Ko Jong-soo (, born 30 October 1978) is a South Korean football coach and former player.

Early life

Born in Yeosu, Jeonnam, Ko graduated from Yeosu West Elementary School, Yeosu Gubong Middle School and Kumho High School. While playing as a youth footballer for Kumho High School, Ko led his team to the title in the , one of national high school football competitions in South Korea, and was nicknamed the "Enfant terrible". His talent received attention early from South Korea's senior professional clubs, and he joined

Suwon Samsung Bluewings The Suwon Samsung Bluewings () are a South Korean Association football, football club based in Suwon that competes in the K League 2, the second tier of South Korean football. Founded in December 1995, they have won the K League on four occas ...

just before his graduation.

Playing career

After joining Suwon Samsung Bluewings as a founding member in December 1995, Ko showed remarkable dribbles, passes and shots which led Suwon's prime. During his era, Suwon won 13 titles including two Asian Club Championships and two

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 ...

s. Especially, he was named the K League Most Valuable Player after contributing to his club's first-ever league title in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

. Ko was also noted for his free kicks and the front and right of the penalty arc were called "Ko Jong-soo Zones" in South Korea. He scored with a memorable free kick against José Luis Chilavert when he participated in FIFA's all-star game before 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 ...

. Ko was evaluated as the best Korean technician at the time, and his left foot is considered one of the greatest feet of all time in South Korea. He was expected to play for the national team in the 2002 World Cup, hosted by his country. However, he suffered a cruciate ligament injury in the 2001 season, and failed to recover his condition before the World Cup. This injury was also fatal to his playing career, and he could not show his former talent.

Managerial career

Ko spent his coaching career in Suwon Samsung Bluewings from 2011 to 2017. In November 2017, Ko was appointed Daejeon Citizen manager by Kim Ho, the Daejeon Citizen president at the time and his manager during his playing career. However, he was convicted of corruption for improperly selecting an acquaintance's son for the team after the 2018 season. He received a suspended six-month prison sentence.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Player

Suwon Samsung Bluewings *

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 ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Korean FA Cup The Korea Cup (), formerly the Korean FA Cup, is a national Association football, football cup knockout competition of South Korea, held annually by the Korea Football Association (KFA). Before the competition was established in 1996, two simil ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

Korean League Cup The Korean League Cup was a professional football competition in South Korean football. It was held by the K League Federation from 1986 to 2012. Sponsorship Results Finals Titles by club K League's principle of official statistics is tha ...

, 1999+,

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

* Korean Super Cup: 1999, 2000 * Asian Club Championship: 2000–01, 2001–02 * Asian Super Cup:

Individual *

top assist provider:

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

* K League All-Star: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005 * K League 1 Most Valuable Player:

* K League 1 Best XI:

top goalscorer:

* AFC Goal of the Month: February 2001 * AFC Player of the Month: March 2001

Manager

Individual *

Manager of the Month: August 2018, September 2018

Notes

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ko, Jong-soo 1978 births Living people Sportspeople from Yeosu Suwon Samsung Bluewings players Kyoto Sanga FC players Jeonnam Dragons players Daejeon Hana Citizen players K League 1 players J1 League players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup players Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for South Korea Men's association football midfielders Expatriate men's footballers in Japan South Korean expatriate sportspeople in Japan South Korean expatriate men's footballers South Korea men's international footballers South Korean men's footballers Footballers from South Jeolla Province Daejeon Hana Citizen managers K League 2 managers South Korean football managers AFC Champions League Elite–winning players