Managers

SEOUL — A Korea Football Association (KFA) advisory committee recommended sacking head coach Jürgen Klinsmann on Thursday after their semi-final exit at the Asian Cup and amid criticism of his leadership, KFA Technical Director Hwangbo Kwan said.

The National Team Committee does not make administrative decisions, leaving it up to the KFA's Executive Board whether to act on its recommendation to fire Klinsmann, whose contract runs through the 2026 World Cup.

The door is open for Lionel Messi to play at this year's Paris Olympics, Argentina's under-23 manager Javier Mascherano said.

Argentina secured their place at the Games after beating Brazil 1-0 on Sunday in the final four of South America's qualifying tournament.

Alex Morgan’s name was left off the United States women’s national team roster for a second time in a row on Wednesday as the star forward won’t compete at the Concacaf Women’s Gold Cup.

Morgan also wasn’t included in the December roster that saw a litany of younger players play two friendlies against China. This time the roster has almost all the big names with Becky Sauerbrunn and Morgan being the major omissions.

Taking over Morgan’s role at the No. 9 will be either Sophia Smith or rising Chelsea star Mia Fishel.

AL RAYYAN — Jordan upset South Korea 2-0 in their Asian Cup semi-final on Tuesday at the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium where Yazan Al-Naimat and Musa Al-Taamari scored second-half goals to guide them into the final for the first time.

The result was a stunning upset for Jordan, who are ranked 87th in the world but played with nothing to lose against South Korea who are the third-best team in Asia, 64 places above them.

Jordan Pefok’s recent form to start 2024 deserves recognition and an international call-up in March if he remains consistent. 

The 26-year-old provided an assist in Borussia Monchengladbach’s 3-1 defeat to Bayern Munich on Saturday marking his third goal contribution in his last four Bundesliga games.

Captain America will be in charge of the penalties at the San Siro.

It has been reported on Friday that Christian Pulisic has been chosen as the new official penalty taker for AC Milan by manager Stefano Pioli. The decision has reportedly been caused by the club’s inaccuracy from the spot in recent matches and, with Pioli eager to fix the situation, Pulisic has been chosen as the new man in charge of penalties.

AL WAKRAH — South Korea advanced to the semifinals of the Asian Cup with a 2-1 comeback win over Australia in extra time at Al Janoub Stadium on Friday after Son Heung-min scored the winner with a sublime free kick.

With South Korea going to extra time for a second straight game after they beat Saudi Arabia on penalties, Hwang won a free kick on the edge of the box from a foul conceded by Miller once again.

LONDON — Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola said he will miss his old sparring partner Jürgen Klopp when the Liverpool manager calls time on his reign at the end of the season.

Klopp stunned the soccer world on Friday when he announced this would be his last season at the Anfield club he took over in 2015 and led to multiple trophies.

LONDON — Jürgen Klopp stunned the world of football on Friday when he announced he would stand down as Liverpool manager at the end of season, saying that after more than eight hugely successful years in charge he was running out of energy.

The German, who led Liverpool to the League Cup final on Wednesday and is hugely popular with the fans, told the club's hierarchy in November that he would end his eight-and-a-half year stay at Anfield after this season.

Assistant managers Pepijn Lijnders and Peter Krawietz are also leaving the club.