2002 World Cup Memory: Holds An Honorary Citizen For South Korean Coach, Guus Hiddink

Guus Hiddink hugged South Korean national team attacking midfielder Ji Sung-park after beating Italy 2-1 at the 2002 World Cup. (FIFA)

JAKARTA - South Korea (South Korea) performed brilliantly in the 2002 World Cup. The National Team nicknamed Kastri Taegeuk does not only take advantage of the atmosphere as a mere host. They also chose one of the world's best football coaches. Guus Hiddink, his name.

The Dutch coach was able to bring South Korea forward until the semifinals. They beat Spain to Italy. Therefore, Guus Hiddink was greeted like a hero by all South Korean people. He was also appointed a citizen of the honor of South Korea.

South Korea and Japan were selected to host the 2002 World Cup. The two countries are also preparing all kinds of studies to look stunning in the biggest celebration of world football. South Korea, let alone. Preparedness in terms of facilities and infrastructure is prepared. While the National Team was built in such a way.

South Korea also appointed Guus Hiddink. The experienced coach is considered capable of mixing the South Korean squad. He also began to determine which players he would bring to compete. Intensive training was also carried out to maintain fitness and formulate a situation to beat his opponent.

Guus Hiddink proved his existence. South Korea can exit as leaders of group D. They were able to bulldoze Portugal and Poland. Against the United States alone South Korea draws. The last 16 South Koreans can beat Italy, the world Cup seed team with a narrow score of 2-1.

The quarter-finals arrived. South Korea confidently met another strong team, Spain. South Korea was able to come out victorious by beating Spain on penalties. However, South Korea's move was stopped by Germany 0-1 in the semifinals.

The defeat made South Korea have to settle for meeting Turkey in the race for third place. South Korea lost 2-3 to Turkey. The people of South Korea immediately forgot about the sadness. They then appreciated Guus Hiddink's steps. They considered the semifinals to be the best.

Cinderella's men in the 2002 World Cup are nothing but South Korean host troops. After five times at the World Cup, they finally reached the semi-finals impressively. The troops, who were guided by coaches from the Netherlands, Guus Hiddink, are disputing his strongest troops dominated by players competing in the Korean league (K-League) or the Japanese professional league (JLeague).

Only two players have positions as attackers taken from the European league, Seol Ki-Hyun and Ahn Jung-Hwan. Seol Ki-Hyun represented the clubRS Anderlecht from Belgium and Ahn Jung-Hwan played for the Italian club, SC Perugia. They both became the main milestone in bringing South Korea to the semifinals," said Shebby Singh and Ahmad Fauzan Othman in the book 'Cemerlang and Winning Football How' (2006).

South Korea's success in advancing to the semifinals was greeted with great fanfare by the people of South Korea. His government, especially. His name was echoed everywhere. The people of South Korea recited his name with cheers: Hiddingu.

Guus Hiddink is considered a hero. He was not only able to bring South Korea against the European team, but also capable of South Korean football to a higher level. He also received various awards from South Korea. His name was later immortalized at one of the stadiums where the 2002 World Cup was held.

The stadium, which was originally named Gwangju World Cup Stadium, was changed to Guus Hiddink Stadium. A stadium that witnessed South Korea beat Spain in the 2002 World Cup quarter-finals. All of this was done as a form of appreciation for the services of Guus Hiddink. Since then other awards came.

The biggest award given by South Korea to him was to make Guus Hiddink a citizen of honor. An award given only to people who have great services to the world, especially South Korea.

The local government did not miss to award Hiddink some awards for his services for making the nation proud. In addition to his name which was immortalized as one of the names of stadiums in South Korea, he was also made a citizen of honor. It didn't stop there when the gift from South Korea came to him. Hiddink also received a villa on one of the islands in this country.

In addition, another facility he got was a free Korean plane ticket for life. It was a very extraordinary achievement from a Hiddink. This is one of the best achievements throughout his coaching career. After no longer training South Korea, Hiddink had time to return to work on PSV with five trophies in the range from 2002 to 2006. After four years at PSV was over, Hiddink was later appointed coach of a country on another continent, Australia," said Randy Tungleng in the book The Best Manager: World's Best Football Coach (2014).