Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel invited Korean men’s soccer team coach Jurgen Klinsmann to the ceremony to receive her country’s medal.
The German daily newspaper ‘Spiegel’ reported that Chancellor Merkel will hold an awarding ceremony in April. Former Chancellor Merkel’s invitation to manager Klinsmann is drawing attention as a representative example of inviting sportsmen and human rights activists with whom she is close instead of political figures. It is in contrast to the fact that most active politicians, including Friedrich Merz, who was once a colleague but now has a close relationship with static, were not invited.
Former Chancellor Merkel, who had already been awarded the Grand Cross in 2008, will receive a special Grand Cross one level higher. It is the second highest rank in the German Order of Merit and the highest rank that a former Prime Minister can receive, except for the Special Grand Cross, which only German and other heads of state received. He became the third person in history to receive the Grand Cross, following former Prime Ministers Konrad Adenauer and Helmut Kohl. He is close to being recognized for his achievements as prime minister from 2005 to 2021.
The special relationship between Merkel and Klinsmann has already been a hot topic in Germany. Chancellor Merkel was in power when coach Klinsmann prevented the German national team from a dark period and made it to the semifinals of the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Merkel, then Chancellor, was very interested in the success of the national team. In particular, after losing 1-4 to Italy in a friendly match in March 2006, right before the World Cup, public opinion deteriorated sharply. At the time, Chancellor Merkel summoned coach Klinsmann, the head of the German Football Association, and Franz Beckenbauer to ask for trust in the national team. Coach Klinsmann recalled that he would not have achieved the World Cup without Merkel’s active support.
At the time, Chancellor Merkel had the idea that soccer was important to restore the stagnant atmosphere of German society and economy. There was even a pessimistic view that Germany, which was eliminated in the group stage of ‘Euro 2004’, was the worst team ever. Analysts followed that coach Klinsmann gave hope for national unity through football, which also helped Chancellor Merkel in the early days of her reign. At the time, the German daily newspaper ‘Frankfurt Allgemeine’ summarized it as a ‘successful case that Klinsmann’s German football reform is applied to German politics’. 안전놀이터
Director Klinsmann is staying in Europe right around the time of the awarding ceremony. April 15 London, England (Son Heung-min). On the 16th Glasgow (Oh Hyun-gyu), Italy Naples (Kim Min-jae) on the 18th, Mainz (Lee Jae-seong), Germany on the 22nd, and Freiburg (Jung Woo-young), Germany on the 23rd. It seems to be a schedule to stop by Berlin during busy times.