Hwang Sun-hong


Hwang Sun-hong is a South Korean football former player and current manager. He was the most notable South Korean striker in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Club career

After graduating from University, Hwang boycotted the draft system of the K League, and left for Germany to study football. In the summer of 1991 he joined the reserve team of Bayer Leverkusen, and scored 10 goals with 10 appearances during the first half of the season in the Oberliga Nordrhein, the fourth division of Germany. He joined 2. Bundesliga side Wuppertaler SV next year, but he appeared only nine games for a season because the cruciate ligament of his knee was ruptured.
Returning to South Korea in June 1993, he was drafted by the newly formed club Wansan Puma, formerly the Chonbuk Buffalo, and was traded to Pohang Steelworks for eight players. In the 1995 K League, he spent his heyday by recording 11 goals and six assists with 24 appearances including a record, which he set by scoring in eight consecutive matches, but his team finished runners-up. He won two Asian Club Championships with Pohang, but he couldn't won a K League title.
He also spent much of his career in the Japanese J1 League and enjoyed his most prolific season with Cerezo Osaka. He scored 24 goals in 25 matches of the 1999 J1 League, becoming the first South Korean footballer who won the top scorer award of a foreign league. He was also nominated for the Asian Footballer of the Year in that year. In late 2003, having finally retired, Hwang has now turned his attention to coaching.

International career

As an unknown player who played for a university, Hwang was suddenly selected for the South Korea squad for the 1988 AFC Asian Cup by the manager Lee Hoe-taik, who kept an eye on him since he became a high school player. He scored two goals, each of which were scored against Japan and Iran, in the tournament. Following outstanding performances, which scored seven goals in qualifying campaign, he was included in the South Korea squad for the 1990 FIFA World Cup, but his plays weren't in sync with colleagues' teamwork in the competition, and couldn't prevent three losses of team in the group stage.
He showed poor performance by scoring only one goal in qualifiers of the 1994 FIFA World Cup, but his form was regained in the friendly matches just before the World Cup. However, he was injured the left knee in the last friendly against Honduras before the tournament, worrying his manager Kim Ho. He had two chances to score in the first game against Spain, but having missed both, he apologized to his teammates after the game. However, his poor performance was continued by missing several opportunities to score against Bolivia. South Korea met the defending champions Germany in the last group match after two draws, and he pulled one back when Germany was taking a 3–0 lead, but the game finished 3–2. He was severely blamed for his inexact shots against Bolivia by South Korean fans after South Korea was eliminated in the group stage, and suffered from social anxiety disorder at that time.
In contrast with fans' criticism, Hwang was consistently chosen as a striker of the national team by managers. At the 1994 Asian Games, he became the top scorer of the tournament by scoring 11 goals in five games including eight goals against Nepal. He also played for the South Korea under-23 squad as an overage player for the 1996 Summer Olympics, and contributed to a victory by winning a crucial penalty kick, finished as the winning goal, in the first game against Ghana, but he quit the tournament due to his injury during the first half of the second game. He looked forward to the 1998 FIFA World Cup to make up for his failure in the 1994 World Cup, but he was injured by a Chinese goalkeeper Jiang Jin in a friendly against China just before the World Cup, and was disappointed to be excluded from the line-up of the tournament. At the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup, South Korea was eliminated in the group stage, although they won two matches against Mexico and Australia, but he won the Bronze Shoe award by scoring two goals which led two victories.
Hwang was still an important part of South Korea even at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, although he approached his mid-30s. By scoring the winning goal in the first group match against Poland, he helped South Korea to achieve their first ever victory in the FIFA World Cup. He was injured the head during the second match against United States, but he continued to play after bandaging around his head. He won a penalty kick during the game, but his teammate missed it. He came forward as the first kicker of South Korea in the penalty shoot-out of the quarter-finals against Spain, and helped the team to reach the semi-finals by succeeding the shot. He ended his international career after the 2002 World Cup, and had made 103 appearances and 50 goals for South Korea alongside six operations, due to many injuries, during his career.

Managerial career

In 2005, Hwang was appointed as assistant coach of Jeonnam Dragons and started his coaching career. He received Best Coach Award from the 2006 Korean FA Cup. On 4 December 2007, he signed a three-year contract with Busan IPark and became manager of Busan.
On 9 November 2010, he returned to his former team Pohang Steelers as manager. In first coaching year at the Pohang, he guided the team to the second place in the regular season. A sound knowledge of coaching, player training, and club training analysis and observation - as a coach, the Pohang Steelers became the FA Cup champions in 2012. The success of the organization under the careful, meticulous, and successful guidance of Hwang continued as the Pohang defended their FA Cup title for another year in 2013 and became K League 1 champions in that year. He received the K League Manager of the Year Award.
On 21 June 2016, he was appointed as manager of FC Seoul. On 30 April 2018, he resigned as Seoul manager with responsibility for poor performance. On 14 December 2018, Hwang was appointed as manager of Yanbian Funde. However, he left the club after Yanbian Funde was disqualified for the 2019 China League One due to owing taxes in February 2019.

Career statistics

Club

International

Source:

International goals

DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
6 December 1988Doha, Qatar1 goal2–01988 AFC Asian Cup
11 December 1988Doha, Qatar1 goal3–01988 AFC Asian Cup
23 May 1989Seoul, South Korea2 goals3–01990 FIFA World Cup qualification
27 May 1989Seoul, South Korea2 goals3–01990 FIFA World Cup qualification
5 June 1989Singapore1 goal3–01990 FIFA World Cup qualification
14 August 1989Los Angeles, USA1 goal2–11989 Marlboro Cup
16 October 1989Singapore1 goal1–01990 FIFA World Cup qualification
25 October 1989Singapore1 goal2–01990 FIFA World Cup qualification
4 February 1990Ta'Qali, Malta1 goal2–3Friendly match
28 July 1990Beijing, China1 goal2–01990 Dynasty Cup
25 September 1990Beijing, China3 goals7–01990 Asian Games
23 October 1990Seoul, South Korea1 goal1–0Friendly match
28 October 1993Doha, Qatar1 goal3–01994 FIFA World Cup qualification
26 February 1994Los Angeles, USA1 goal2–2Friendly match
4 May 1994Changwon, South Korea1 goal2–1Friendly match
11 June 1994Duncanville, USA1 goal3–0Friendly match
27 June 1994Dallas, USA1 goal2–31994 FIFA World Cup
13 September 1994Seoul, South Korea1 goal2–0Friendly match
1 October 1994Hiroshima, Japan8 goals11–01994 Asian Games
5 October 1994Hiroshima, Japan1 goal2–11994 Asian Games
11 October 1994Hiroshima, Japan2 goals3–21994 Asian Games
30 October 1995Seoul, South Korea1 goal1–1Friendly match
19 March 1996Dubai, UAE1 goal2–31996 Dubai Tournament
30 April 1996Tel Aviv, Israel2 goals5–4Friendly match
23 November 1996Suwon, South Korea2 goals4–1Friendly match
4 December 1996Abu Dhabi, UAE1 goal1–11996 AFC Asian Cup
7 December 1996Abu Dhabi, UAE2 goals4–21996 AFC Asian Cup
1 April 1998Seoul, South Korea1 goal2–1Friendly match
22 April 1998Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia1 goal1–3Friendly match
27 May 1998Seoul, South Korea1 goal2–2Friendly match
1 June 2001Ulsan, South Korea1 goal2–12001 FIFA Confederations Cup
3 June 2001Suwon, South Korea1 goal1–02001 FIFA Confederations Cup
20 March 2002Cartagena, Spain2 goals2–0Friendly match
4 June 2002Busan, South Korea1 goal2–02002 FIFA World Cup

Honours

Player

Pohang Steelworks
South Korea
Individual
Busan IPark
Pohang Steelers
FC Seoul
Individual