Quick Facts
SagittariusBiography
Kim Ho (born November 24, 1944) is a South Korean football manager, currently without a club after leaving Daejeon Citizen. He began his association football playing career with the amateur Jeil Fabric team, where he played from 1964—1968. In 1965 he made his debut for the Korean national team before ending his playing career in 1973.
Into coaching
Ho took his first steps into coaching with an amateur side as well as a national youth team coaching position, before taking over as coach of the Hanil Bank FC team in 1983, leading them into the K-League for their two seasons as league members, before departing in 1987 to return to the professional league as manager of struggling Hyundai Horang-i.
He led Horang-i from 1988 to 1990. He rejuvenated the side in his first season, leading them to a 2nd-place finish in 1988. The club however couldn't sustain such form and slipped down to bottom in 1989 and 2nd bottom in 1990, and Kim Ho left prior to the 1991 season.
Leading the national team
Ho was back in management in July 1992 when he took over the reins of the Korean national team and led them to the 1994 World Cup in the U.S.. His team put up some credible performances, drawing their opener against Spain 2–2, before picking up their second point with a 0–0 draw against Bolivia. Despite giving World Cup holders Germany a huge scare by coming back to 3–2 after being 3–0 down, his side couldn't find the extra goals they would have needed to progress and exited at the group stage.
Building the Suwon Bluewings
After stepping down as national team coach, Ho was contacted by Suwon Samsung Bluewings to become the first ever coach of the new side, to lead them into the K-League in 1996. Ho accepted, and embarked on a reign that made him arguably the K-League's most successful manager.
With the Suwon Bluewings, he lifted two K-League championships, three Adidas Cups, one League Cup, one FA Cup, two Korean Super Cups, two Asian Champions Cups and two Asian Super Cups in the space of eight seasons, before announcing his retirement at the end of 2003.