Hong Myung-bo

This is a Korean name; the family name is Hong.

Hong Myung-bo
홍명보

Hong in 2013
Personal information
Full name	Hong Myung-bo
Date of birth	(1969-02-12) February 12, 1969
Place of birth	Seoul, South Korea
Height
Position(s)	Sweeper
Team information
Current team	Hangzhou Greentown
Youth career
1987–1990	Korea University
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1991	Sangmu FC (military service)	?	(?)
1992–1997	Pohang Steelers	110	(14)
1997–1998	Bellmare Hiratsuka	42	(0)
1999–2001	Kashiwa Reysol	72	(7)
2002	Pohang Steelers	19	(0)
2003–2004	LA Galaxy	38	(0)
Total		281	(21)
International career
2000	South Korea Olympic	1	(0)
1990–2002	South Korea	136	(10)
Managerial career
2009	South Korea U-20
2009–2012	South Korea U-23
2013–2014	South Korea
2016–	Hangzhou Greentown
Medal record Representing South Korea Men's football Asian Games 1990 Beijing Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Hong Myung-bo
Hangul	홍명보
Hanja	洪明甫
Revised Romanization	Hong Myeong-bo
McCune–Reischauer	Hong Myŏng-bo

Hong Myung-bo (Korean: 홍명보, Hanja: 洪明甫; Korean pronunciation: [hoŋmjʌŋbo]) (born February 12, 1969 in Seoul) is a South Korean former footballer and former manager of the South Korean national team. Hong, along with Cha Bum-kun, is often considered one of the greatest Asian footballers of all time. Hong was a member of the South Korean national team in four World Cups, and was the first Asian player to play in four consecutive World Cup final tournaments.

Hong often played as a centre-back but also played at the full-back position. He was often touted to be the best sweeper in Asia at that time. He was often cited as the "Korean Libero" by the media due to his ability to play deep into the midfield and strike a long distance ball. He retired as a player following the end of the 2004 Major League Soccer season, having finished his career with the Los Angeles Galaxy. He was chosen among the "FIFA 100", Pelé's selection of the 125 greatest living footballers in the world. He was the only South Korean footballer in the FIFA 100. He was also the recipient of the 2002 FIFA World Cup Bronze Ball. No other Asian player has yet achieved this feat.

He managed the South Korea national under-20 football team in 2009, and led the team to the quarterfinals in the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Since being appointed in 2009, he has worked as head coach of the under-23 football team. Under his guidance, the South Korean national football team was able to receive the bronze in the 2012 London Olympics, 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. On June 24, 2013, Hong was appointed as the head coach of South Korean national football team to lead the team in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, but resigned the post a year later following the team's poor showing at the World Cup.

Club career

Hong Myung-bo played the defender position for Pohang Steelers in South Korea's K League , Bellmare Hiratsuka Kashiwa Reysol in Japan's J-League, LA Galaxy in USA's Major League Soccer

International career

Hong Myung-bo made his first appearance for the South Korea national football team on 4 February 1990, in a friendly match against Norway national football team. Hong Myung-bo went on to participate in major competitions such as 1990 FIFA World Cup, 1994 FIFA World Cup, 1998 FIFA World Cup, 2002 FIFA World Cup, 1996 AFC Asian Cup, 2000 AFC Asian Cup.

Hong was selected as an over-aged player by the South Korea under-23 for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. But he was injured just before the tournament, and replaced by Kang Chul.

1990 World Cup

Hong's first appearance at a World Cup finals was at the 1990 World Cup in Italy. Hong played in all three group stage matches against Belgium, Spain, and Uruguay. However, South Korea was eliminated in the group stage after losing all the three games.

1994 World Cup

Hong's talent was most notable during the 1994 World Cup group stage. When South Korea had only 5 minutes to catch up Spain, who was leading the match with the score of 2-0, Hong scored the first goal and assisted the winger Seo Jung-won to score the equalizer goal shortly after, making the match a memorable draw against Spain.

In the match that took place two weeks later, South Korea was losing during the first half with the score of 3-0 to Germany – the defending World Champions at the time, represented by numerous skillful players including Jürgen Klinsmann, Jürgen Kohler, Matthias Sammer, Rudi Völler and Lothar Matthäus. After assisting the striker Hwang Sun Hong to strike the first goal into the net, Hong scored the second goal himself, but that was the last goal of the match.

1998 World Cup

Hong's third World Cup appearance was at the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France. Hong played all three group stage matches of South Korea against Mexico, Netherlands and Belgium. South Korea was eliminated at the first round with 1 draw (Belgium) and 2 losses (Mexico and Netherlands).

2002 World Cup

Hong captained the South Korean national team to a historic fourth-place finish in the 2002 World Cup. He scored the winning penalty to secure a 5–3 shootout victory in the quarter final against Spain after a goalless draw. The Technical Study Group voted him as the third best player of the tournament (Bronze Ball award), the first ever Asian player to be named in the top 3 players in a World Cup. Leader of the Korean defensive trio alongside Kim Tae-young and Choi Jin-cheul, he ended his international career after the 2002 World Cup as the all-time leader in appearances for the South Korean national team, with 135 caps.

Managerial career

On September 26, 2005, after his retirement as a player, Hong returned to the national team as assistant coach. Helping the manager Dick Advocaat, he took part in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and worked with the next manager Pim Verbeek in the Asian Cup 2007. After the resignation of Pim Verbeek, he was one of the candidates to become the next manager. The Korea Football Association announced that it had appointed him as the South Korea national under-20 football team, on 19 February 2009. Under his guidance the team reached the quarter finals of the tournament, but were eliminated due to a 2–3 defeat to Ghana national under-20 football team. Hong also served an assistant coach for under-23 football team under Park Sung-wha. In October 2009, he took over the coaching duties at under-23 football team. He led his team into third place in the 2010 Asian Games.On August 10, 2012, Hong Myung-bo coached the U-23 Men's Olympic team to a 2-0 win over Japan to secure the bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. He was named as assistant manager to Guus Hiddink at Anzhi Makhachkala in August 2012. After Choi Kang-hee, the former head coach of South Korean national football team, took the responsibility of the team's poor performance in 2014 FIFA World Cup Asian qualification and resigned from his position, Hong Myung-bo was appointed as the new head coach of the team on June 24, 2013 to prepare the team for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. After a winless World Cup campaign, Hong resigned from his post on July 10, 2014.

Honours

Player

POSCO Atoms

• K League (1): 1992
• League Cup (1): 1993
• FA Cup (1) 1996
• AFC Champions League (1) 1997

Kashiwa Reysol

• League Cup (1): 1999

International

• 2002 FIFA World Cup : 4th place

Manager

South Korea national under-23 football team

• 2012 Summer Olympics (1): Bronze medal

Individual

Player

• K League Best XI: 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2002
• J. League Best XI : 2000
• Asian Cup Best XI : 2000
• 2002 FIFA World Cup All-Star Team : 2002
• 2002 FIFA World Cup Bronze Ball Award Winner : 2002
• Selected to FIFA 100: 2004

Statistics

Club career statistics

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Korea Republic			League		FA Cup		League Cup		Asia		Total
1992	POSCO Atoms / Pohang Steelers	K-League	29	1	-		8	0	-		37	1
1993			11	1	-		1	0	-		12	1
1994			17	4	-		0	0	-		17	4
1995			24	1	-		7	0	-		31	1
1996			29	7	0	0	5	0	?	?	34+?	7+?
1997			0	0	0	0	6	0	?	?	6+?	0+?
Japan			League		Emperor's Cup		J. League Cup		Asia		Total
1997	Bellmare Hiratsuka	J. League 1	10	0	3	1	0	0	?	?	13+?	1+?
1998			32	0	2	0	0	0	-		34	0
1999	Kashiwa Reysol	J. League 1	28	5	4	2	5	2	-		37	9
2000			29	2	2	0	2	0	-		33	2
2001			15	0	0	0	3	0	-		18	0
Korea Republic			League		FA Cup		League Cup		Asia		Total
2002	Pohang Steelers	K-League	19	0	0	0	0	0	-		19	0
United States			League		Open Cup		League Cup		North America		Total
2003	Los Angeles Galaxy	Major League Soccer	25	0	2	0					27	0
2004			13	0	0	0			-		13	0
Country	Korea Republic		129	14	0	0	27	0	?	?	156+?	14+?
	Japan		114	7	11	3	10	2	?	?	135+?	12+?
	United States		38	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	40	0
Total			281	21	13	3	37	2	?	?	331+?	26+?

National team statistics

Korea Republic national team
Year	Apps	Goals
1990	20	2
1991	1	0
1992	3	1
1993	18	2
1994	14	4
1995	5	0
1996	16	1
1997	12	0
1998	8	0
1999	5	0
2000	11	0
2001	7	0
2002	16	0
Total	136	10

Results list South Korea's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	August 3, 1990	Beijing, China	China PR	1	1–1 (6–5 PSO)	1990 Dynasty Cup
2.	September 23, 1990	Beijing, China	Singapore	1	7–0	1990 Asian Games
3.	August 24, 1992	Beijing, China	North Korea	1	1–1	1992 Dynasty Cup
4.	May 13, 1993	Beirut, Lebanon	India	1	3–0	1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
5.	October 19, 1993	Doha, Qatar	Iraq	1	2–2	1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
6.	June 5, 1994	Boston, USA	Ecuador	1	1–2	Friendly match
7.	June 17, 1994	Dallas, USA	Spain	1	2–2	1994 FIFA World Cup
8.	June 27, 1994	Dallas, USA	Germany	1	2–3	1994 FIFA World Cup
9.	September 11, 1994	Gangneung, South Korea	Ukraine	1	1–0	Friendly match
10.	August 8, 1996	Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam	Chinese Taipei	1	4–0	1996 AFC Asian Cup qualification

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.

External links

• Hong Myung-bo – K League stats at kleague.com
• Hong Myung-bo – National Team Stats at KFA (Korean)
• Hong Myung-bo – FIFA competition record
• Hong Myung-bo at National-Football-Teams.com
• International Appearances & Goals rsssf.com