Soccer World Cup 2002 / South Korea

This article covers the South Korean national team at the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea .

qualification

As host, South Korea qualified directly for the finals.

South Korean contingent

No.	Surname	Club before the start of the World Cup	birthday	Games	Gates
goalkeeper
1	Lee Woon-jae	Suwon Bluewings	04/26/1973	7th	0	0	0	0
12	Kim Byung-ji	Pohang Steelers	04/08/1970	0	0	0	0	0
23	Choi Eun-sung	Daejeon Citizen	04/05/1971	0	0	0	0	0
Defender
2	Hyun Young-min	Ulsan Hyundai	December 25, 1979	0	0	0	0	0
3	Choi Sung-yong	Suwon Bluewings	December 15, 1975	0	0	0	0	0
4th	Choi Jin-cheul	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	March 26, 1971	6th	0	1	0	0
7th	Kim Tae-young	Chunnam Dragons	11/08/1970	7th	0	2	0	0
10	Lee Young-pyo	FC Seoul	04/23/1977	5	0	0	0	0
15th	Lee Min-sung	Busan I'Cons	06/23/1973	2	0	1	0	0
20th	Hong Myung-bo	Pohang Steelers	02/12/1969	7th	0	1	0	0
midfield player
5	Kim Nam-il	Chunnam Dragons	03/14/1977	5	0	1	0	0
6th	Yoo Sang-chul	Kashiwa Reysol	October 18, 1971	7th	1	1	0	0
8th	Choi Tae-uk	FC Seoul	03/13/1981	1	0	0	0	0
13	Lee Eul-yong	Bucheon SK	09/08/1975	4th	1	1	0	0
16	Cha Du-ri	Korea University	July 25, 1980	4th	0	1	0	0
17th	Yoon Jong-hwan	Cerezo Osaka	02/16/1973	0	0	0	0	0
21st	Park Ji-sung	Kyoto Purple Sanga	02/25/1981	7th	1	1	0	0
22nd	Song Chong-gug	Busan I'Cons	02/20/1979	7th	1	1	0	0
striker
9	Seol Ki-hyeon	RSC Anderlecht	01/08/1979	7th	1	1	0	0
11	Choi Yong-soo	JEF United Ichihara	09/10/1973	1	0	0	0	0
14th	Lee Chun-soo	Ulsan Hyundai	07/09/1981	7th	0	1	0	0
18th	Hwang Sun-hong	Kashiwa Reysol	07/14/1968	5	1	0	0	0
19th	Ahn Jung-hwan	AC Perugia	01/27/1976	7th	2	0	0	0
Trainer
	Guus Hiddink		11/08/1946

Preliminary round

Korea was chosen to host the preliminary group draw. The "big chunks" like Brazil, Argentina or France did not pose any immediate danger.

In the previous five World Cup participations, South Korea had not been able to achieve a single victory. In front of the home crowd, however, the negative series came to an impressive end: The weak Poles were defeated 2-0 in a superior game. In the second game against the USA they fell 0-1 early on. Shortly before half-time, a penalty was awarded. In the end they drew 1: 1.

In the last group game they faced the highly favored Portuguese, but they lost a player to a red card in the early stages. In the middle of the second half, the referee sent another Portuguese off the pitch. Immediately afterwards the 1-0 for South Korea fell. With only eight field players, the Portuguese put the hosts under massive pressure in the final phase, but no longer managed the equalization required to reach the round of 16. South Korea was qualified for the next round as group D leaders. Another favorite was eliminated with Portugal.

South Korea	-	Poland		2: 0 (1: 0)
South Korea	-	United States		1: 1 (0: 1)
Portugal	-	South Korea		0: 1 (0: 0)

Finals

In a dramatic match in the round of 16, Italy was defeated 2-1 by a golden goal . Korea missed a penalty in the fifth minute and took the Italian opening goal a quarter of an hour later. Only shortly before the end, favored by a blatant defensive error, the equalization could be forced. In extra time, the Italians missed some clear scoring opportunities. In the 103rd minute, Totti received a controversial yellow-red card. In the 117th minute, Ahn scored the winning goal for Korea.

Opponents in the quarter-finals were Spain, who had knocked out Ireland with some difficulty in the second round. The strong Koreans were able to keep the game balanced against the southern Europeans, who competed without superstar Raul. The Spaniards had the clearer chances to score, especially in extra time, but some of them did not lead to success due to clear referee decisions. South Korea won the final penalty shoot-out 5-3.

Another big name opponent was waiting for the Asians in the semi-finals. Since South Korea had to go into extra time in the last two games, the players were a bit weaker than usual in terms of running. Nevertheless, it took until the 75th minute before Ballack could achieve the German lead. The hosts' furious triumph was over. In the game for third place they lost to Turkey 2: 3.

Round of 16
South Korea	-	Italy		2: 1 n.V. (1: 1, 0: 1)
Quarter finals
Spain	-	South Korea		0: 0 a.d., 3: 5 i. E.
Semifinals
Germany	-	South Korea		1: 0 (0: 0)
Game for third place
South Korea	-	Turkey		2: 3 (1: 3)