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FIFA statistics of the 2002 Korea Japan World Cup announced Thursday showed that Seol Ki-hyun was tackled 79 times in Korea¡¯s 7 games, putting him in first place as a target among all players from the 32 competing countries. This is an average of 11.3 tackles per game. Hasan Sas of Turkey came in second with a total of 59 tackles followed by Ronaldo of Brazil at 58 and Larson of Sweden, 51.
Analysts say there were two reasons why Seol was tackled so much; the first because of his frequent menacing rushes down the wing, and the second holding onto the ball for a long time without passing. Seol, along with right wing offense Park Ji-sung, were key members in Korea¡¯s specialty of wing attacks, making him an inevitable tackle target. Park Ji-sung was tackled 43 times, making him 7th in the category.
Former coach, Guus Hiddink praised Seol, saying, he was one of the few domestic players who had the physical build and skill to compete with Europe's top class players one on one.
(Kim Dong-seok, ds-kim@chosun.com )
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