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“Ladies
and gentleman! As one of the country's oldest and most prestigious
university, KU has played a significant role on shaping Korea socially,
culturally, and academically since 1905. '100 Years of Korea University
(KU) and 100 Years of Sports' event is prepared for chewing over national
wildness, especially focusing on sports history, during last 100 years.
Today it will be a significant and glorious day which promises KU's
great development once again." These comments by Euh Yoon-dae, President
of KU, announced the beginning of KU's splendid sports event.
Sports has a strong power that makes people become one. On 'the 2002
FIFA World Cup,' all people came out for cheer become united as one.
Everyone suddenly became a soccer fan and everyone was determined
that they can achieve everything that they set their mind to. Incidentally,
many of World Cup stars are KU alumni. In fact, KU sports leads Korean
sports not only soccer but baseball, rugby, weighlifting, archery
and so on, so it is no wonder that KU has pride when it comes to sports.
KU had made a plan '100 Years of KU and 100 Years of Sports' event
was held to honor alumni athletes who made a great contribution toward
modern sports of Korea. On July 13, about 40,000 people, students,
alumni, and faculty of KU and citizens attended this event in Incheon
Munhak Stadium.
'100 Years of KU and 100 Years of Sports' event was consist of three
parts. Part 1 was a friendly soccer match : KU and Waseda University
vs Yonsei University and Keio University. Part 2 was a commemorative
ceremony of 'KU Distinguished Sportsman Award', and part 3 was a big
match between PSV Eindhoven team and KU All-Star Team.
KU distributed 1,000 free tickets to orphanages and other welfare facilities. Japanese high school students enjoyed the event, too. As a result, the event became a place of national reconciliation and promoted friendly relations between Korea and Japan.
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In the "Forever
Friendship" section, the united team of KU
and Waseda University played a friendly soccer
game with the united team of Yonsei University
and Keio University. After the 2002 FIFA World
Cup, there had not been unity between Korea
and Japan, so this match was a game of great
importance in sports history.
KU met its long-standing rival, Yonsei University,
on the other team. More importantly, at the
same time, Korea met her everlasting rival,
Japan, on the same team. Any wariness or tension
couldn't be felt on the soccer field. All
the players played an exciting game in perfect
harmony.
Some Japanese players had a final examination
the next day. Although six of them had to
leave after first half, they participated
in the match with great eagerness. Tokunaga
Yuhei said, "The soccer players of KU are
strong. I wanted to play a thrilling game
with them although I've got a final examination
tomorrow. It's a great pity that I have to
leave before the second half of the game starts.
I hope there will be another occasion like
this."
The first half of game ended in a draw, but
in the second half, Gi Hyun-seo ('03, Department
of Physical Education) shot a medium-distance
goal and Oka Yusuke kick an additional goal.
Consequently, the united team of KU and Waseda
University won a victory by a score of two
to zero. Yu Hyo-jin ('02, Department of Physical
Education) mentioned, "I really worried about
teamwork because we didn't have enough time
to practice together. Unexpectedly, however,
we played in perfect harmony in spite of lack
of communication. If we hadn't cooperated,
the game couldn't have gone smoothly."
After the game was over, all the players enjoyed
the cheer native to KU such as "Boating" which
is a representative cheer song of KU. The
event performed a great role of cooperation,
and promoted "Forever Friendship" between
Korea University and Yonsei University, and
between Korea and Japan. |
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In the commemorative ceremony, 'KU Distinguished
Sportsman Award' was awarded to 26 alumni.
They were awarded for their commitment to
spread the great fame of KU far and wide,
and they implanted a national sports pride
in people. KU sports always stood in the center
of Korean sports. More than 900 national athletes
who graduated KU made award-winning efforts
and achieved their glory. Looking through
the list of prize winners, you can recognize
100 years of Korean sports history as well
as 100 years of KU sports history. |
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The prestigious club, PSV Eindhoven led by the 2002 World Cup national hero Guus Hiddink and ranked seventh in the Club World Ranking by the International Federation of Football History &Statistics is here to play a friendly match with Korea University’s Professional All Stars in commemoration of KU’s Centennial. KU All Stars Roster, led by the legendary Cha Bum Kun, is full of Korean superstars like Hong Myung Bo and Park Chu Young. “I saw the KU roster before the match. I wouldn’t be exaggerating to say it’s a list of Korea’s top players,” said Lee Young-Pyo, the PSV star wing-back.
The ball kicked off at 18:40 on July 13, 2005, and the match went live on national television. Despite the short three day notice on the change of date and venue by schedule difficulties, more than 40,000 fans gathered in Incheon Munhak Stadium and showed the classic united passion of KU. Park Chu Young came out on the starting line-up with a slight injury on his toe, but disappointingly, had to leave six minutes after the starting whistle when he took a hard hit. Choi Sung Kuk subbed in for Park and got the game going with strong moves and penetration down the line. The two teams played with a fast rhythm until PSV’s Brazilian striker Robert de Pinho de Souza scored a goal that turned out to be the game winner just a minute before the first half ended.
The second half was played out with more heart then the first half, and the game was steaming high when big substitutions were made by the coaches. Lee Young-Pyo checked in and took over the left side of the field overlapping back and forth. PSV starters Alex Rodrigo and Jefferson Farfan joined the game to keep the heat up. However, the heat was at its peak when the retired legendary defender Hong Myung Bo checked in. He proved to the world that he’s still better than most, and that he still has the same old knack by stabilizing the back field with his poised defense. The game got hotter and hotter down the stretch. The KU All Stars kept on making fine opportunities, but the PSV defenders managed to hold their victory until the referee’s final whistle blew.
“It was a great game of friendship despite the result, 0:1. The alumni gathered and worked hard together. I thank Coach Hiddink and his team for flying in and playing their best even with jet-lag and short practice time,” said Coach Cha. Coach Hiddink certainly seemed to feel good about coming back to Korea after three years. “It feels so good to be here, to practice and have matches in Korea,” he said. The players echoed the coaches’ sentiment. “I had no idea such an honorable opportunity would be given to me after retirement,” said Hong. “It was an absolutely great night for KU, its alumni and myself.”
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