A total of 17 players out of the 23-man squad were used throughout the tournament and for the remaining six; Kim Byung-ji, Choi Eun-sung, Yoon Jong-hwan, Choi Sung-yong, Hyun Young-min and Choi Tae-uk; the last match will be their final chance in this World Cup.

Goalkeeper Lee Woon-Jae has been a fixture for all of the matches to date, with Hiddink and keeper coach Kim Hun-tae preferring him to Kim Byung-ji and Choi Eun-sung, after the last pre-tournament training session in Gyeongju. Lee made some spectacular saves and only allowed three goals in regular time throughout six matches, second only to Germany's Oliver Kahn. Also in the penalty shootout against Spain he saved against Joaquin, giving Team Korea its semifinal place.

Multi-role player Song Jong-kuk (597min.) was in the starting lineup for every game, shutting out Portugal's Luis Figo, he even played at the front and in midfield. He recorded the biggest number of tackles with 52, but made only five fouls. Kim Tae-young was second with 32 challenges.

Playing in all six matches, three relatively older players, Choi Jin-cheul (562min.), Hong Myung-bo (551min.) and Kim Tae-young (511min.), took care of defense, removing worries about them being too slow. Midfielders Park Ji-sung (544min.) and Yu Sang-cheol (484min.), and strikers Seol Ki-hyon (516min.) Ahn Jung-hwan (439min.) and Lee Chun-su (285min.) also appeared in all six games as either starters or substitutes. Kim Nam-il (368min.) and Hwang Sun-hong came out for five matches.

Ahn was the highest scorer for the team with two goals from headers in matches against the United States and Italy, while Hwang, Yoo, Seol and Park all scored one each. Ahn and Seol also had the most shots with 11, although the latter was slightly more accurate with seven on target to the formers six, while Park had five on goal. Statistically, Yoo was the most accurate with one goal out of two attempts.

The players who committed the most fouls were defenders Choi Jin-cheul and Kim Tae-young with 15, followed by Kim Nam-il with 14, as 12 team members got a total of 13 yellow cards, including Kim Tae-young with two.

Ahn was the most fouled player with the opposition hitting him 38 times, followed by Park (37), the victim of one by Joao Pinto, which resulted in the Portuguese player's expulsion from the game. (Seong Jin-hyeok, jhsung@chosun.com )