Hiddink reveals mystery phone call that led to South Korea job

Guus Hiddink has revealed the extraordinary story behind his appointment as South Korea manager, describing a mysterious phone call that set the wheels in motion before he guided the Taegeuk Warriors to the semi-finals of the 2002 World Cup on home soil.

Speaking to FourFourTwo, the veteran Dutch coach traced the origins of the appointment back to the 1998 World Cup in France, where he was in charge of the Netherlands and found himself sharing a training pitch with South Korea.

A chance meeting in Marseille

“My first encounter with South Korea was in 1998, during the World Cup in France,” Hiddink told the magazine. His Netherlands side had been drawn in the same group as the South Koreans that summer.

According to Hiddink, the day before the Netherlands faced South Korea in Marseille, both nations were given an hour each to train on the Stade Vélodrome pitch, with the Dutch going first and the Koreans following.

He recalled being struck by the energy and enthusiasm South Korea showed on the training ground that day, an impression that appears to have stayed with him long after the tournament ended.

The mysterious phone call

Years later, that memory would resurface in unusual circumstances. Hiddink described receiving a call from an unfamiliar number asking him to meet at a hotel directly opposite his own home, a request that immediately unsettled him.

“An unknown number called, asking to meet at the hotel opposite my home. I thought, ‘How does he know where I live? How did he get my number?'” Hiddink said, recalling his bemusement at how closely he had been tracked down.

That meeting proved to be part of the chain of events that eventually led to Hiddink taking charge of South Korea in 2001, ahead of the country’s co-hosting of the 2002 World Cup alongside Japan.

A tournament to remember

Hiddink’s appointment would go on to become one of the great managerial success stories in World Cup history. Under his stewardship, South Korea defied expectations to reach the semi-finals of the 2002 tournament, a run that remains their best-ever World Cup performance.

The Dutchman’s methods and man-management during that campaign have long been held up as an example of innovative coaching, with the FourFourTwo interview shedding new light on just how unconventional the path to the job itself had been.

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