Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
There can be few players in the pantheon of Asian stars who have the status, profile or reputation of Korea Republic’s Hong Myung Bo.
Having captained Korea Republic to the semi-finals of the 2002 FIFA World Cup and played more times for his native land a record 135 times, Hong is a legend of the continental game.
And yet, for all his achievements – including playing at four consecutive FIFA World Cups – Hong was never a winner of the AFC Asian Cup as the Koreans have endured a title drought that goes all the way back to 1960.
“I played in the Asian Cup twice, in 1996 and 2000,” said the 41-year-old, who spent the bulk of his career playing between the professional leagues of Korea and Japan.
“In 1996 we lost 6-2 against Iran and in my career that’s the worst memory. In 2000 we lost to Saudi in the semi-finals but we were changing generations, new players were coming into the Korean team. I don’t have such good memories of the Asian Cup.
“I don’t know why we haven’t done well. We always tried to win the Asian Cup but at that time the competition was in November or December and the players were tired after the league.
“Also Koreans were more focused on World Cup qualifying, not on the Asian Cup unlike Japan, who were always wanting to win the Asian Cup. That’s the difference between us.
“But I think now the Asian Cup is very important for Korean football because we have many very talented players at this tournament as well as experienced players like Young Pyo and Park Ji Sung but also the Korean media is very focused on the Asian Cup and I think that’s why there has been a very different attitude among the Korean players.”
In his current position as head coach of the Korean Olympic team that will attempt to qualify for London 2012, Hong sees the current tournament as the perfect opportunity for many of the key performers in his squad to experience life in a big-game environment.
Among those likely to represent Korea during Asia’s qualifying tournament for the 2012 Olympics, Ki Sung Yueng and Koo Ja Cheol are in Cho Kwang Rae’s squad for the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011 while several others are watching from the bench.
“It’s a good experience, playing in the Asian Cup for the players who are only 20, 21 years old,” Hong continued.
“It’s great experience for them. I think they have a lot of potential but a lot of them haven’t played and have been on the bench. But just watching can be enough for them.”
Few players know better the value attached to the inclusion in a squad for a major tournament at a tender age than Hong. The former central defender played at four FIFA World Cups, with the first of those in Italy when he was just a 21-year-old.
The Koreans endured significant frustration at successive tournaments as they aimed to end a run of results that saw them fail to win at a FIFA World Cup until the country co-hosted the finals with Japan in 2002. Things were to change quickly once the competition started on home soil.
“No one had experienced a win at the World Cup,” said Hong of the nation’s World Cup hoodoo. “I had played three times but had never won.
“Before the World Cup we were a little bit nervous but when we started Guus Hiddink give us confidence and there was good competition in the squad. We were well organised and that was why we became a strong team.
“And also the Korean supporters were crazy, wearing red t-shirts and I think that’s why we had more responsibility at the World Cup, as host team and that’s why we were strong. We respected the coach and he believed in the players and I think that’s why we did better than a lot of other teams.”
The Koreans made it all the way to the semi-finals of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, with Hong scoring the penalty in a shootout against Spain the quarterfinals that took the Taeguk Warriors into the last four, the first time any Asian nation had gone so far at the competition.
“Before the penalties, I was thinking that if I miss this I will leave Korea,” said Hong. “But I was very confident.
“The Spanish player had missed and I knew if I scored we would win. I wasn’t thinking about if we won we would be into the semi-finals, I was just thinking about taking my kick and then I would be finished and be very happy.”
Reaching the semi-finals in 2002 was the pinnacle of an illustrious career for Hong, who also won the Bronze Ball at the tournament, but unlike the current generation of Korean players, he was unable to further his career by playing in Europe.
Instead, Hong had stints in the J.League with Bellmare Hiratsuka and Kashiwa Reysol before returning to his first club Pohang Steelers of the K-League and finishing his career in the United States with LA Galaxy.
“I had a lot of chances after the 1994 World Cup because I had a lot of offers from Europe but at the time in Korea there were no agents and they only could contact the club,” said Hong.
“But the club didn’t have any experience sending players to Europe. So I missed the chance, but that’s okay. If I got to Europe, it would have been a great experience. I missed that chance but it’s not a problem. As a coach I worked with Dick Advocaat and Pim Verbeek and I learned a lot of things.
“It’s good for the Korea national team that we have so many players now playing in Europe, but we have a problem because of the FIFA rules. They come and they are tired and they can’t perform in the team, it’s a long trip and they only have one or two days training. It’s difficult.
“The problem for me is that Olympic matches are not on friendly match days so we can’t bring European players, so we have to use K-League players, but in the K-League the Olympic team players can’t play, they’re only on the bench. This is our problem.”