Hwang Sun-hong

Hwang Sun-hong (born 14 July 1968) is a South Korean former football player and current manager of the South Korea national under-23 football team and manager of Daejeon Hana Citizen. He was the most notable South Korean striker in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Club career
After graduating from Konkuk University, Hwang decided not to enter the K League and left for Germany to begin his professional career. During a season, he played for the reserve team of Bayer Leverkusen, scoring 16 goals in the Oberliga Nordrhein, Germany's third division at the time.

Next season, Hwang joined 2. Bundesliga side Wuppertaler SV, but he appeared only nine games due to a cruciate ligament injury.

Hwang joined POSCO Atoms (currently Pohang Steelers) after returning to South Korea in June 1993. He won two Asian Club Championships with Pohang, although he failed to win the K League title. He also scored in eight consecutive matches in 1995, setting a record in the K League.

Hwang spent much of his career in the J1 League and enjoyed his most prolific season with Cerezo Osaka. In the 1999 J1 League, he scored 24 goals during 25 appearances, becoming the top goalscorer. He is the first South Korean footballer to become the top scorer in a foreign league. He was also nominated for the Asian Footballer of the Year award in that year. In late 2003, having finally retired, Hwang has now turned his attention to coaching.

1990 World Cup
An unknown college player, Hwang was suddenly selected for the South Korea national football team for the 1988 AFC Asian Cup by the manager Lee Hoe-taik. He scored his first and second goal against Japan and Iran respectively in the tournament.

Hwang was included in the national team for the 1990 FIFA World Cup after his outstanding performances including seven goals in qualifying campaign. In the competition, however, he had difficulty in showing teamwork, and couldn't prevent South Korea's three defeats.

1994 World Cup
Hwang 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, his left knee was injured in the last friendly against Honduras before the tournament, worrying his manager Kim Ho. In the first game against Spain, he had two chances to score, but missed both. He apologized to his teammates after the first game, but his poor performance was continued by missing several opportunities against Bolivia. He scored a goal in the last group game against the defending champions Germany, but the game ended in a 3–2 defeat. He was severely blamed for his inexact shots against Bolivia by South Korean fans, and suffered from social anxiety disorder after South Korea was eliminated in the group stage.

1996 Summer Olympics
In contrast with fans' criticism, Hwang was consistently chosen as a striker of the national team by managers. In the 1994 Asian Games, he scored eleven goals in five games, becoming the top goalscorer of the tournament.

Hwang also played for the South Korean under-23 team as an over-aged player in the 1996 Summer Olympics. He contributed to a victory by winning a crucial penalty in the first game against Ghana, but he quit the tournament due to his injury during the first half of the second game.

Hwang 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 just before the World Cup. He was disappointed to be excluded from the line-up during the tournament.

2002 World Cup
In the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup, Hwang won the Bronze Shoe award after scoring in two victories against Mexico and Australia.

Hwang was still an important part of South Korea even at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, although he approached his mid-30s. He scored the winning goal in the first match against Poland, helping South Korea to achieve their first-ever victory in the FIFA World Cup. In the second match against the United States, his head was injured, but he won a penalty after wrapping a bandage around his head. In the penalty shoot-out of the quarter-final match against Spain, he came forward as South Korea's first kicker, and succeeded in scoring.

Hwang made 103 appearances and 50 goals for South Korea alongside six operations due to injuries. He ended his international career after the 2002 World Cup.

Coaching 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.

Pohang Steelers
On 9 November 2010, Hwang returned to his former team Pohang Steelers as new manager. He guided Pohang to the second place in the 2011 regular season and a Korean FA Cup title in 2012. He preferred players who grew up under team's youth system instead of foreign players, and completed a high quality teamwork nicknamed the "Steel-taka". He became one of the most notable managers in South Korea after winning the K League 1 and the Korean FA Cup simultaneously in 2013.

FC Seoul
On 21 June 2016, Hwang was appointed as manager of FC Seoul. He successfully finished the rest of the 2016 season by bringing the K League 1 title. However, his discernment in the transfer market was not good and newcomers chosen by him showed poor performances. He was also in severe conflict with veteran players Dejan Damjanović, Osmar and Park Chu-young, failing to control them. Due to his poor results in subsequent seasons, he finally resigned on 30 April 2018.

Yanbian Funde
On 14 December 2018, Hwang was appointed as manager of Yanbian Funde. He left the club after Yanbian Funde was disqualified for the 2019 China League One due to owing taxes in February 2019.

Daejeon Hana Citizen
Daejeon Citizen was reorganised under the name of Daejeon Hana Citizen by its new owner Hana Financial Group before the 2020 season, and chose Hwang as its first manager on the recommendation of Huh Jung-moo, its director and Hwang's former mentor. Hwang was criticised for his tactics by the board during the season and also came into conflict with Huh. He had to leave Daejeon in the middle of the season.

South Korea U23
Hwang was selected as manager of South Korean under-23 team in September 2021, but worried a considerable number of Koreans due to his poor results in Seoul and Daejeon. He once again had difficulty bringing a successful outcome by being eliminated in the quarter-finals of the 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup after a 3–0 defeat to Japan. Afterwards, he won all seven matches in the 2022 Asian Games, making a chance to rehabilitate himself. He was also appointed as the interim manager for the senior national team on 27 February 2024. However, his managerial career did not go into reverse, with South Korea failing to qualify for the Olympic football for the first time in 40 years since 1984. His team was eliminated in the U-23 Asian Cup quarter-finals once more after suffering a shocking defeat to Indonesia.

South Korea
In February 2024, Hwang was also chosen as caretaker manager of South Korea, replacing the German manager Jürgen Klinsmann to prepare for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification against Thailand. Under his short-lived tenure, South Korea were held to a shock draw at home to Thailand 1–1, but managed to outplay the Thais 3–0 away to cement their top table position.

International

 * Results list South Korea's goal tally first.

Player
Pohang Steelers
 * Korean FA Cup: 1996
 * Korean League Cup: 1993
 * Asian Club Championship: 1996–97, 1997–98

South Korea
 * AFC Asian Cup runner-up: 1988
 * Asian Games bronze medal: 1990
 * Dynasty Cup: 1990

Individual
 * Korean FA Best XI: 1988
 * Asian Games top goalscorer: 1994
 * K League All-Star: 1995
 * K League 1 Best XI: 1995
 * J.League All-Star: 1999
 * J1 League top goalscorer: 1999
 * J1 League Best XI: 1999
 * FIFA Confederations Cup Bronze Shoe: 2001
 * K League '90s All-Star Team: 2003
 * K League 30th Anniversary Best XI: 2013

Manager
Busan IPark
 * Korean FA Cup runner-up: 2010
 * Korean League Cup runner-up: 2009

Pohang Steelers
 * K League 1: 2013
 * Korean FA Cup: 2012, 2013

FC Seoul
 * K League 1: 2016
 * Korean FA Cup runner-up: 2016

South Korea U23
 * Asian Games: 2022

Individual
 * Korean FA Cup Best Manager: 2012
 * K League 1 Manager of the Year: 2013, 2016
 * K League Manager of the Month: April 2014, September 2015, October 2016