Huh Jung-moo (; born 13 January 1955) is a former South Korean football player and manager.
Club career Huh was one of the best South Korean college footballers before starting his semi-professional career. He was often compared with Korea University's Cha Bum-kun while playing for Yonsei University. After his graduation, he joined Korea Electric Power FC, and simultaneously enlisted in Marine Corps and Navy FC to do mandatory military service.
When Huh was discharged from the military service, European clubs were interested in Asian players thanks to Cha's performances at the Bundesliga. Motivated by Cha, Huh also wanted to leave for Europe, joining Eredivisie side PSV Eindhoven in August 1980. For three years at PSV, he mainly played as a defensive midfielder, making opposing teams' key players tired. After suffering from Huh's persistent defense, Johan Cruyff intentionally broke Huh's nose with his arm, and Willem van Hanegem made a "slant-eye" gesture to Huh. Huh decided to return to South Korea at the end of the 1982–83 season. His wife felt homesick at the time, and he also did not feel the need to live abroad after hearing the news that a professional league would be founded in his country. Huh joined newly-formed Hyundai Horang-i in 1984, playing for them for three years.
International career
Huh played for the South Korea national team between 1974 and 1986. He helped the team win two Asian Games titles and qualify for the 1986 FIFA World Cup.
Huh was famous for a scene of him making Diego Maradona grimace during the 1986 World Cup. His kick hit Maradona's leg instead of the ball when he attempted a clearance in the middle of South Korea's opener against Argentina. He then scored a goal against Italy.
Style of play Huh was nicknamed the "Jindo dog". He exhaustively performed his managers' orders, reminding others of the indigenous dog of his hometown Jindo County. Early in his career, Huh played as a striker, winger or attacking midfielder for South Korea, being in charge of offensive roles. He started to play as a defensive midfielder after joining PSV, and even played as a left-back at the World Cup. He did not have rapid pace, but showed great stamina and intelligent movements.
Managerial career Pohang Atoms In April 1989, Huh was appointed a coach of the South Korea national team, beginning his coaching career. He was promoted to the assistant coach when manager Lee Hoe-taik left for K League club POSCO Atoms after the 1990 FIFA World Cup, but he decided to follow Lee the next month.
After working as assistant coach to Lee for about two years at POSCO Atoms (renamed Pohang Atoms in 1995), Huh was promoted to manager prior to the 1993 season. He led the team to win the Korean League Cup title in his first season as a manager. In 1995, his team advanced to the league's final by winning the second stage of the regular season, but conceded the golden goal in the rematch after drawing the two-legged final with Ilhwa Chunma. He left the club that year, although they suggested a contract extension.
Jeonnam Dragons In May 1996, Huh started to manage Jeonnam Dragons at the same league. In 1997, Jeonnam finished runners-up at both the league and the Korean League Cup despite their 21-match unbeaten run under him. But his efforts bore fruit at the end of the season, with his team winning the Korean FA Cup.
South Korea While managing POSCO Atoms, he simultaneously worked as the assistant coach of the South Korea national team between December 1993 and June 1994, and temporarily managed them in a 1–0 friendly defeat to Brazil on 12 August 1995. In August 1998, he was appointed South Korea's permanent manager, leaving Jeonnam Dragons.
During his first managerial career at the national team, Huh was criticised for his coercive acts and one-way communication towards players. His team was eliminated in the quarter-finals and the semi-finals at the 1998 Asian Games and the 2000 AFC Asian Cup respectively before he was replaced by Guus Hiddink in 2001. Despite these results, he was re-evaluated after a considerable number of young players discovered by him led the team to the semi-finals at the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
Return to Jeonnam In June 2001, Huh became the director of the Yongin Football Center, newly formed to nurture young talents. He took charge of the center even after he was reappointed manager of Jeonnam Dragons in December 2004, but he then attempted to transfer the center's player Lee Seung-yeoul to Jeonnam through his acquaintance instead of an official agent before leaving there in November 2005.
During his second spell at Jeonnam, Huh won two Korean FA Cup titles, but K League fans made an imaginary standings, which awarded three points for a draw, one additional point for a goalless draw and no points for a win or a loss, with the name of "Huh Jung-moo Cup" to criticise his poor results at the league, which contained numerous draws.
Return to South Korea After Hiddink's success at the 2002 World Cup, South Korea continuously employed foreign managers until 2007. When Pim Verbeek left the team after the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, they were interested in Mick McCarthy and Gérard Houllier, but their offers were refused. South Korea then chose Huh in December, recruiting a native manager for the first time in seven years. South Korea lost 1–0 to Chile in Huh's first match on 30 January 2008 before going on a 27-match unbeaten run until a 0–0 draw with Denmark on 14 November 2009. His team earned seven wins and seven draws without defeat in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, qualifying for the tournament as group winners. He was named the AFC Coach of the Year thanks to these results, whereas the processes of the results caused controversy among South Korean fans, who nicknamed his style "Huhmoo (the Korean word for hollow) football".
Huh became the first-ever South Korean manager to win a FIFA World Cup match when South Korea defeated Greece 2–0 in their 2010 tournament opener. Afterwards, his team finished runners-up in the Group B by losing 4–1 to Argentina and drawing 2–2 with Nigeria. He led his country to advance to the World Cup knockout stage for the first time on foreign soil. They went out of the competition in the round of 16, where they lost 2–1 to Uruguay.
Incheon United Between August 2010 and April 2012, Huh managed another K League club Incheon United. In the 2011 season, his team drew 14 out of 30 league matches, reminding fans of the "Huh Jung-moo Cup". Prior to the 2012 season, Incheon changed most of the players in their squad, and he promised fans a top-eight finish. However, he brought only one win in seven matches before resigning from the club early in the season.
Administrative career In March 2013, Huh was appointed a vice-president of the Korea Football Association (KFA) by president Chung Mong-gyu. In July 2014, he resigned from the association along with national team manager Hong Myung-bo for the team's poor performance at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Since 2015, Huh worked at the K League Federation as the vice-president before being selected as the director of K League 2 club Daejeon Hana Citizen in 2020.
After leaving Daejeon Hana Citizen in June 2023, Huh ran for KFA president in November 2024. He was one of three candidates along with existing president Chung Mong-gyu and another challenger Shin Moon-sun. In February 2025, he lost to Chung in the election.
Career statistics Club +Appearances and goals by club, season and competition Club Season League National cup League cup Continental Total Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps GoalsKorea Electric Power1978National Semipro League??———??ROK Navy (draft)1978National Semipro League????——??1979National Semipro League????——??1980National Semipro League????——??Total????——??PSV Eindhoven1980–81Eredivisie286??—40326 1981–82Eredivisie304??—213251982–83Eredivisie191??—10201Total7711??—718412Hyundai Horang-i1984K League233———2331985K League51———511986K League80—31—111Total364—31—395Career total11315??317112317
International +Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsSouth Korea197451197581197691197724111978194197965198082198490198574198691Career total10430 +Appearances and goals by competitionCompetitionAppsGoalsFriendlies115Minor competitions3314Asian Games121AFC Asian Cup qualification102AFC Asian Cup40Summer Olympics qualification122FIFA World Cup qualification195FIFA World Cup31Total10430
Results list South Korea's goal tally first. +List of international goals scored by Huh Jung-mooNo. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition1 20 December 1974 Bangkok, Thailand 4 3–13–1 1974 King's Cup2 22 May 1975 Seoul, South Korea 10 1–0 1–0 1975 Korea Cup3 4 November 1976 Tokyo, Japan 20 1–12–1 Japan–South Korea regular match4 14 February 1977 Singapore 23 3–04–0 Friendly5 18 February 1977 Manama, Bahrain 24 1–0 4–1 Friendly64–17 20 February 1977 Manama, Bahrain 25 1–0 1–1 Friendly8 17 July 1977 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 33 1–0 4–0 1977 Pestabola Merdeka93–0104–011 26 July 1977 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 36 1–01–1 1977 Pestabola Merdeka12 3 September 1977 Seoul, South Korea 40 4–0 5–1 1977 Korea Cup135–014 4 December 1977 Busan, South Korea 46 2–05–2 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification15 13 September 1978 Daegu, South Korea 55 1–13–1 1978 Korea Cup16 12 December 1978 Bangkok, Thailand 57 2–02–0 1978 Asian Games17 25 December 1978 Manila, Philippines 63 1–04–1 1980 AFC Asian Cup qualification18 29 December 1978 Manila, Philippines 65 1–01–0 1980 AFC Asian Cup qualification19 8 September 1979 Seoul, South Korea 68 4–08–0 1979 Korea Cup20 12 September 1979 Daegu, South Korea 69 1–06–0 1979 Korea Cup21 16 September 1979 Incheon, South Korea 71 1–0 9–0 1979 Korea Cup225–0237–024 22 March 1980 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 74 1–03–1 1980 Summer Olympics qualification25 27 March 1980 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 76 8–08–0 1980 Summer Olympics qualification26 6 April 1985 Seoul, South Korea 91 1–0 4–0 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification274–028 30 July 1985 Jakarta, Indonesia 94 3–04–1 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification29 3 November 1985 Seoul, South Korea 95 1–01–0 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification30 10 June 1986 Puebla, Mexico 99 2–32–3 1986 FIFA World Cup
Honours Player Yonsei University Korean National Championship runner-up: 1974
ROK Navy Korean President's Cup: 1979
Hyundai Horang-i Korean League Cup: 1986
South Korea U20 AFC Youth Championship third place: 1973, 1974
South Korea Asian Games: 1978, 1986
Individual Korean National Championship top goalscorer: 1974 Korean FA Best XI: 1974, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1984, 1985, 1986 Korean President's Cup Best Player: 1979 Korean FA Most Valuable Player: 1984 K League 1 Best XI: 1984 K League '80s All-Star Team: 2003
Manager POSCO Atoms Korean League Cup: 1993
Jeonnam Dragons Korean FA Cup: 1997, 2006, 2007 Korean League Cup runner-up: 1997
South Korea AFC Asian Cup third place: 2000 EAFF Championship: 2008
Individual K League All-Star: 1995, 2005, 2006 AFC Coach of the Month: May 1999, October 1999 Korean FA Cup Best Manager: 2006, 2007 AFC Coach of the Year: 2009
References
External links
Huh Jung-moo – National Team Stats at KFA