Hong Myung-bo ( ko, 홍명보,

Hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, ...

: 洪明甫; ; born 12 February 1969) is a South Korean former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...

who played as a

sweeper Sweepers are small, tropical marine (occasionally brackish) perciform fish of the family Pempheridae. Found in the western Atlantic Ocean and Indo-Pacific region, the family contains about 26 species in two genera. One species (''Pempheris xanth ...

, and the current head coach of

Ulsan Hyundai Ulsan Hyundai FC ( ko, 울산 현대 축구단) is a South Korean professional football club based in Ulsan that competes in the K League 1, the top tier of South Korean football. Founded in 1983 as Hyundai Horang-i, they joined the K League in ...

. Hong is often considered one of the greatest Asian footballers of all time. Hong was a member of the South Korean national team in four

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has ...

s, and was the first Asian player to play in four consecutive World Cup final tournaments. He is also the first Asian player ever to receive the Bronze Ball at the World Cup. He gained attention after showing his outstanding ability in World Cup and Asian competitions. He received some votes in elections for the

FIFA World Player of the Year The FIFA World Player of the Year was an association football award presented annually by the sport's governing body, FIFA, between 1991 and 2015 at the FIFA World Player Gala. Coaches and captains of international teams and media representati ...

, finishing 21st in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone o ...

and 17th in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

. Furthermore, he was also selected for the

FIFA 100 The FIFA 100 is a list of Brazilian footballer Pelé's choice of the "greatest living footballers". Unveiled on 4 March 2004 at a gala ceremony in London, England, the FIFA 100 marked part of the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the fou ...

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA ...

's selection about the 125 greatest living footballers in the world.

International career

1990 World Cup

Hong was named in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

's squad for the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being ...

just four months after his international debut. The youngest South Korean player to participate in the tournament, Hong played all of the three matches in the group stage and received the most praise in South Korea despite losing all group matches.

1994 World Cup

Hong was selected as a member of South Korean Universiade team in

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

. He stabilized South Korea's defense, helping them advance to the final. He scored South Korea's first penalty in the shoot-out after South Korea drew the final with the Netherlands without a goal during 120 minutes. Hong and South Korea won a gold medal by defeating the Netherlands on penalties. Hong's talent began to receive attention in earnest since the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...

. When South Korea had only five minutes to catch up

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

, which was leading the match with the score of 2–0, he scored South Korea's first goal outside the penalty area, and assisted his teammate

Seo Jung-won Seo Jung-won (born 17 December 1970) is a South Korean football manager and former player, currently in charge of Chengdu Rongcheng. Playing career A winger who had explosive pace, Seo was nicknamed the "Nalssaendori", which means an agi ...

to score the equaliser shortly after his goal. While South Korea was losing to defending champions

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

by conceding three goals in the first half, Hong scored one of South Korea's two goals in the second half with a long-range shot to escape defeat.

1998 World Cup

Hong participated in the 1994 Asian Games after the World Cup, but he injured his knee during the quarter-final match against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

. South Korea lost to

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

in the semi-finals after he quit the tournament. While

Park Jong-hwan Park Jong-hwan ( born 9 February 1938) is a former South Korean football manager. Managerial career Considered one of South Korea's greatest football managers in the 20th century, Park led South Korean under-20 team to the semi-finals in t ...

managed South Korean national team, Hong was in conflict with Park who had a coercive disposition, and was criticized for forming his faction in the team. He was also doubted whether he played the game lazily after South Korea lost 6–2 to

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

in the quarter-finals of the 1996 AFC Asian Cup. Under the next manager Cha Bum-kun, South Korea recorded one draw and two defeats including a 5–0 loss to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in the group stage of the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for t ...

. Hong also failed to prevent South Korea's elimination in the group stage.

2002 World Cup

Hong was going to be selected as an over-aged player of South Korean under-23 team for the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

, but he was injured just before the tournament. In the 2000 AFC Asian Cup, Hong was selected for the All-Star Team, although South Korea failed to win the title by losing the semi-final match against

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the Ara ...

. Hong captained South Korea to a historic fourth-place finish in the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

. He scored the winning penalty to secure a 5–3 shoot-out victory after a goalless draw in the quarter-final match against Spain. The Technical Study Group voted Hong as the third best player of the tournament, giving the Bronze Ball to him. He became the first-ever Asian player to be named one of the top three players in a World Cup. In that year, Hong ended his international career after a friendly match against World Cup champions

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

as the all-time leader in appearances for South Korean national team.

Style of play

Hong didn't have rapid pace, untiring stamina or outstanding ability in

man-to-man defense Man-to-man defense, or man defense, is a type of defensive technique used in team sports such as American football, association football, basketball, and netball, in which each player is assigned to defend and follow the movements of a single pl ...

, but he possessed a wide field of vision as well as great leadership skills with which he marshalled his defensive partners. An offensive

, he was noted for his accurate long-range passing skills which greatly contributed to South Korea's attack. He was nicknamed the "Eternal Libero" by the South Korean media, and became a preeminent icon of South Korean football during his era.

Managerial career

On 26 September 2005, after his retirement as a player, Hong returned to the national team as assistant coach. Helping the manager

Dick Advocaat Dirk Nicolaas Advocaat (; born 27 September 1947) is a Dutch former football player and coach who is currently the head coach of Eerste Divisie side ADO Den Haag. Advocaat was successful as a football player and as a coach, including three stint ...

, he took part in the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

, and worked with the next manager Pim Verbeek in the

2007 AFC Asian Cup The 2007 AFC Asian Cup was the 14th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held from 7 to 29 July 2007. For the first time in its h ...

. After the resignation of Verbeek, he was one of the candidates to become the next manager. The Korean FA announced that it had appointed him as the South Korea under-20 team, on 19 February 2009. Under his guidance the team reached the quarter-finals of the

2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 17th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which was hosted by Egypt from 24 September to 16 October 2009. The tournament was initially going to take place between 10 and 31 July. However, the 2009 FIFA Confedera ...

, but were eliminated due to a 3–2 defeat to

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Tog ...

, the eventual champions. Hong also served an assistant coach for South Korea under-23 team under

Park Sung-hwa Park Sung-hwa (Hangul: 박성화; born 7 May 1955) is a South Korean football manager and a former football player. He is a gold medalist in the 1978 Asian Games. Managerial career After his playing career, Park managed Yukong Elephants a ...

. In October 2009, he took over the coaching duties at under-23 team. He led his team into third place in the

2010 Asian Games The 2010 Asian Games (), officially known as the XVI Asian Games () and also known as Guangzhou 2010 (), was a regional multi-sport event celebrated from November 12 to November 27, 2010 in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, although several event ...

. On 10 August 2012, Hong Myung-bo coached the men's Olympic team to a 2–0 win over

to secure the bronze medal at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

, which set up a record by obtaining the first medal ever for South Korea in Olympic football as well as being the first Asian team in 44 years to win a medal at that event. He was named as assistant manager to

Guus Hiddink Guus Hiddink (; born 8 November 1946) is a Dutch former football manager and professional player. He enjoyed a long career playing as a midfielder in his native Netherlands. Retired as player in 1982, Hiddink went into management, leading both c ...

at Anzhi Makhachkala in August 2012. After Choi Kang-hee, the former head coach of

, took the responsibility of the team's poor performance in 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification and resigned from his position, Hong Myung-bo was appointed as the new head coach of the team on 24 June 2013 to prepare the team for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from ...

. After a winless World Cup campaign, Hong resigned from his post on 10 July 2014. On 24 December 2020, Hong was appointed as the head coach of

Personal life

Hong married Cho Soo-mi, who was five years younger than him, in 1997. He has two sons, Hong Seong-min and Hong Jeong-min. One of them is currently attending Korea International School. Hong also has two younger siblings. Hong is known for his reticence and charisma.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Player

Sangmu FC * Korean Semi-professional League (Autumn): 1991 Pohang Steelers * Asian Club Championship: 1996–97 *

K League 1 The K League 1 ( Hangul: K리그1) is the men's top professional football division of the South Korean football league system. The league is contested by twelve clubs. History The South Korean professional football league was founded in ...

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engin ...

Korean FA Cup The Korean FA Cup is a national football cup knockout competition of South Korea, held annually by the Korea Football Association (KFA). Before the FA Cup was established in 1996, two predecessor competitions named All Joseon Football Tournament ...

* Korean League Cup: 1993 Kashiwa Reysol * J.League Cup:

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

South Korea B *

Summer Universiade The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and " Olympiad". The Universiade is referred ...

South Korea *

fourth place:

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

bronze medal:

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicis ...

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 cont ...

third place:

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

Dynasty Cup Dynasty Cup was an East Asian international association football tournament. The tournament was held every 2 or 3 years. It was hosted by Beijing in 1990 and 1992, Hong Kong in 1995, Yokohama and Tokyo in 1998. In 2002 the East Asian Football F ...

Individual * World XI: 1997 *

FIFA World Cup Bronze Ball At the end of each FIFA World Cup final tournament, several awards are presented to the players and teams who have distinguished themselves in various aspects of the game. Awards *There are currently five post-tournament awards from the FIFA ...

* FIFA World Cup All-Star Team:

: 2004 * AFC Asian All Stars: 1993, 1997, 2000 *

Team of the Tournament:

* AFC Hall of Fame: 2014 *

AFC AFC may stand for: Organizations * Action for Children, a UK children's charity * AFC Enterprises, the franchisor of Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits * Africa Finance Corporation, a pan-African multilateral development finance institution * A ...

Opta Best XI of All Time (FIFA World Cup): 2020 *

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

Asian Men's Team of the Century: 1901–2000 *

Asian Men's Team of All Time: 2021 * K League 1 Most Valuable Player:

* K League 1 Best XI:

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

* K League 30th Anniversary Best XI: 2013 * J.League Best XI:

Manager

South Korea U23 *

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The ina ...

bronze medal:

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

bronze medal:

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Ulsan Hyundai *

: 2022 Individual * K League 1 Manager of the Year: 2022

Notes

References

External links

*
Hong Myung-bo
at KFA * * *
International Appearances & Goals
rsssf.com
Hong`s match winning goal　Jleague 2000 FC Tokyo vs Reysol
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hong, Myung-bo 1969 births Living people Association football central defenders South Korean footballers South Korean expatriate footballers South Korea international footballers Pohang Steelers players Shonan Bellmare players Kashiwa Reysol players LA Galaxy players K League 1 players K League 1 Most Valuable Player Award winners J1 League players Major League Soccer players Expatriate footballers in Japan Expatriate soccer players in the United States 1990 FIFA World Cup players 1994 FIFA World Cup players 1996 AFC Asian Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 2000 AFC Asian Cup players 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2014 FIFA World Cup managers FIFA 100 FIFA Century Club Footballers from Seoul South Korean expatriate sportspeople in Japan South Korean expatriate sportspeople in the United States Association football sweepers Korea University alumni Major League Soccer All-Stars South Korea national football team managers South Korea national under-23 football team managers South Korea national under-20 football team managers Expatriate football managers in China Zhejiang Professional F.C. managers Ulsan Hyundai FC managers Asian Games medalists in football Footballers at the 1990 Asian Games Footballers at the 1994 Asian Games Asian Games bronze medalists for South Korea Chinese Super League managers Medalists at the 1990 Asian Games South Korean expatriate football managers Universiade gold medalists for South Korea Universiade medalists in football

International career

1990 World Cup

1994 World Cup

1998 World Cup

2002 World Cup

Style of play

Managerial career

Personal life

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Player

Manager

See also

Notes

References

External links