Word: hiddink
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...team's ascent largely comes courtesy of one gray-haired Dutchman: Guus Hiddink. So popular is the national coach that newspapers have half-jokingly suggested he run for President. Never mind that he isn't Korean. After transforming the country's ragtag side into a power that beat favorites Spain, Italy and Portugal, Hiddink has become the country's favorite adopted...
...When Hiddink first came onboard in January 2001, Korean football, like the country's ossified corporate conglomerates, was straitjacketed by Confucian tradition. The seniority system in place permeated the locker room, the dining hall and even the playing field. Older players determined the pace of Korea's game. Many of the junior set felt intimidated just looking their elders in the eye when talking to them, which hardly promoted teamwork...
...Hiddink discarded the gerontocracy for a performance-based system that nurtured players like 21-year-old speed demon Park Ji Sung, who provided some of the juice in Korea's fluid offense. Cognizant that his inexperienced squad could not match the artistry of, say, a Brazil, the former coach of Real Madrid and the Dutch national team prescribed a punishing training regimen that would enable the Koreans to simply outlast greater soccer powers. Seasoned players like captain Hong who couldn't keep up with the rigorous practices were threatened with dismissal, much to the horror of team officials used...
...same sports bureaucrats were still calling foul when Hiddink's methods seemed to be leading to humiliation. In a series of international matches against teams such as reigning champions France, Korea lost and lost and lost, even falling to the lowly rated Czech Republic. Newspapers called for Hiddink's head, railing at him for cruelly pitting the Koreans against superior sides. But the controversial strategy paid off, as the team learned how to sustain its stamina against mightier squads. Three of Korea's key World Cup goals have come late in the game, when Portugal, Italy and the U.S. were...
...they are ranked far lower than the U.S. in the FIFA ratings. At the U.S.-Portugal game, for instance, the loudest cheer from fans came not for Figo or John O'Brien and Brian McBride, who scored America's two other goals. It came for South Korean coach Guus Hiddink, whose face flashed on a giant TV screen for few seconds during the match...