinsmann told a media conference in Seoul on Thursday. “We have a lot of different pieces in that roster and that makes us one of the favourites for the Asian Cup.
“What we need to do is to fine-tune these elements in the next couple of weeks and then go into that tournament with confidence and with the willingness to win the title.”
The Koreans are one of the continent’s traditional powers and have qualified for every World Cup since 1986, reaching the semi-finals in 2002 when they co-hosted the tournament with neighbours Japan.
But their recent record at regional level is disappointing, with the country not winning the continent’s premier title since the second of back-to-back successes were secured in 1960.
