‘Advance to the Club World Cup’ Ulsan Coach Hong Myung-bo Participates in FIFA Competition for the 10th Time

Kim Young-kwon experienced two Club World Cups… Hwang Seok-ho even finished as runner-up.

Ulsan coach Hong Myung-bo will participate in his tenth FIFA tournament as professional soccer team Ulsan HD participates in the FIFA Club World Cup.

Ulsan confirmed its advancement to the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup by defeating Yokohama F. Marinos (Japan) 1-0 in the first leg of the 2023-2024 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League (ACL) semifinals held at Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium on the 17th.

Ulsan, which earned 3 AFC club points by winning against Yokohama, rose to second place in Asia with a total of 81 points, following Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia, 115 points). https://bit.ly/outlookindiasports

Ulsan earned the right to advance to the FIFA Club World Cup held in the United States on its own, regardless of the result of the second leg of the ACL semifinals and whether or not the team advanced to the final.

Ulsan coach Hong Myung-bo experiences his tenth FIFA tournament.

Coach Hong Myung-bo has played in the World Cup four times as an active player (1990 Italy, 1994 USA, 1998 France, 2002 Korea-Japan).

Afterwards, as a coach, he led the players to the 2006 Germany World Cup (coach), the 2009 Egypt U-20 World Cup (coach), and the 2014 Brazil World Cup (coach).

During the 2018 Russia World Cup, he served as executive director of the Korea Football Association and was in charge of administrative support for the national team.

Coach Hong, who took charge of Ulsan in December 2020, participated in the Club World Cup held in Qatar in February 2021.

Among the Ulsan players, there are six who experienced the Club World Cup in 2021.

Kim Ki-hee, Jo Hyun-woo, Seol Young-woo, Jo Soo-hyuk, Kim Ji-hyun, and Kang Yun-gu are still wearing the Ulsan uniform.

Cho Hyun-woo, who wore goalkeeper gloves in both games at the time, is still the best goalkeeper in the K League, and Kang Yun-goo made his professional debut at the Club World Cup.

When Won Doo-jae and Kim Min-jun are discharged from Gimcheon Sangmu on July 15, the total number of players who have experienced the Club World Cup with Ulsan will be eight.

Here is Kim Young-kwon, who played in the Club World Cup twice with Guangzhou Henda (China).

Kim Young-kwon participated in the Club World Cup wearing a Guangzhou uniform in December 2013 and played full-time in matches against Al-Ahlyh (Egypt), Bayern Munich (Germany), and Atlético Mineiro (Brazil).

He even played against Brazilian soccer star ‘Alien’ Ronaldinho, who was playing for Atlético Mineiro at the time.

Kim Young-kwon also appeared on the Club World Cup stage in Guangzhou in 2015 and played full-time in matches against Sanfrecce Hiroshima (Japan), FC Barcelona (Spain), and Club America (Mexico).

Among the trio of MSN (Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Neymar) who led Barcelona's heyday at the time, he faced Suarez on the field.

Messi was excluded from the roster, and Neymar remained on the bench.

Defender Hwang Seok-ho, who joined Ulsan ahead of this season, finished second in the Club World Cup with Kashima Antlers (Japan) in 2016.

Seok-ho Hwang contributed to the 2-1 win against Auckland City (New Zealand).

Kashima, who advanced to the finals with a sensation, lost 2-4 to Real Madrid (Spain) after a fierce overtime battle.

Hwang Seok-ho kept the bench.

Since Kashima became the first Asian team to finish second in the Club World Cup, Al Ain (United Arab Emirates) in 2018 and Al Hilal in 2022 took second place in the competition. https://patreon.com/outlookindia7

Lim Jong-eun, who is in charge of the defense along with Kim Young-kwon, Hwang Seok-ho, and Kim Ki-hee, participated in the 2016 Club World Cup as a member of Jeonbuk Hyundai, playing full-time in the match between Club America and Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa), contributing to the team's two consecutive wins.

Jeonbuk ranked 5th in the final.