With South Korea gearing up for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup kicking off in Qatar on Friday, the numbers that South Korean fans will hear the most often will be “1960” or “64.”
The former represents the last time the Taegeuk Warriors won the top AFC men’s tournament, and the latter is the length of the title drought.
In addition to those numerals, the Korea Football Association released other figures associated with the tournament Tuesday.
South Korea’s first Group E match is next Monday against Bahrain.
South Korea won the first two editions of the tournament, in 1957 and 1960, and haven’t captured any title since. Japan have won the most Asian Cups with four.
South Korea hold the lead in a more dubious category, with their four runner-up finishes. South Korea have posted the second-most victories with 36, five back of Iran, a three-time champion.
Coached by Jurgen Klinsmann, this year’s Asian Cup team is considered one of the most talented national team squads. Tottenham Hotspur s
tar Son Heung-min will be the captain, and he’s joined by other Europe-based stars, such as Hwang Hee-chan of Wolverhampton Wanderers, Kim Min-jae of Bayern Munich and Lee Kang-in of Paris Saint-Germain.
Son holds the record for the youngest South Korean player to score at an Asian Cup match. He found the back of the net in a group stage match against India on Jan. 18, 2011, at 18 years and 194 days old.
Son and retired goalkeeper Kim Yong-dae share the record for the most Asian Cup appearances by a South Korean player with four tournaments each. Kim played four in a row starting in 2000, and Son will make it four straight for himself next week.
In terms of matches, former left back Lee Young-pyo leads all South Korean players with 16 across three competitions.
Son is sitting at 12 matches, and will move past Lee if South Korea reach the quarterfinals and Son plays every match to that point.
However, one other national team mark may be difficult to break even for Son.
Former striker Lee Dong-gook has sc
ored more goals at the Asian Cup than any other South Korean with 10 — six in 2000 and four more in 2004.
Son is the leader among active players with four goals. At 31, Son may have only one more Asian Cup — a quadrennial tournament — left in him.
By the next Asian Cup in January 2027, assuming he plays, Son will be about six months shy of his 35th birthday. It would be around the same age when Cha Duri, currently an assistant coach for Klinsmann, played in his last Asian Cup match.
Cha was 34 days and 190 days old when South Korea faced Australia in the 2015 Asian Cup final.
One player on this year’s team has a shot at breaking that mark. Defender Kim Tae-hwan, born July 24, 1989, will zip past Cha’s mark if he makes an appearance in the semifinals on Feb. 6 or 7, or the final on Feb. 10.
South Korea have met Kuwait eight times at the Asian Cup, more than any other opponent. Kuwait failed to qualify for this year’s tournament.
South Korea and Iran met in five consecutive quarterfinals, from 1996 to
2011. If South Korea and Iran win their respective groups and they each claim their first knockout matches, then the two rivals will meet in the quarterfinals once again.
Source: Yonhap News Agency
