sportstotomen   Album Posted Jan.29th, 2024, viewed 240 times

Clash of top names and highest salaries Klinsmann vs Mancini fight 'interest'

At 1 a.m. on the 31st, AFC, ranked 1st and 2nd in salary in the Asian Cup round of 16 match between Saudi Arabia and Mancini and Klinsmann, also pays attention to “two Asian giants meeting.”

In the '2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup', Korea and Saudi Arabia, led by famous coaches with the highest name value and highest salary, will clash in the round of 16. There is interest in the match between Korean coach Jurgen Klinsmann (Germany) and Saudi coach Roberto Mancini (Italy).

Korea will face Saudi Arabia in the round of 16 of the Asian Cup at the Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar, at 1 a.m. on the 31st (Korean time).

The Korean national team, which is aiming for its first win in 64 years since the 2nd tournament in 1960, will have to overcome Middle Eastern powerhouse Saudi Arabia to reach the quarterfinals.

Korea finished second in the group with 1 win and 2 draws (5 points) in the group stage. Although they did not advance to the round of 16 with all wins or first place in their group, there was no team that threatened Korea's elimination.

However, the Saudi Arabia we meet in the round of 16 is different. This team is considered a candidate to win this tournament along with Korea, Japan, and Iran.

Key players who took the lead in defeating Argentina, the 'defending champion', during the group stage of the 2022 FIFA Qatar World Cup, including Saleh Al-Shehri and Salem Al-Dawsari (Al-Hilal), also participated in this tournament.

Also, because it is adjacent to Qatar, many Saudi fans visit the site and create a Saudi home atmosphere, which is bad news for Korea.

Among many factors, the one that threatens Korea the most is the presence of coach Mancini.

Coach Mancini is a master who has reached the top in prestigious stages such as the Italian professional soccer Serie A, the English professional soccer Premier League (EPL), and the UEFA Euro Championship.

Saudi Arabia, backed by the powerful oil money of its sovereign wealth fund (PIF), paid a huge salary and installed Manager Mancini as head coach. According to Qatari media outlet 'Alkas', coach Mancini receives an annual salary of 22 million dollars (about 29.4 billion won).

Among the national coaches participating in this tournament, he is the most famous and the one with the highest salary.

His leadership skills as a director may be somewhat inferior, but in terms of reputation and salary, Director Klinsmann is not inferior to Director Mancini.

Coach Klinsmann was one of the world's leading strikers during his active career. After his retirement, he did not leave any significant achievements as a coach, but his reputation in the world of soccer is at the highest level. Due to his popularity, foreign reporters as well as tournament officials repeatedly requested autographs for photos during the tournament.

He is also ranked second in salary among coaches from participating countries in this tournament. Although the direct amount is different at an annual salary of 2.2 million dollars (about 2.9 billion won), he is ranked right after coach Mancini.
As it was a game with a lot to talk about, the AFC also paid attention to the match between Korea and Saudi Arabia.

AFC said, “Two giants of Asian football meet. “Both Korea and Saudi Arabia have a strong desire to win, but one team is eliminated in the first game of the tournament.”

He went on to explain, “Coach Mancini won Euro 2020 with Italy, and Coach Klinsmann won the 2013 North and Central American Gold Cup with the United States, so both coaches have experience as continental champions,” and added, “Only one of the two teams will continue their journey toward winning the championship.”

Because it is not easy to predict the outcome, statistical media also predicted a tight game.

'Opta', a media outlet specializing in statistics, used a supercomputer to predict the winning percentage in the round of 16 of this tournament and predicted Korea's probability of winning at 51.7%. Saudi Arabia is slightly ahead of Korea at 48.3%.

Their previous record is 5 wins, 8 draws, and 5 losses in 18 matches. In the most recent match, last September, Korea won 1-0 thanks to Cho Gyu-seong (Midtjylland)'s winning goal. 스포츠토토