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Heroes of 2012 World Cup battle it -- off-field 

Park Ji-sung, Ahn Jung-hwan and Lee Young-pyo among players-turned-TV commentators

As the Korean team readies for its first match in the World Cup in Brazil later this week, heroes of the unforgettable 2002 games are back, sharpening their soccer instincts.

Their battle, however, isn’t on the field. It’s on TV screens.

From striker Ahn Jung-hwan and mid-fielder Park Ji-sung to defender Lee Young-pyo, a total of six players of the 2002 squad which advanced to the semi-finals have joined the country’s three major TV channels as soccer commentators.

Here’s the lineup of football analysts or commentators for KBS, MBC and MBC: Lee, Kim Nam-il (KBS), Ahn, Song Jong-guk (MBC) and Park, Cha Du-ri and Cha Bum-kun (SBS).

The biggest fish, judging only by on-field reputation, is Park, the former Manchester United star. The iconic player ended his trailblazing career just last month. Many experts and fans say that he was the best player that Asia has ever had.

Park, however, won’t be giving live match commentary from Brazil. Instead, he will be staying in Seoul, offering his insights into teams, head coaches and players in prerecorded clips that will run before the key matches.

Providing live, in-play comments will be the father-son duo of the Chas. Cha Bum-kum, the father, is a former player and national team coach-turned-veteran commentator, while the junior Cha is expected to draw from his ongoing career in the local K-League.

Park, in a recent meeting with fans, offered predictions about the on-screen battle of the former 2002 teammates.

Asked whom among the six he thinks will turn out to be the best commentators, he said, “I think Lee Young-pyo is the most eloquent speaker of all of us. But funwise, Ahn Jung-hwan may be best. Kim Nam-il and Song Jong-guk are just assistants.”

“I have a gut feeling that Ahn Jung-hwan and Kim Nam-il might lose it on air,” he added.

The “eloquent” Lee is in fact the mainstay of KBS’s Brazil coverage. Since hanging up his boots late last year, Lee has been pursuing a TV career, appearing in football-themed KBS programs in the lead-up to the Cup. In Brazil, he is joined by Kim Nam-il, another 2002 team member who still plays in the local K-League.    

MBC’s Ahn and Song are familiar faces to nonfootball fans, appearing on the channel’s popular “Dad, Where Are You Going?”

Ahn made world headlines by scoring the winning goal against Italy in the second round of the 2002 World Cup, but it earned him a dismissal from the Italian club Perugia. Song, who was a defender, played in Netherlands, Saudi Arabia and China before retiring in 2011.

In 2002, Hong Myung-bo, now the national team’s head coach, was the captain of the Korean squad whose run to the semifinals was one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history. Dutchman Guus Hiddink was the coach. Korea jointly hosted the games alongside Japan.

By Lee Sun-young
(milaya@heraldcorp.com)