Korea Republic national football team

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Korea Republic

Nickname(s)	Taegeuk Jeonsa (Taegeuk Warriors), Tigers of Asia, Reds
Association	Korea Football Association
Confederation	AFC (Asia)
Head coach	Huh Jung-Moo
Captain	Park Ji-Sung
Most caps	Hong Myung-Bo (135)
Top scorer	Cha Bum-kun (55)
FIFA code	KOR
FIFA ranking	42
Highest FIFA ranking	17 (December 1998)
Lowest FIFA ranking	56 (February 1996)
Elo ranking	38
Highest Elo ranking	15 (Sep 1980, Jun 2002)
Lowest Elo ranking	59 (August 1967)
Home colours Away colours
First international
South Korea 5 - 3 Mexico (London, England; August 2, 1948)
Biggest win
South Korea 16 - 0 Nepal (Incheon, South Korea; September 29, 2003)
Biggest defeat
Sweden 12 - 0 South Korea (London, England; August 5, 1948)
World Cup
Appearances	7 (First in 1954)
Best result	Fourth place, 2002
AFC Asian Cup
Appearances	11 (First in 1956)
Best result	Winners, 1956 and 1960
Confederations Cup
Appearances	1 (First in 2001)
Best result	1st round, 2001

The Korea Republic national football team represents the Republic of Korea in international football competitions. The team, also known as South Korea, 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 seven World Cup final tournament, and became the first Asian nation to reach the semi-finals, doing so when it co-hosted the 2002 tournament. It currently holds the best FIFA World Cup record among Asian teams.^[1]

Contents 1 History 2 Forthcoming matches 3 Summer Olympics record 4 World Cup record 5 Asian Cup record 6 East Asian Cup record 7 Current squad 7.1 Recent call ups 8 Korea in the 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, Group B 9 National Team performance against various opponents 9.1 vs. Europe 9.2 vs. Asia 9.3 vs. the Americas 9.4 vs. Africa 9.5 Cumulative Record 10 National team record 11 Korea Republic World Cup captains 12 Current and Former Coaches 13 Notes 14 See also 15 External links 16 Titles

[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. 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. In 1954 World Cup, they played 2 games with Hungary and Turkey. They lost to Hungary 0-9 and 0-7 to Turkey. It's been hypothesized that the players failed to adapt to the cool playing conditions.

The 2002 FIFA World Cup, hosted jointly with Japan, was a sign of the great progress made in South Korean football. Led by Dutch coach Guus Hiddink and assistant coach Pim Verbeek, South Korea defeated Italy and Spain to become the first Asian national team to reach the World Cup semi-finals.

On June 8, 2005, South Korea qualified for their seventh World Cup by beating Kuwait 4-0 in Kuwait City.

The enthusiasm of the red-clad supporters, known as the "Red Devils", also made a huge impression on viewers worldwide. 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.

During the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, South Korea achieved their first World Cup victory outside of Asia by beating Togo 2-1 in Frankfurt on June 13. Against France, the team managed a late equalizer from Park Ji-Sung 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 of the tournament after a very controversial 2-0 loss against Switzerland, while France advanced with a 2-0 win against Togo.

On November 19, 2008, South Korea beat Saudi Arabia 2-0 in the 2010 World Cup Qualifying Match (location: Saudi Arabia Riyad King Fahd Int'l Stadium), which was their first win against Saudi Arabia in 19 years.

[edit] Forthcoming matches

Date	Opponent	Result	Score	Venue	Competition
September 10, 2008	Korea DPR	1:1 (0:0)	64' Hong Yong-Jo (PRK) 69' Ki Sung-Yong (KOR)	Shanghai, China	2010 World Cup Qualifier
October 15, 2008	United Arab Emirates	4:1 (2:0)	20' Lee Keun-Ho (KOR) 26' Park Ji-Sung (KOR) 72' Ismail Al Hammadi (UAE) 80' Lee Keun-Ho (KOR) 89' Kwak Tae-Hwi (KOR)	Seoul, Korea	2010 World Cup Qualifier
November 19, 2008	Saudi Arabia	2:0 (0:0)	76' Lee Keun-Ho (KOR) 92' Park Chu-Young (KOR)	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	2010 World Cup Qualifier
February 2, 2009	Iran			Tehran, Iran	2010 World Cup Qualifier
April 1, 2009	Korea DPR			Seoul, Korea	2010 World Cup Qualifier
June 6, 2009	United Arab Emirates			Abu Dhabi, UAE	2010 World Cup Qualifier
June 10, 2009	Saudi Arabia			Seoul, Korea	2010 World Cup Qualifier
June 17, 2009	Iran			Seoul, Korea	2010 World Cup Qualifier

[edit] Summer Olympics record

Year	Round	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1948	Quarterfinals	2	1	0	1	5	15
1964	First Round	3	0	0	3	1	20
1988	First Round	3	0	2	1	1	2
1992	First Round	3	0	3	0	2	2
1996	First Round	3	1	1	1	2	2
2000	First Round	3	2	0	1	2	3
2004	Quarterfinals	4	1	2	1	8	8
2008	First Round	3	1	1	1	2	4
2012
Total	8/16	24	6	9	9	23	56

*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

**Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.

[edit] World Cup record

Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1954	Round 1	16	2	0	0	2	0	16
1986	Round 1	20	3	0	1	2	4	7
1990	Round 1	22	3	0	0	3	1	6
1994	Round 1	20	3	0	2	1	4	5
1998	Round 1	30	3	0	1	2	2	9
2002	Fourth Place	4	7	3	2	2	8	6
2006	Round 1	17	3	1	1	1	3	4
2010
2014
Total	7/18		24	4	7	13	22	53

*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

**Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.

[edit] Asian Cup record

Year	Round	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1956	Champions	3	2	1	0	9	6
1960	Champions	3	3	0	0	9	1
1964	Third Place	3	1	0	2	2	4
1968	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1972	Second Place	5	1	2	2	7	6
1976	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1980	Second Place	6	4	1	1	12	6
1984	Round 1	4	0	2	2	1	3
1988	Second Place	6	5	1	0	11	3
1992	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1996	Quarterfinals	4	1	1	2	7	11
2000	Third Place	6	3	1	2	9	6
2004	Quarterfinals	4	2	1	1	9	4
2007	Third Place	6	1	4	1	3	3
2011	Qualified
Total	11/14	50	23	14	13	79	53

*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

**Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.

[edit] East Asian Cup record

Year	Round	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
2003	Champions	3	2	1	0	4	1
2005	Fourth Place	3	0	2	1	1	2
2008	Champions	3	1	2	0	5	4

*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

**Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.

[edit] Current squad

The following squad is for Jeju training, January 2009.

No. Pos. Player DoB (Age) Caps Goals Club GK Lee Woon-Jae 36 September 1973 111 0 Suwon Samsung GK Kim Young-Kwang 28 June 1983 13 0 Ulsan Hyundai GK Jung Sung-Ryong 4 January 1985 12 1 Seongnam Ilhwa DF Cho Yong-Hyung 3 November 1983 11 0 Jeju United DF Kim Chi-Woo 11 November 1983 17 0 FC Seoul DF Choi Hyo-Jin 18 August 1983 4 0 Pohang Steelers DF Lee Jung-Soo 8 January 1980 5 0 Suwon Samsung DF Kim Chang-Soo 12 September 1985 0 0 Busan I'Park DF Kang Min-Soo 14 February 1986 20 0 Jeonbuk Hyundai DF Kim Chi-Gon 29 July 1983 8 0 FC Seoul DF Lim You-Hwan 2 December 1983 1 0 Jeonbuk Hyundai MF Ha Dae-Sung 2 March 1985 1 0 Daegu FC MF Kim Jung-Woo 9 May 1982 38 1 Seongnam Ilhwa MF Song Jung-Hyun 28 May 1976 2 0 Chunnam Dragons MF Ki Sung-Yong 24 January 1989 6 2 FC Seoul MF Han Tae-You 31 March 1981 1 0 FC Seoul MF Lee Chung-Yong 2 July 1988 8 2 FC Seoul MF Yeom Ki-Hoon 30 March 1983 20 3 Ulsan Hyundai FW Jung Jo-Gook 23 April 1984 10 4 FC Seoul FW Lee Keun-Ho 11 April 1985 14 6 Daegu FC FW Jung Sung-Hun 4 July 1979 4 0 Busan I'Park FW Kim Dong-Chan 19 April 1986 0 0 Gyeongnam FC FW Seo Dong-Hyun 5 June 1985 4 0 Suwon Samsung

[edit] Recent call ups

The following players have also been called up to the South Korea squad in 2009.

Goalkeepers

Name	Date of birth	Club	Caps (goals)	Most Recent Call up

Defenders

Name	Date of birth	Club	Caps (goals)	Most Recent Call up
Choi Hyo-Jin	August 18, 1983	Pohang Steelers	4 (0)	v.  Qatar, November 14, 2008
Lee Jung-Soo	January 8, 1980	Suwon Samsung	5 (0)	v.  Korea DPR, June 22, 2008
Kim Chang-Soo	September 12, 1985	Busan I'Park	0 (0)
Kim Chi-Gon	July 29, 1983	FC Seoul	8 (0)	v.  Qatar, November 14, 2008
Lim You-Hwan	December 2, 1983	Jeonbuk Hyundai	1 (0)	v.  Qatar, November 14, 2008

Midfielders

Name	Date of birth	Club	Caps (goals)	Most Recent Call up
Han Tae-You	March 31, 1981	FC Seoul	1 (0)	v.  Korea DPR, March 26, 2008
Ha Dae-Sung	March 2, 1985	Daegu FC	1 (0)	v.  Qatar, November 14, 2008

Strikers

Name	Date of birth	Club	Caps (goals)	Most Recent Call up
Jung Jo-Gook	April 23, 1984	FC Seoul	10 (4)	v.  Chile, January 20, 2008
Kim Dong-Chan	April 19, 1986	Gyeongnam FC	0 (0)

[edit] Korea in the 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, Group B

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Korea Republic 3 2 1 0 7 2 +5 7  Iran 3 1 2 0 4 3 +1 5  Korea DPR 3 1 1 1 4 4 0 4  Saudi Arabia 3 1 1 1 3 4 −1 4  United Arab Emirates 4 0 1 3 4 9 −5 1

Iran  – 2 – 1 11 Feb 28 Mar 10 Jun Korea DPR  6 Jun – 1 – 1 11 Feb 28 Mar Korea Republic  17 Jun 1 Apr – 10 Jun 4 – 1 Saudi Arabia  1 – 1 17 Jun 0 – 2 – 1 Apr United Arab Emirates  1 – 1 1 – 2 6 Jun 1 – 2 –

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