Klinsmann Holds Round of 16 Match Amid
Asian Cup, ‘Is this Saudi Arabia?’… Klinsmann Holds Round of 16 Match Amid ‘Green Wave’
In order for Klinsmann to overcome the round of 16 of the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Qatar Asian Cup, he will likely have to overcome the stadium atmosphere that will be reminiscent of his home in Saudi Arabia.
In Doha, Qatar, Saudi soccer fans can be easily found here and there in the city on the 27th (local time), three days before the round of 16 match between Saudi Arabia and the Korean national soccer team led by coach Jurgen Klinsmann.
When Saudi fans meet East Asians, they often ask "Korea? Japan?"
If you answer “Korean,” they excitedly shout that Saudi Arabia will beat Korea and advance to the quarterfinals.
Korea has a lineup of top players playing in the big leagues, including Son Heung-min (Tottenham), Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain), and Kim Min-jae (Munich), but they are not enough for Saudi Arabia, which is growing into a solid team under the guidance of coach Roberto Mancini.
He also presents his own ‘analysis’ that suggests this may be the case.
According to Saudi reporters and the Korean community in Doha, Saudi soccer fans are flocking to Doha after the Saudi national team confirmed its advancement to the round of 16.
Park Gwan-ho, owner of a construction business here and whose family runs a Korean restaurant in the city, said, "The number of Saudis has increased significantly in the past few days.
It seems like everyone is coming to watch the Asian Cup."
It takes 5 hours by car from Riyadh, the Saudi capital, to Doha, and 3 hours from Dammam, the third largest city.
This is a level where you can drive without too much effort.
Not only Saudi Arabia, but also people from other Arab countries, such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar, who also advanced to the round of 16, appear to be cheering for Saudi Arabia rather than Korea.
President Park, who has lived in the Middle East for over 20 years, said, "The saying that the closer neighboring countries are, the worse the relationship is, does not apply here.
Rather than hating neighboring countries, Arab people have a strong tendency to support them, calling them "Muslim brother countries"." said.
This trend was also confirmed during the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
At that time, when Morocco reached the semifinals for the first time as an Arab country, Arab soccer fans, regardless of nationality, united to cheer for Morocco.
Korea has to deal with not only Saudi Arabia, but also all Arab soccer fans.
According to the Korea Football Association, there are only about 20 ‘Red Devils’ who will visit the stadium for the round of 16.
Most of the 44,000 spectators at the Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan near Doha, where the game will be played, are expected to be filled with Saudi Arabia"s "green wave".
Moreover, Saudi fans" support is famous for being extreme.
They even use traditional instruments to cheer noisily.
Coach Klinsmann also knows this situation well.
He met with reporters at the training ground on the 27th and said, "I think we may be at a bit of a disadvantage in terms of the stadium atmosphere.
I think about 30,000 Saudi soccer fans will come to the stadium," and "But this is also a part of soccer."
It is fortunate that Education City Stadium is a very familiar place to the Taegeuk Warriors.
Korea played all three group stage matches of the Qatar World Cup at this stadium.
It is very unusual to play all World Cup group matches in the same stadium, which is what Korea did at the Qatar tournament.
The results were good too.
They recorded 1 win, 1 draw, and 1 loss and made history by advancing to the round of 16 for the third time in history.
However, Saudi Arabia also played a match against Poland in the second round of the group stage of the Qatar World Cup at Education City Stadium, so this place will not be unfamiliar.
The match between Korea and Saudi Arabia will be played at 7pm on the 30th (1am on the 31st, Korean time).