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Agence France-Presse

South Korea axed coach Uli Stielike on Thursday after a shock defeat to Qatar left their World Cup qualification hanging in the balance.
Germany’s Stielike, who has been in charge since 2014, paid the price for a poor run of results including qualifying defeats to China and Iran.
Tuesday’s 3-2 reverse was South Korea’s first loss to Qatar in 32 years and left them in danger of missing direct qualification for Russia 2018.
Lee Yong-Soo, chairman of the Korean Football Association, also resigned in a shake-up ahead of South Korea’s final two qualifying games.
“As the results of the final World Cup qualification round did not meet our expectation, the KFA and coach Stielike decided to end Stielike’s contract under mutual agreement,” said Lee, after a meeting in Seoul.
“We spoke with Stielike and notified him before the press conference. Stielike said that he respects any decision reached by the technical committee,” he added.
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 before next year’s World Cup.
South Korea urges talks on joint World Cup to defuse tensions in the region
“The reason that we will likely select a South Korean coach is because there is too little time for a new foreign coach to understand the characteristics of each player,” Lee told reporters after the meeting.
“The most important task for the next coach will be to boost the players’ morale and building up a new team. We only have a year until the Russia World Cup but ... that is enough time to build up a new team,” he said.
Stielike, 62, was appointed in September 2014, after South Korea had been pelted with toffees, a Korean insult, upon returning winless from that year’s World Cup in Brazil.
Just months later he led them to the Asian Cup final – without conceding a single goal en route – before they went down 2-1 to hosts Australia in Sydney.
But trouble set in during Asia’s final round of World Cup qualifiers, especially when they went down 1-0 to China in March – only their second loss to the Chinese in 32 games.
He had been widely expected to go 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.
Chinese footballers ‘weak’ and tactically inferior to South Koreans, says former coach of struggling big-spenders Jiangsu Suning
South Korea are seeking to qualify for their ninth consecutive World Cup, a run which includes reaching the semi-finals on home soil in 2002.
They remain second in group A, seven points behind already-qualified Iran but just one ahead of Uzbekistan. South Korea play Iran and then Uzbekistan in their final two games.
Only the top two in each of groups A and B qualify automatically for Russia, with the third-placed teams going into a play-off.
South Korean media have speculated about possible replacements including Huh Jung-Moo, who led the team to the last 16 at the 2010 World Cup, and under-20s coach Shin Tae-Young.


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2018 Fifa World Cup Asian qualifying

South Korea axe misfiring boss Uli Stielike after shock World Cup loss to Qatar harms qualification hopes

Uli Stielike has been dismissed as manager of South Korea after a defeat to Qatar which leaves their World Cup qualification hopes hanging by a thread. Photo: AP

epa06028943 (FILE) - South Korea's national soccer team head coach Ulrich Stielike reacts during an international friendly soccer match between South Korea and Canada at Cheonan Stadium in Cheoan, South Korea, 11 November 2016. (reissued 15 June 2017). The Korea Football Association (KFA) announced on 15 June 2017, that Ulrich Stielike will be replaced due to the poor track record of the national soccer team, in the wake of their World Cup qualifying loss to Qatar. Stielike has been with the South Korean national team since 2014. EPA/JEON HEON-KYUN

epa05996829 South Korea's football head coach Uli Stielike (C) speaks during a press conference at the National Football Center in Paju, north of Seoul, South Korea, 29 May 2017, as his men engage in a training session ahead of a 2018 World Cup qualifier against Qatar that will take place on 14 June. EPA/YONHAP SOUTH KOREA OUT

Sport

Football

South Korea axe their coach in an effort to salvage their World Cup qualification campaign
