TEHRAN - Former German striker Jurgen Klinsmann was named as new head coach of Asian football team South Korea.

He takes on his fifth coaching role and his first since a chaotic spell at Hertha Berlin.

Klinsmann, 58, will arrive in Seoul next week and be in charge when South Korea faces Colombia on March 24.

It will be the third national team appointment for the former German striker, who won the World Cup as a player in 1990. After retiring as a player in 1998, he coached Germany from 2004 to 2006 and the U.S. from 2011 to 2016.

He also coached one season at Bayern Munich during the 2008-09 season, a stint that lasted only 10 months. His last coaching job was on an interim basis at Hertha Berlin, a disastrous 76-day tenure from November 2019 to January 2020 that ended in chaos.

The Korea Football Association said Monday that Klinsmann has signed a contract until the 2026 World Cup, set to be held in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. He replaces Paulo Bento, who stepped down after South Korea's defeat to Brazil in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Klinsmann caused rare controversy at the 2022 World Cup when he suggested Iran's "dirty" tactics were "just part of their culture".

The German was involved in a war of words with then Iran coach Carlos Queiroz after suggesting while working as a pundit for the BBC that Iran had "worked the referee" in their 2-0 victory over Wales.

He later apologized and promised to contact then-Iran coach Carlos Quieroz directly.

Sources: AFP, Reuters