Choi Soon-ho (born 10 January 1962) is a South Korean football manager and former player.

International career

Choi was named in South Korean squad for the 1980 AFC Asian Cup. He scored seven goals including two goals against Kuwait, and a hat-trick against United Arab Emirates in the group stage. South Korea met Kuwait again in the final, but they lost this time. Choi became the youngest ever player to be the top scorer in the AFC Asian Cup at age 18. In 1981, he led South Korean under-20 team to the 1980 AFC Youth Championship title by scoring four goals. He also played FIFA World Youth Championship matches as the Asian champion in the same year. He defeated Italy 4–1 in the first game by having two goals and two assists. However, South Korea was eliminated in the group stage after losing to Romania and Brazil. Choi was selected for the South Korean squad for the 1986 FIFA World Cup. He contributed to more than half of the team's 17 goals by having one goal and eight assists in eight games of the qualification. He scored a goal outside the penalty area in a group match against Italy. He finally provided two assists as well as scoring a goal in the World Cup, proving his abilities outside Asia. Serie A club Juventus was interested in Choi after the World Youth Championship. Its interest lasted until the end of the 1986 World Cup, but his team POSCO consistently rejected its offer.

Style of play

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.

Career statistics

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 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.

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Honours

Player

POSCO Atoms Lucky-Goldstar Hwangso South Korea U20 South Korea Individual

Manager

Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Individual