Sports Seoul in Korea is reporting that Korean national team striker Hwang Sun Hong (who scored a wonderful goal against Poland) is being pursued by three MLS teams (DC United, Metroscums and Dallas Burn). Hwang indicated his interest in coming to MLS after he retired from the national team following the World Cup. I personally think he would be a great fit for DC who are desperate for some scoring. In his career he has scored 50 goals for his country and has won scoring titles in both Korea and Japan. Only concern might be that he'll be 35 years old next year. Any opinions?
First, it's intriguing. There's a huge Korean community in Northern Virginia around Annandale--just huge. I wonder if it would be a draw for them? Second, while I'm not big on getting older players, be absolutely clear on one thing--this guy wasn't on the ROK National team unless he could run the legs off every single current member of DC United. On paper he's 35 but as a player, he would make our entire side look like a bunch of geezers. Third, I'd have to go back and look at the tapes to see his game. But as I remember (and I could be wrong), he could fit it very well to a Hudson offense.
Hong is played in either 3 or 4 WCs for ROK but was hurt in the first couple. He's got 45+ goals in international play. As I recall, he's also not short (thus, he might violate the height requirement!).
Yeah. He's also the guy in the US/ROK match with the mummy bandage on his head after colliding with Surfer Dude - and the guy who tumbled whilst wrestling with Agoos leading to the PK that Friedel saved in that game.
Below is a link to his bio. He's exactly 6'0", has scored 49 goals in 97 caps, and will turn 35 during the middle of next season. Of course, it all depends on money, but this guy seems like a winner all the way around. http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/en/t/t/pl/174626/index.html
I have been claiming this for years... even pre World Cup.. that we should get a Korean... Now, me and all of Annandale will be at RFK.
Just as long as we don't end up trading him to LA somewhere down the road, thereby causing "Angry Salvadoran and Korean Night."
How many Koreans would you actually expect to attend games on a regular basis because a player of their heritage is on the local team? I'm not saying this in a deragatory manner, I just have no idea.
The words I have heard about him is that he has family in LA and wants to play for SJ or the Galaxy to be close to his relatives. Anytime I head his name mentioned it was primarily with joining the Galaxy.
I certainly don't think that just b/c you have a player of a certain nationality (say, a German or a Peruvian) on your roster, than all people of that nationality become fans. I do think that the Korean population in Northern Virginia is a very large community--in the true sense of the word. A ROK national teamer might energize that fan base and attract a group. Don't mean to stereotype here--I don't know if the Koreans in the US are going to be drawn to a pro sport as spectators. But if they could be--wow you'd see a spike in attendance. As for the LA/SJ thing, there are a couple of issues there. For LA, they're pursuing ROK's defender/sweeper (and he's a better fit for them anyway). I don't think they can afford both. For SJ, they'd have to dump Graziani. Hwang might be a better fit for Donovan (better in the air, better target player) than Graziani. Otherwise, I'm not sure they're prepared to dump Graziani for a 35 year old who is unproven in MLS (afterall, not everyone adjusts well to a foreign league).
IIRC - both RO Korea and Japan were not strong supporters of soccer until the World Cup. RO Korea I believe has traditionally had a stronger soccer base but still not like the support in Europe, South America or Africa. Would immigrants from 10 to 20 years ago care about soccer more than any other American from a non-soccer nation (including our own)? I'm not sure how much of a pull someone of your original nationality is if you don't care for the sport? If say I was living in Germany or the UK and an American came over to compete in a skateboarding tournament, I still wouldn't go because I don't care about skateboarding as a sport. Just saying that just because a player is from X nation, I don't know if those people are going to show up unless they already follow the sport...
Of course, the question should be whether he would be what we need up front, for how much, and for how long, not whether he could put some Korean fannies in the seats. Hwang Sun Hong is intriguing because he is skilled, has size, and is a real athlete, like his ROK WC teammates. Moreover, if he comes, MLS would obviously be his last stop; that is, at 35, he wouldn't come here just to showcase his talent for a possible leap to Europe. Could we get value from him for, say, two years?
Mike Amman has retired and it leaves $125,000 available in cap space. Would it be enough to sign Hwang? He made a lot more than that playing in Japan and Korea. His reason for coming to MLS is his desire to learn English, which will help him earn international coaching license. I for one would love to see him in our uniform. Hwang has been a class on and off the field his whole career. He won't be like some German geezer the Metroscums signed and a Mexican thug name Hernandez who came to this league with absolutely no respect.
According to Sports Today in Korea, Chicago Fire is pursuing Hwang as well. He now has four teams to choose from, us, Metroscums, Dallas, and Chicago.
First, we're going to use up Amman's $125K on payraises for a bunch of players. Quaranta, for instance, didn't count on the payroll b/c he was P-40. Even if he made the MLS minimum, that's money that was off the cap last year (unless he leaves or his roster spot goes to a P-40). And Quaranta won't make the minimum. Rimando was making around $40-50K--he'll get a big payraise. McKinley was promised a payraise. Prideaux left KC partially for money reasons. Nelsen is demanding (and deserves) a pay increase over the $50K he made this year. Second, we're in far better shape than CHicago when it comes to cap room. Right now, I think the only that is happening is agents are putting out feelers. And almost any team would say "sure, we're interested". I don't think he'll be signed until teams make decisions about players like: Moreno, Etcheverry, Nowak, Stoichkov, Wolff, Graziani, Donovan (Leverkusen can still require him to play the second half of the Bundesliga season so SJ may not know about that until December). Besides, while allocations are supposed to be "dead", my understanding is that there is an informal understanding that says if you sell a player overseas and it makes MLS money (ie: the Eddie Lewis situation), then the league will be willing to spend some of that money to acquire a new player for you. That means that since LA lost Vanney, if they can add one player, they may look for someone not coming on a free transfer (Hong) but someone that MLS has to purchase (and thus, has a little more value). Again, I could be wrong here--but you know how MLS rules are.