Home > Sports > Football

Late World Cup hero to be inducted into K League Hall of Fame

Published: 01 Jul. 2025, 12:47

This image, provided by the Korea Professional Football League on July 1 shows the inductees into the K League Hall of Fame for 2025. From left: former administrator Chung Mong-joon, former goalkeeper Kim Byung-ji, former defender Kim Joo-sung, former striker Dejan Damjanovic, former midfielder Yoo Sang-chul and former head coach Kim Ho. [YONHAP]

Yoo Sang-chul, a late World Cup hero who excelled at multiple positions in the domestic league, will be inducted into Korean professional football's Hall of Fame this year.

The Korea Professional Football League (K League) on Tuesday unveiled six inductees in its 2025 Hall of Fame class.

The K League opened the Hall of Fame two years ago to celebrate its 40th anniversary, and the inaugural class of 2023 had six members — four in the Stars category for former players, one in the Leaders category for former coaches and one in the Honors category for other contributors to the league. The K League said at the time the Hall of Fame would enshrine new members every other year.

Yoo won the K League scoring title for Ulsan in 1998. During his nine-year K League career, Yoo spent time as forward, midfielder and defender. He and his fellow Hall of Fame inductee, Kim Joo-sung, are the only two players in league history to be named to the season-end Best XI at all three positions.

Yoo also spent time in Japan before wrapping up his playing career with Ulsan in 2006. He was an integral part of Korea's unlikely run to the semifinals at the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

Following multiple coaching stops in the K League, Yoo died of cancer in 2021 at age 49.

Kim, 59, was one of the most versatile and skilled players in the K League in the 1980s and 1990s. The 1997 league MVP made his debut as a forward but later thrived as a midfielder and a defender.

Korea's late Yoo Sang-chul jumps for an header, during the 2002 World Cup semifinal match between Germany and South Korea, at the Seoul World Cup stadium in Seoul, Korea, in this June 25, 2002, file photo. [AP/YONHAP]

Joining these two in the Stars category are former goalkeeper Kim Byung-ji and former striker Dejan Damjanovic.

Kim Byung-ji holds the record for most matches played in league history with 706, and he posted 229 clean sheets, counting League Cup matches. He also scored three goals in his 24-year career.

Damjanovic, a native of Montenegro, is the first foreign-born inductee of the Hall of Fame. Over his 12-year K League career, Damjanovic won three straight scoring titles from 2011 to 2013 and also captured the league MVP award in 2012. He ranks second on the all-time K League goal scoring list with 198, behind only Lee Dong-gook, a Hall of Fame inductee from 2023.

Kim Ho, former head coach for Ulsan, Suwon Samsung Bluewings and Daejeon, was inducted in the Leaders category. Kim, who ranks third on the all-time rankings with 208 wins, guided Suwon Samsung to back-to-back league titles in 1998 and 1999, and also won consecutive Asian Club Championships — currently the Asian Football Confederation Champions League — in 2001 and 2002.

Chung Mong-joon, former president of the Korea Football Association (KFA), will enter the Hall of Fame in the Honors category.

Korean players celebrate their first goal by holding up a uniform in memory of former national team star Yoo Sang-chul, who died in June 2021. [NEWS1]

Prior to running the KFA, Chung was the commissioner of the K League from 1994 to 1998. On his watch, the league added four clubs and secured major sponsorship deals. He is also largely credited with bringing the FIFA World Cup to Korea in 2002.

To be eligible for the Hall of Fame, a player must meet one of the following criteria: 300 matches in the top division, 100 goals scored for an outfield player, 100 clean sheets for a goalkeeper, a league goal scoring title or an assist title, a place on the season-end Best XI Team and a league MVP award.

The six-member Hall of Fame Selection Committee picked 20 nominees out of 230 eligible players for the Stars category, and the inductees were chosen following votes by the committee, club officials, media and fans.

The selection committee picked the inductees in the Leaders and Honors categories.

The induction ceremony is scheduled for September.

Yonhap