How this former PSV success coach became immensely popular in South Korea and had a stadium named after him

Due to time differences with North America, a lot of matches during the World Cup will be played in the middle of the night. This also applies, for example, to the match South Korea - Czech Republic, where PSV goalkeeper Matej Kovar will be under the bar.

South Korea also has a rich World Cup history, with a few former PSV players in the ranks, such as footballers Ji-Sung Park and Lee Young-Pyo. But most likely, Guus Hiddink is the most popular former PSV player in South Korea.

This has to do with the fact that Hiddink, as head coach of South Korea, managed to surprise the world during the 2002 World Cup, which South Korea organized together with Japan. In January 2001, the born Varssevelder was appointed head coach, and little was expected of South Korea since the country had never won a World Cup match and was eliminated during the group stage of the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup.

During the 2002 World Cup, however, things went completely differently and Hiddink’s team managed to finish first in Group D thanks to wins over Poland (2-0) and Portugal (1-0) and a draw against the United States (1-1). In the round of 16, they were then settled with Italy (2-1) after extra time, and in the quarterfinal, Spain was the opponent.

After 90 minutes it was still 0-0, meaning extra time had to be brought into play. In that extra time, Spain seemed to have scored the 0-1 and thus the golden goal, but this goal was wrongly disallowed by the refereeing because the ball had not fully crossed the back line.

Ultimately, the penalty shootout had to decide and it was Guus Hiddink’s South Korea that managed to win 5-3, thereby, against all expectations, becoming the first Asian country ever to qualify for the World Cup semi-finals. After the match against the Spaniards, the Gwangju World Cup Stadium was renamed the Guus Hiddink Stadium.

Ultimately, the semi-final would be the end of the road for Hiddink’s men, since Germany, thanks to Michael Ballack, managed to win 0-1 against the Korean shock team. The match for third place was also lost 2-3 to Turkey, but despite that, Hiddink became enormously popular in South Korea and even to this day, the former PSV coach has still not been forgotten in the Asian country.