Hong Myung-bo

Hong Myung-bo

Personal information
Height	1.82 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Assistant Manager/(former Defender)
Team information
Current team	Korea Republic
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19:18, 10 February 2007 (UTC)

Hong Myung-Bo (born February 12, 1969 in Seoul) is a South Korean former football player who retired from playing following the end of the 2004 Major League Soccer season, having finished his career with the Los Angeles Galaxy. Hong was a key member of the Korean national team in four World Cups, and was the first Korean player to play in four consecutive World Cup finals tournaments.

National team

1994 World Cup

Hong's individual talent was most notably showcased during the 1994 World Cup group stage. With Korea trailing 2-0 against Spain with only 5 minutes to go, Hong made the score 2-1 and shortly after he created the second for winger Seo Jung-Won to equalize the match.

Two weeks later, Korea found themselves trailing 3-0 at half time against Germany – the defending World Champions at the time ;ndash which included the likes of Jürgen Klinsmann, Jürgen Kohler, Matthias Sammer, Rudi Völler and Lothar Matthäus. Hong created the first Korean goal for striker Hwang Sun Hong to put into the net, then scored the second himself, but the Koreans failed to achieve the comeback.

2002 World Cup

Hong captained the Korean national team to a historic fourth place finish in the 2002 World Cup, himself winning the Bronze Ball award as the third best player in the tournament. He ended his international career after the 2002 World Cup as the all-time leader in appearances for the South Korean national team, with 135 caps.

Playing style

A skillful midfielder-turned-sweeper, Hong's calm temperament and leadership qualities made him a natural choice for captain of the national team. Somewhat like legendary libero Franz Beckenbauer, Hong was an all-round player and excelled as an attacking sweeper - his trademark was to orchestrate attacks from the defense with his superior vision and creative long-range passing. He was also an exceptional reader of the game and his clever positioning added great stability to Korea's defense. In addition to this, Hong could also threaten goalkeepers with his explosive long-range shooting when given space to roam forward, as England keeper Nigel Martyn found out in the England vs Korea Republic pre-World Cup friendly, in May 21, 2002.

During his time in the J-League, his passing skills were utilized in midfield instead - for example during his 3 seasons with Kashiwa Reysol he operated as a defensive midfielder with creative duties.

Post-playing career

In September 26, 2005, almost 3 years after his retirement as a player, Hong has returned to the national team as an assistant coach. Helping the manager Dick Advocaat, he took part in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and now works with the new manager Pim Verbeek.

Honors

Individual honors

• Selected to FIFA 100: 2004
• 2002 FIFA World Cup Bronze Ball Award Winner : 2002
• 2002 FIFA World Cup All-Star Team : 2002
• Asian Cup Best Eleven: 2000
• J-League Best Eleven: 2000
• K-League Best Eleven: 1995, 1992

Hong was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004.