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	53
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 away from home in the 2010 World Cup Qualifying Match.

[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 WCQ vs UAE 15 October, 2008.

No. Pos. Player DoB (Age) Caps Goals Club 0 GK Lee Woon-Jae 36 September 1973 0 0 Suwon Samsung 1 GK Kim Young-Kwang 28 June 1983 12 -9 Ulsan Hyundai 18 GK Jung Sung-Ryong 4 January 1985 9 -5 Seongnam Ilhwa 2 DF Oh Beom-Suk 9 July 1984 19 0 Krylia Sovetov Samara 4 DF Cho Yong-Hyung 3 November 1983 7 0 Jeju United 5 DF Kim Dong-Jin 29 January 1982 48 2 FC Zenit Saint Petersburg 12 DF Lee Young-Pyo 23 April 1977 97 5 Borussia Dortmund 13 DF Kim Chi-Woo 11 November 1983 15 0 FC Seoul 14 DF Kang Min-Soo 14 February 1986 17 0 Jeonbuk Hyundai 16 DF Kwak Tae-Hwi 8 July 1981 5 2 Chunnam Dragons 3 MF Cho Won-Hee 17 April 1983 23 1 Suwon Samsung 7 MF Park Ji-Sung 25 February 1981 72 9 Manchester United 8 MF Kim Jung-Woo 9 May 1982 34 1 Seongnam Ilhwa 17 MF Lee Chung-Yong 2 july 1988 4 1 FC Seoul 19 MF Song Jung-Hyun 28 May 1976 0 0 Chunnam Dragons 23 MF Ki Sung-Yong 24 January 1989 2 1 FC Seoul 24 MF Kim Hyung-Bum 1 January 1984 0 0 Jeonbuk Hyundai 9 FW Shin Young-Rok 27 March 1987 1 0 Suwon Samsung 10 FW Choi Sung-Kuk 8 February 1983 23 2 Seongnam Ilhwa 11 FW Lee Keun-Ho 11 April 1985 12 5 Daegu FC 20 FW Jung Sung-Hun 4 July 1979 0 0 Busan I'Park 22 FW Seo Dong-Hyun 5 June 1985 2 0 Suwon Samsung

[edit] Recent call ups

The following players have also been called up to the South Korea squad in 2008.

Goalkeepers

Name	Date of birth	Club	Caps (goals)	Most Recent Call up
Kim Byung-Ji	April 8, 1970	FC Seoul	62 (0)	v. Chile, 30 January, 2008

Defenders

Name	Date of birth	Club	Caps (goals)	Most Recent Call up
Park Won-Jae	May 28, 1984	Pohang Steelers		v. Turkmenistan, 6 February, 2008
Hwang Jae-Won	April 13, 1981	Pohang Steelers	2 (0)	v. Turkmenistan, 6 February, 2008

Midfielders

Name	Date of birth	Club	Caps (goals)	Most Recent Call up
Han Tae-You	March 31, 1981	Gwangju Sangmu	1 (0)	v. North Korea, 26 March, 2008
Lee Jong-Min	September 1, 1983	FC Seoul		v. North Korea, 26 March, 2008
Lee Kwan-Woo	February 25, 1978	Suwon Samsung	13 (1)	v. Turkmenistan, 6 February, 2008
Lee Dong-Sik	March 15, 1979	Jeju United	0 (0)	v. Chile, 30 January, 2008

Strikers

Name	Date of birth	Club	Caps (goals)	Most Recent Call up
Cho Jae-Jin	July 9, 1981	Chonbuk Hyundai	37 (10)	v. North Korea, 26 March, 2008
Yeom Ki-Hoon	March 30, 1983	Ulsan Hyundai	15 (3)	v. North Korea, 26 March, 2008

[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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