Stielike sacked after latest Korea defeat

Adjust Comment Print

Korea's national football team manager Uli Stielike was sacked on Thursday after a shock defeat to Qatar early this week in the final round of the Asian qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup in Russian Federation.

Stielike, 62, took over the team in September 2014.

Lee said Stielike would probably be replaced by a South Korean coach, explaining time was too short for a foreigner to get to know the team. "But results in World Cup qualifying have not been what we wanted".

In this Wednesday photo, Uli Stielike, head coach of the South Korean men's soccer team, stands to meet the media after arriving from Qatar at Incheon International Airport in Incheon, South Korea.

"I also chose to resign my position as I share the responsibility for not meeting expectations", said Lee, who heads the committee.

Bat-Signal at LA City Hall honors Adam West
Before Michael Keaton or Ben Affleck donned the Batsuit, West starred as the Caped Crusader in the classic 1960s Batman TV series. Sadly, the animated film is the last project that Adam West worked on before losing his brief battle with leukemia.

Under the German, South Korea reached the Asian Cup final in 2015 only to be beaten by Australia 2-1 after extra time.

A 0-0 draw with Syria in September that year followed by a 1-0 defeat to Iran in Tehran made for a disappointing start to the third round of Asian World Cup qualifying and a stunning 1-0 loss to China earlier this year compounded it.

It was also South Korea's third defeat in the last five qualification games and it minimised their hopes for making to a ninth successive World Cup.

It was widely expected that Stielike would be sacked after Tuesday's loss to Qatar, which left South Korea clinging to the second automatic qualifying spot in Group A with two games to go.

The KFA have not decided yet who will take over as coach for the final two qualifiers. They remain second in Group A, seven points behind already-qualified Iran but just one ahead of Uzbekistan.

Comments