Korea Republic national football team
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| Nickname | Asian Tigers, Taeguk Warriors | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Association | Korea Football Association | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Head coach |  Pim Verbeek(August 2006-) |
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| Captain | Kim Nam-Il | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Most caps | Hong Myung-Bo (135) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top scorer | Cha Bum-Kun (55) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FIFA code | KOR | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FIFA ranking | 51 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest FIFA ranking | 17 (December 1998) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lowest FIFA ranking | 62 (February 1996) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Elo ranking | 48 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest Elo ranking | 15 (Sep 1980, Jun 2002) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lowest Elo ranking | 80 (August 1967) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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First international South Korea 5 - 3 Mexico  (London, England; August 2, 1948) |
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Largest win South Korea 16 - 0 Nepal  (Incheon, South Korea; September 29, 2003) |
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Worst defeat Sweden 12 - 0 South Korea (London, England; August 5, 1948) |
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| World Cup | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appearances | 7 (First in 1954) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best result | Fourth place, 2002 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| AFC Asian Cup | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appearances | 10 (First in 1956) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best result | Winners, 1956 and 1960 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Korea Republic national football team represents South Korea in international football competitions. The team is recognized as Korea Republic by FIFA. It has often been considered Asia's most successful national team, since it made its debut at the 1948 Summer Olympics. South Korea has participated in more World Cup final tournaments than any other Asian team, and became the first Asian nation to reach the semi-finals, doing so when it co-hosted the 2002 tournament.
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[edit] History
Since the 1950s, South Korea has emerged as a major football power in Asia, winning several prestigious Asian football championships, including the first two Asian Cup tournaments.[1] The South Korean national team has also played in six consecutive World Cup finals from 1986, making a total of seven World Cup finals in all.
The 2002 FIFA World Cup, hosted jointly with Japan, was a sign of the rapid progress made in South Korean football. Led by Dutch coach Guus Hiddink and assistant coach Pim Verbeek, South Korea defeated Italy and Spain,[2] advancing to the semi-finals, a first for Asian football.
The enthusiasm of the red-clad supporters, known as the "Red Devils", also made a big impression on viewers world-wide. After the team success, football had an explosion of popularity in the country, where the game had traditionally been less popular than other games, such as baseball, formerly the most popular spectator sport in the country.
On June 8, 2005, South Korea qualified for their seventh World Cup by beating Kuwait 4-0 in Kuwait City.
During the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, South Korea achieved their first World Cup victory outside of Asia by beating Togo 2 to 1 in Frankfurt on June 23. Against France, the team managed a late equalizer to end up with a 1-1 tie and this put them tied with Switzerland on top of their group. However they were knocked out after a 2-0 loss against Switzerland, while France advanced with a 2-0 win against Togo.
On July 11, when the FIFA World Rankings were renewed, Korea Republic's ranking brought quite a controversy at home.[citations needed] In the May rankings, Korea ranked third in Asia, and 29th in the world. After the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Korea was down to 56th, behind other AFC countries like Australia, Iran, Japan, and non-World Cup qualifier Uzbekistan.[3]
The current head coach, Pim Verbeek, has worked on rebuilding the team with many youngsters and other new faces. Among them is Jung Jong-Gook who played a crucial part in Korea's 8-0 and 3-0 victories against Chinese Taipei in the 2007 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers. He scored a total of four goals in the two matches. However, players such as Lee Woon-Jae, Ahn Jung-Hwan, and Park Chu-Young have been dropped.
[edit] World Cup record
- 1930 to 1950 - Did not enter
- 1954 - Round 1
- 1958 - Did not enter
- 1962 - Did not qualify
- 1966 - Withdrew
- 1970 to 1982 - Did not qualify
- 1986 - Round 1
- 1990 - Round 1
- 1994 - Round 1
- 1998 - Round 1
- 2002 - Fourth place
- 2006 - Round 1
[edit] Asian Cup record
- 1956 - Champions
- 1960 - Champions
- 1964 - Third place
- 1968 - Did not qualify
- 1972 - Second place
- 1976 - Did not qualify
- 1984 - Round 1
- 1988 - Second place
- 1992 - Did not qualify
- 1996 - Quarterfinals
- 2000 - Third place
- 2004 - Quarterfinals
[edit] East Asian Cup record
[edit] 2002 World Cup squad
The head coach of the 2002 World Cup Korea Republic team was Guus Hiddink.
[edit] 2006 World Cup squad
2006 FIFA World Cup head coach was Dick Advocaat.
The South Korean team for 2006 World Cup had ten veterans from the 2002 World Cup squad and had more World Cup goalscorers than any other nation heading into Germany: Ahn Jung-Hwan, Seol Ki-Hyeon, Lee Eul-Yong, Song Chong-Gug, and Park Ji-Sung [1].
[edit] 2006 World Cup information
South Korea won its opening game of the 2006 World Cup against Togo. After the opening 45 minutes, Togo was up 1-0 after a goal from Mohamed Kader. Togo had Jean-Paul Abalo sent off by English referee Graham Poll 10 minutes into the second half as a result of receiving his second yellow card for a trip on Park Ji Sung, and Lee Chun-Soo put away the resulting free-kick to tie the game. South Korea made the most of its one-man advantage and substitute Ahn Jung-Hwan scored the team's second goal with a deflected strike from 20 yards. The final score of the game was 2-1 to South Korea. It was the team's first World Cup finals victory outside Korea.
South Korea's next opponent in the World Cup 2006 was 1998 World Cup winners France on 18 June, in Leipzig. The result was a 1-1 draw. France gained an early lead after 9 minutes, through Thierry Henry, but South Korea earned a late equaliser in the 82nd minute when Park Ji-Sung flicked the ball over French goalkeper Fabien Barthez and defender William Gallas and into the net.
The game had a moment of controversy when French midfielder Patrick Vieira's header, from a corner in the first half, appeared to have crossed the goal line from the perspective of a camera before being knocked back into play by Korean goalkeeper Lee Woon-Jae and cleared away by Choi Jin-Cheul. However, the referee awarded Korea a free-kick for a foul on Choi instead of awarding France a goal. After the game, French coach Raymond Domenech argued that his team had scored two valid goals and that Vieira's goal, if awarded, would have changed the game significantly. However, Domenech made it clear that he blamed Mexican referee Benito Archundia rather than the Koreans, and argued for the use of video technology in confirming goals. Domenech's sentiment was echoed by French centreback Lilian Thuram who said: "The Koreans did what they had to do, to keep themselves alive, and if the referee had awarded the goal I believe the Koreans would not really have disputed it. Ultimately it was the referee who failed to do his job."
South Korea's final game in the group phase was against Switzerland on 23 June 2006. South Korea lost 0-2, and did not advance to the Round of 16, arriving third in the group. The game against Switzerland also had some controversy, which involved Switzerland's second goal in the 77th minute when the offside flag had been raised prior to it. The referee, Horacio Elizondo waived the call and allowed the goal. There were also two controversial hand balls, when in both Patrick Müller touched the ball inside the Swiss penalty area.
[edit] Asian Cup 2007
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This section documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses. |
The qualifiers for the Asian Cup 2007 has begun, and South Korea has already won three games, beating Syria 3-1 and Chinese Taipei twice 3-0 and 8-0. They have also drew 1-1 with Iran. Korea has qualified after a 1-1 draw with Syria.
[edit] Korea Republic World Cup captains
| # | Player | World Cup Played As A Captain | Caps |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Park Kyu-chong | Switzerland 1954 | unknown |
| 2 | Park Chang-Seon | Mexico 1986 | unknown |
| 3 | Chung Yong-Hwan | Italy 1990 | unknown |
| 4 | Choi In-Young | USA 1994 | unknown |
| 5 | Choi Young-Il | France 1998 | unknown |
| 6 | Hong Myung-Bo | Korea/Japan 2002 | 135 |
| 7 | Lee Woon-Jae | Germany 2006 | 100 |
[edit] Former coaches
- Dick Advocaat, Netherlands (2005-06)
- Jo Bonfrere, Netherlands (2004-05)
- Humberto Coelho, Portugal (2003-04)
- Guus Hiddink, Netherlands (2000-02)
- Heo Jeong-Mu (1998-2000)
- Cha Bum-Kun (1997-98)
- Kim Ho (1992-94)
[edit] Notes
- ^ In the last four editions of Asian Cup, however, South Korea has not peformed as well as other teams (in part to a lessened emphasis on the AFC and an increased emphasis on the World Cup[citations needed]), such as Japan and Saudi Arabia. See Asian Cup and Asian Nations Cup.
- ^ See 2002 FIFA World Cup (match reports) for these controversial victories.
- ^ The FIFA ranking algorithm was altered in 2006 to include results from the past four years, negating the 2002 World Cup performance.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- South Korean FA(KFA; Korean Football Association) official site
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International football
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2006 FIFA World Cup finalists
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