Yoo Sang-chul ( ko, 유상철; 18 October 1971 – 7 June 2021) was a South Korean

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and manager. Yoo was regarded as one of the greatest South Korean

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

s of all time. He was selected as a midfielder of the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

All-Star Team and K League 30th Anniversary Best XI.

Club career

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, Yoo joined a K League club

Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i Ulsan Hyundai FC ( ko, 울산 현대 축구단) is a South Korean professional football club based in Ulsan that competes in the K League 1, the top tier of South Korean football. Founded in 1983 as Hyundai Horang-i, they joined the K League ...

, and was selected as a defender of the

K League Best XI The K League Best XI is an award for the best eleven players in a K League season. K League 1 award (1983–present) Winners Players marked bold won the Most Valuable Player award in that respective year. Appearances by player Appearanc ...

right after his first season. In 1996, he won the

1996 K League The 1996 Korean Professional Football League was the 14th season of K League since its establishment in 1983. South Korean government and the Korean Professional Football Federation introduced a decentralization policy to proliferate the popular ...

with Ulsan. In 1998, he won the K League scoring title, scoring 14 goals in 20 games, and was named as a midfielder in the K League Best XI. Yoo was offered a trial from

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

after the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

. However, confusion regarding how agents work in European football caused him to miss out on the trial; furthermore, his club Ulsan had already agreed to a contract-binding deal to sell him to

Yokohama F. Marinos is a Japanese professional football club based in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club competes in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Having won the J-League title four times an ...

. Yoo briefly joined

Kashiwa Reysol is a Japanese professional football club based in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Sankyo Frontier Kashiwa Stadium ...

in 2001, where he played 33 games and scored 14 goals. Following his success at the

, there was interest from many major European football clubs, and he nearly signed a deal with

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

, to the point that he had already said farewell to Kashiwa; but the negotiation broke down. Without a club, he returned to Ulsan after the registration deadline and was granted a special exemption to play with the team. With only eight matches left in the 2002 season, he scored nine goals, helping Ulsan move from a mid-table position to a title challenge, finishing in second place. That season, he picked up another Best XI award as a forward, after finishing with the third-most goals in the league. He was one of only two players in K League history to have been included in all three outfield positions of the Best XI. Back at Yokohama, Yoo won the J.League in 2003 and 2004, before returning to Ulsan and winning one more title in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

. Following that title, a chronic left knee injury forced him to retire from football.

International career

Yoo scored two goals for South Korea in

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

, one in 1998 against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, and another in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. He played a key part of the South Korea national team when they reached the semi-finals in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and was named to the World Cup all-star team. He was also part of the South Korea under-23 team for the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, who finished second in Group A, making it through to the next round, before being defeated by

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

, the eventual silver medalists.

Style of play

Yoo was one of South Korea's most versatile players in the 1990s and 2000s. He was originally a defensive player, who could perform roles of stopper and

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

with excellent physical strength, but he had the ability to spark attacks with his incisive distribution after getting great positioning and wide vision in his experiences. He could even be deployed as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

, and he became the top goal-scorer of the league. His versatility allowed him to shine in almost any area of the field from defence to attack, and his presence allowed coach Guus Hiddink to alter tactics easily during World Cup matches. After his retirement, he shocked Koreans by revealing that he was blind in one eye during his career.

Managerial career

Yoo Sang-chul began managing in 2009 as a high school football manager, at Chuncheon Machinery Technical High School. On 17 July 2011, he was appointed manager of

Daejeon Citizen Daejeon Hana Citizen Football Club (Korean 대전 하나 시티즌 축구단) is a South Korean professional football team based in Daejeon that competes in the K League 1, the top tier of South Korean football. At the time of its foundation in 19 ...

. This was a tough appointment, because a match-fixing scandal caused Daejeon to lose nearly half of their players just before his appointment. Then, in 2012, a relegation system was introduced, threatening the Citizens with relegation. In the 2012 season, while it was close, the Daejeon Citizens managed to avoid relegation. Following the expiration of his contract at the end of the 2012 season, negotiations to extend his contract failed, and the Daejeon Citizens appointed a different manager, a move which many fans found controversial. In January 2014, Yoo became the manager of the Ulsan University football team, the affiliate university team of the Ulsan Hyundai football club where he had spent his entire K-League career. He remained with Ulsan University until December 2017, when he was appointed manager of the

Jeonnam Dragons The Jeonnam Dragons (Korean: 전남 드래곤즈) are a South Korean professional football club based in the city of Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province that competes in the K League 2, the second tier of South Korean football. The Dragons play thei ...

. Under Yoo, the Jeonnam Dragons attempted to reorganize the team around a youth movement. However, the team struggled to score goals, and despite Yoo's request, they were unable to land a better forward. His tenure at Jeonnam Dragons ended on August 16, 2018, when he resigned after only three victories, with the team doing poorly in the

2018 K League 1 The 2018 K League 1 was the 36th season of the top division of professional football in South Korea since its establishment in 1983, and the sixth season of the K League 1, former K League Classic. The K League Classic was changed its name to "K ...

standings. Jeonnam Dragons would eventually be relegated at the end of the season. On May 14, 2019, Yoo was appointed manager of

Incheon United Incheon United FC is a South Korean professional football club based in Incheon that competes in the K League 1, the top flight of South Korean football. Founded in 2003, the club is a so-called "community club", with the government of the city ...

. At the time of his appointment, Incheon United was at the bottom of the 2019 K League 1, with only 6 points in 11 games. While managing

in October 2019, Yoo was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Despite the diagnosis, he continued to manage Incheon United and helped the club avoid relegation, before resigning in January 2020. After resigning, he was named the honorary head coach. In June 2020, when Incheon United had another managerial vacancy, Yoo approached the team and asked to be appointed the manager again, but he was turned down on account of his poor health.

Death

On 21 November 2019, Yoo announced that he had been diagnosed with stage 4

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...

, which caused him to be hospitalised. Yoo died on 7 June 2021 in Seoul at the age of 49.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Korea Republic's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Yoo goal''.

Honours

Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i *

K League 1 The K League 1 (Hangul: K리그1) is the men's top professional football division of the South Korean football league system. The league is contested by twelve clubs. History The South Korean professional football league was founded in 1 ...

: 1996,

Korean League Cup The Korean League Cup was a professional football competition in South Korean football. It was held by the K League Federation from 1986 to 2012. Sponsorship Champions List of finals Titles by club K League's principle of official stati ...

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

, 1998 *

Korean Super Cup The Korean Super Cup was the annual curtain-raiser to the South Korean football season from 1999 to 2006, and was contested between the champions of K League and Korean FA Cup. It was dropped from the South Korean football calendar in 2007. Afte ...

: 2006 *

A3 Champions Cup A3 Champions Cup (also known as East Asian Champions Cup) was an annual football (soccer) tournament jointly organized by the China PR, Japan and Korea Republic football Association. It began in 2003, involving the league champions of China, Japan ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

Yokohama F. Marinos *

J1 League The , known as the for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the system. Founded in 1992, it is one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football. Contested by 18 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the J ...

: 2003, 2004 South Korea B *

Summer Universiade The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

silver medal: 1993 *

East Asian Games The East Asian Games was a multi-sport event organized by the East Asian Games Association (EAGA) and held every four years from 1993 to 2013. Among those who competed included athletes from East Asian countries and territories of the Olympic ...

: 1993 South Korea *

fourth place:

AFC Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second oldest cont ...

third place:

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

* EAFF Championship: 2003 Individual * K League 1 Best XI:

, 1998,

* K League 1 top goalscorer: 1998 * AFC Asian All Stars: 1998 *

World XI In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

: 2000 *

FIFA World Cup All-Star Team At the end of each FIFA World Cup final tournament, several awards are presented to the players and teams who have distinguished themselves in various aspects of the game. Awards *There are currently five post-tournament awards from the FIFA ...

* EAFF Championship Most Valuable Player: 2003 * K League 30th Anniversary Best XI: 2013

Notes

References

External links

* * * *
International Appearances & Goals
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yoo, Sang-chul 1971 births 2021 deaths South Korean footballers Association football midfielders South Korean expatriate footballers South Korea international footballers J1 League players Ulsan Hyundai FC players Yokohama F. Marinos players Kashiwa Reysol players 1996 AFC Asian Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2000 AFC Asian Cup players 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of South Korea FIFA Century Club Daejeon Hana Citizen FC managers Konkuk University alumni Footballers from Seoul Footballers at the 1994 Asian Games Footballers at the 1998 Asian Games Asian Games competitors for South Korea South Korean football managers Universiade medalists in football Universiade silver medalists for South Korea Deaths from cancer in South Korea Deaths from pancreatic cancer