Asian football is on the rise, says German WC legend Klinsmann

German World Cup winner Jurgen Klinsmann has predicted a bright future for Asian football, saying the last 15 years have been a game-changer for the region.
Klinsmann, 59, has arrived in Qatar for the AFC Asian Cup with South Korea, which is rated as favourite for the Jan 12-Feb12 tournament. “Looking at it from the outside, Asian football has improved a lot, a lot. The quality has risen up in the last 10 or 15 years,” Klisnmann said yesterday when asked to comment on the current status of Asian football.
“There were surprises from the Asian teams in the World Cup. Japan sending Germany home was one example. Saudi Arabia beating Argentina in the first game was another. That loss made Argentina really nervous before the second game ... Korea beating Portugal,” Klinsmann, who also coached Germany and the US national teams, said.
“One of the reasons of these fine performances is that players like (Hwang) Hee-chan play in Europe. This is the key point that Asia’s finest players play in European leagues because the best competition in the world is the European Championship.
“If you can manage to get some players for your national team who play in Europe like Premier League, Bundesliga, Series A, La Liga, then this is the key to improve the levels of the Asian teams further. That’s what happened in the last 10-15 years. I hope it will get better in the future. But the level has gone up,” he added.
The German – who was a player under manager Franz Beckenbauer at the 1990 FIFA World Cup – said young Asian players should be applauded for making radical changes when they aim to play for top European sides.
“I think you should give credit to the players who come from another continent and prove their point. Maybe it all looks easy on a piece of paper but in real life it is not easy. Coming to different countries, speaking different languages is tough. Hee-chan first came to Austria and then to the Premier League, you have to adjust yourself to life over there,” Klinsmann added.
“You have to learn new languages and you have to understand the different styles of football. And you are far, far away (geographically) and now I know as I travel a lot back and forth (from home in California to Korea). There are long trips. You want to see family, you want to see your friends. Once these players take those steps, you have to give them a lot of credit. They have so much at stake,” he said.
Klinsmann said managing the Korean side has been a delightful experience
“I feel privileged to coach this Korean team for a year. It has been a wonderful experience for the last 10 months. I have learned so many things. Korea is a very strong team. The goal is to be at the very end of this tournament, to play the final. This is our goal,” Klinsmann said.
“I would love to do that not because I won the Gold Cup or I won the European Championship at my club or I won the World Cup for Germany. I want it because this team has the qualities to win this tournament. It will be a long path. It will be fun, every game will be a nail-biter, it will be drama. This is what this tournament is about. It’s about drama. Just like that last World Cup (in Qatar). It was a beautiful drama. Hopefully we will go all the way through. One step at a time,” he said.
Klinsmann praised hosts Qatar for lifting the mood in the entire football-loving country with their 2-0 win over Lebanon on Friday.
“The first game was exciting. There were 82,000 fans there and it was a fantastic way to start the tournament. At most tournaments, you want the host (country) to do well. It’s important because it keeps the energy up in the whole country. It was important that Qatar started well. I enjoyed watching them play. Maybe sooner or later we will face them (smiles). We will see how it goes,” Klinsmann said.
“I was here (Nov-Dec 2022)working for FIFA. It was an absolutely wonderful tournament. We saw probably the best ever World Cup final (between Argentina and France). We are happy to be here. We want to do well. We want to go far. We have a good team. We have a good spirit in the dressing room. We know every game will be difficult. All the teams here are the ones who deserve to be here. We will not underestimate any sides. We will take one match at a time. That’s my message to Hee-chan and his teammates that we want to stay here till the very end,” he added.
When asked to comment on Beckenbauer’s passing last week, Klisnmann said in a sober tone: “It is a sad time, particularly for German fans and world football also, I would say. It is a sad time for me also. He was my coach for many years. I won the World Cup with him. He was like a father figure. I asked him for advice my entire life. It is a difficult time for all of us. I will be thankful to him forever. He has always been a very special person all my life.”