In an interview with South Korea’s SBS television, Guus Hiddink, who led the South Korean team to the World Cup semi-finals, revealed that he had disagreements with the Korea Football Association (KFA) on player selection, but ultimately stuck to his principle of fair competition between starters and substitutes, leading the team to a miracle.
Before the 2002 World Cup, Hiddink surprisingly excluded Hong Myung-bo, the absolute core of the South Korean team at the time, from the squad, while bringing in young players like Park Ji-sung. The KFA interfered with the coach’s selection during pre-World Cup warm-up matches by strongly recommending players to Hiddink, who was unafraid to promote players unconventionally.
Hiddink stated, “We occasionally had different opinions. The KFA would give me their list of players they thought were suitable, but I rejected it. I had my own way of selecting players.”
The KFA’s distrust of Hiddink stemmed from the team’s consecutive defeats against France and Czech Republic. Not only did fans lose faith in Hiddink, but the KFA’s confidence also wavered. However, Hiddink persevered in selecting players until the very last minute before finalizing the World Cup roster.
Lee Young-pyo, one of Hiddink’s favorites, revealed the inside story: “The national team door was open to everyone, but nobody could relax. In the past, there was a clear distinction between starters and substitutes, but Hiddink’s approach was that starters wouldn’t always be starters, and substitutes could become starters, motivating everyone to prepare diligently.”
In addition to sticking to his player selection scheme, Hiddink also attempted to break the custom in Korean football where newcomers had to show utmost respect to their seniors. However, this practice still prevails in Korean football to this day.
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