Choi Soon-ho

At the age of 18, Choi was named in the South Korea squad for the 1980 AFC Asian Cup, where he became the tournament's youngest ever top goalscorer with seven goals. He scored two goals when his country defeated hosts Kuwait 3–0 in the group stage, but he failed to score in their 3–0 final loss, where they met Kuwait again. Choi participated at the 1981 FIFA World Youth Championship after leading the South Korea under-20 team to win the 1980 AFC Youth Championship title. He had two goals and two assists in a 4–1 win over Italy, but scored no goals in two losses to Romania and Brazil. Until South Korea qualified for the 1986 FIFA World Cup, Choi contributed to more than half of their 17 goals by having one goal and eight assists in eight qualifiers. During the tournament, he assisted Park Chang-sun's goal, which is South Korea's first-ever goal at the World Cup, in a 3–1 loss to Argentina, and then scored a goal outside the penalty area in a 3–2 loss to Italy, where he also assisted Huh Jung-moo's goal. Serie A club Juventus was interested in Choi after watching his performance against Italy at the World Youth Championship. Their interest lasted until the end of the 1986 World Cup, but his transfer faced strong opposition from his team POSCO.

Regarded as one of the most technically gifted forwards in South Korea, Choi was proficient at controlling the ball with various skills including shot, dribble, touch, and pass. He also showed good speed, wide vision and supple body, having hardly any weak point. He normally played as a striker, but he could also play as an attacking midfielder to create chances.

Club

International

The KFA is showing the list of Choi's 96 international appearances in its official website. The RSSSF is claiming 103 appearances about Choi's international career by recognising eight more appearances against Malaysia B, Thailand B, Bahrain B (in 1980 Korea Cup), NIAC Mitra (in 1982 King's Cup), Indonesia (in 1983 Korea Cup), Czechoslovakia XI (in 1988 Korea Cup), the Soviet Union Olympic and Argentina Olympic (in 1988 Summer Olympics), and excluding one appearance against the United States (in 1983 Korea Cup). The RSSSF recognised his appearances in the 1984 Summer Olympics qualification, but it is not recognising his two goals against Bahrain and New Zealand in the competition. In 1999, Choi was inducted into the AFC Century Club, the selection of AFC players to win 100 or more caps, with 113 caps by the standard of the time.

Results list South Korea's goal tally first.

Player

POSCO Atoms

K League 1: 1986 Korean Semi-professional League: 1982 Korean Semi-professional League (Autumn): 1981 Lucky-Goldstar Hwangso

K League 1: 1990 Korean National Championship: 1988 South Korea U20

AFC Youth Championship: 1980 South Korea

Asian Games: 1986 AFC Asian Cup runner-up: 1980 Dynasty Cup: 1990 Afro-Asian Cup of Nations: 1987 Individual

AFC Asian Cup top goalscorer: 1980 AFC Asian Cup Team of the Tournament: 1980 Korean FA Best XI: 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986 AFC Youth Championship Most Valuable Player: 1980 AFC Youth Championship top goalscorer: 1980 K League 1 Best XI: 1984 Korean FA Most Valuable Player: 1990 K League All-Star: 1991 K League '80s All-Star Team: 2003 K League 30th Anniversary Best XI: 2013 K League Hall of Fame: 2023

Manager

Hyundai Mipo Dockyard

Korea National League: 2007, 2008 Korean President's Cup: 2008 Individual

K League All-Star: 2004 Korea National League Manager of the Year: 2007, 2008 Korean President's Cup Best Manager: 2008