Choi Soon-ho (; born 10 January 1962) is a South Korean

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager and former player.

International career

Choi was named in South Korean squad for the

1980 AFC Asian Cup The 1980 AFC Asian Cup was the 7th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were hosted by Kuwait between 15 and 30 S ...

. He scored seven goals including two goals against

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

, and a hat-trick against

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

in the group stage. South Korea met Kuwait again in the final, but they lost this time. Choi became the youngest ever player to be the top scorer in the

AFC Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second-oldest c ...

at age 18. In 1981, he led South Korean under-20 team to the 1980 AFC Youth Championship title by scoring four goals. He also played FIFA World Youth Championship matches as the Asian champion in the same year. He defeated

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

4–1 in the first game by having two goals and two assists. However, South Korea was eliminated in the group stage after losing to

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

and

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. Choi was selected for the South Korean squad for the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...

. He contributed to more than half of the team's 17 goals by having one goal and eight assists in eight games of the

qualification Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

. He scored a goal outside the penalty area in a group match against

. He finally provided two assists as well as scoring a goal in the World Cup, proving his abilities outside Asia.

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

club

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

was interested in Choi after the World Youth Championship. Its interest lasted until the end of the 1986 World Cup, but his team POSCO consistently rejected its offer.

Style of play

Regarded as one of the most technically gifted forwards in South Korea, Choi was proficient at controlling the ball with various skills including shot, dribble, touch, and pass. He also showed good speed, wide vision and supple body, having hardly any weak point. He normally played as a striker, but he could also play as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

to create chances.

Career statistics

Club

International

The KFA is showing the list of Choi's 96 international appearances in its official website. The

RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (''RSSSF'') is an international organisation dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around ...

is claiming 103 appearances about Choi's international career by recognising eight more appearances against Malaysia B, Thailand B, Bahrain B (in 1980 Korea Cup), NIAC Mitra (in 1982 King's Cup),

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

(in 1983 Korea Cup), Czechoslovakia XI (in 1988 Korea Cup), the Soviet Union Olympic and Argentina Olympic (in

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

), and excluding one appearance against the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

(in 1983 Korea Cup). The RSSSF recognised his appearances in the 1984 Summer Olympics qualification, but it is not recognising his two goals against

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in the competition. In 1999, Choi was inducted into the AFC Century Club, the selection of AFC players to win 100 or more caps, with 113 caps by the standard of the time.

:''Results list South Korea's goal tally first.''

Honours

Player

POSCO Atoms *

K League 1 The K League 1 () is a professional association football league in South Korea and the highest level of the South Korean football league system. The league is contested by twelve clubs. It is one of the most successful leagues in the Asian Foo ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

* Korean Semi-professional League: 1982 * Korean Semi-professional League (Autumn): 1981 Lucky-Goldstar Hwangso *

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

* Korean National Championship: 1988 South Korea U20 *

AFC Youth Championship The AFC U-20 Asian Cup, formerly known as the AFC Youth Championship and AFC U-19 Championship, is a biennial international association football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-20 national teams ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

South Korea *

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

runner-up:

* Dynasty Cup:

Afro-Asian Cup of Nations The Afro-Asian Cup of Nations, also called the AFC Asia/Africa Challenge Cup, was an intercontinental football competition endorsed by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), contested between repr ...

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

Individual *

top goalscorer:

Team of the Tournament:

* Korean FA Best XI: 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986 *

Most Valuable Player:

top goalscorer:

* K League 1 Best XI:

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

* Korean FA Most Valuable Player: 1990 * K League All-Star: 1991 * K League '80s All-Star Team: 2003 * K League 30th Anniversary Best XI: 2013 *

K League K League () is South Korea's professional football league. It includes the first division K League 1 and the second division K League 2. Clubs competing in the K League have won a record total of twelve AFC Champions League Elite, AFC Champions ...

Hall of Fame: 2023

Manager

Hyundai Mipo Dockyard * Korea National League:

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

* Korean President's Cup: 2008 Individual * K League All-Star: 2004 * Korea National League Manager of the Year:

* Korean President's Cup Best Manager: 2008

References

External links

*
Choi Soon-ho – National Team Stats
at KFA * *
International Appearances & Goals
{{DEFAULTSORT:Choi, Soon-Ho 1962 births Living people Men's association football midfielders South Korean men's footballers South Korean expatriate men's footballers South Korea men's international footballers South Korean football managers Pohang Steelers managers Gangwon FC managers Pohang Steelers players FC Seoul players FC Seoul non-playing staff Rodez AF players K League 1 players Ligue 2 players 1980 AFC Asian Cup players 1986 FIFA World Cup players 1990 FIFA World Cup players Footballers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for South Korea Sportspeople from Cheongju Footballers from North Chungcheong Province Expatriate men's footballers in France South Korean expatriate sportspeople in France Asian Games medalists in football Footballers at the 1982 Asian Games Footballers at the 1986 Asian Games Footballers at the 1990 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Asian Games bronze medalists for South Korea Medalists at the 1986 Asian Games Medalists at the 1990 Asian Games FIFA Men's Century Club 20th-century South Korean sportsmen