Choi Kang-hee (footballer)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Choi Kang-Hee | ||
| Date of birth | 12 April 1959 | ||
| Place of birth | Yangpyeong, South Korea | ||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Playing position | Manager (Former Defender) | ||
| Club information | |||
|
Current team
|
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (manager) | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1979 | Hanil Bank | ? | (?) |
| 1980–1982 | ROK Army FC (military service) | ? | (?) |
| 1983 | POSCO Dolphins | 3 | (0) |
| 1984–1992 | Hyundai Horang-i | 184 | (10) |
| Total | 187+? | (10+?) | |
| National team | |||
| 1987 | South Korea B | ||
| 1988–1992 | South Korea | 40 | (0) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1996–1997 | Suwon Samsung Bluewings (Trainer) | ||
| 1998–2001 | Suwon Samsung Bluewings (Assistant) | ||
| 2002–2003 | South Korea U-23 (Assistant) | ||
| 2003–2004 | South Korea (Assistant) | ||
| 2005–2011 | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | ||
| 2011–2013 | South Korea | ||
| 2013– | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Choi Kang-Hee (Korean: 최강희) is a South Korean football manager, who is the current manager of Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.
Choi held his managerial post in charge of K League side Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors for 6 years since 2005 which year he was appointed as new head coach. He focused on pursuing offensive tactics and as a result, the squad became much more aggressive and improved their goal scoring ability. He led Jeonbuk to the K League Championship twice in 2009 and 2011. He also led his team towards the AFC Champions league final but as a result, they lost to Qatari side Al Sadd.
Choi repeatedly turned down offers to become South Korea national football team head coach since former coach Cho Kwang-Rae was sacked. However, after being repeatedly offered the job, he had finally accepted the coaching offer. His post as the national team manager was officially announced on 21 December 2011.
On 25 February 2011, South Korean national football team won against Uzbekistan with the score of 4–2 in friendly match, marking Choi's first victory in his career as a national coach and making many fans look forward to his journey to the upcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup. Nevertheless, his team showed the poor performance in 2014 FIFA World Cup Asian qualification match on 18 June 2013, which South Korea suffered the 1–0 defeat against Iran and almost failed to directly qualify for the 2014 World Cup finals.
Choi, a former player himself, firmly insisted that his reign would only last until the end of World Cup qualifying. "I asked that [the contract only runs until June 2013]. What we need to do is qualify for the World Cup finals for the eighth time in a row."My mission is to take the national team to the finals. After that, a foreign coach should take over the team. If the KFA does not accept this, I won't sign the contract.
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