South Korean (Republic) fans watching 2006 World Cup Finals drawn match vs France, Cafe de Paris, London
Since the 1950s, South Korea has emerged as the major football power in Asia, winning several prestigious Asian football championships, including the first two Asian Cup tournaments.[1] The South Korean national team has also played in six consecutive World Cup finals from 1986, making a total of seven World Cup finals in all. The 2002 FIFA World Cup, hosted jointly with Japan, was a sign of the rapid progress made in South Korean football. Led by Dutch coach Guus Hiddink and assistant coach Pim Verbeek, South Korea defeated Italy and Spain,[2] advancing to the semi-finals, a first for Asian football. The enthusiasm of the red-clad supporters, known as the "Red Devils", also made a big impression on viewers world-wide. After the team success, football had an explosion of popularity in the country, where the game had traditionally been less popular than other games, such as baseball, formerly the most popular spectator sport in the country. On June 8, 2005, South Korea qualified for their seventh World Cup by beating Kuwait 4-0 in Kuwait City. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, South Korea achieved their first World Cup victory outside of Asia by beating Togo 2 to 1 in Frankfurt on June 13. Against France, the team managed a late equalizer from Park Ji-Sung to end up with a 1-1 tie and this put them tied with Switzerland on top of their group. However they were knocked out after a 2-0 loss against Switzerland, while France advanced with a 2-0 win against Togo. On July 11, when the FIFA World Rankings were renewed, South Korea's ranking brought quite a controversy at home.[citations needed] In the May rankings, Korea ranked third in Asia, and 29th in the world. After the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Korea was down to 56th, behind other AFC countries like Australia, Iran, Japan, and non-World Cup qualifier Uzbekistan.[3] The current head coach, Pim Verbeek, has worked on rebuilding the team with many youngsters and other new faces. Among them is Jung Jo-Gook who played
Size: 3360px × 5040px
Location: Cafe de Paris, London
Photo credit: © Philip Bigg / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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