Kim Joo-sung (born 17 January 1966) is a former South Korean football player. Kim is regarded as one of the greatest Asian footballers of the 20th century. He was nominated for the IFFHS Asia's Player of the Century, finishing second place.^[3]

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Kim Joo-sung

Personal information
Full name	Kim Joo-sung
Date of birth	(1966-01-17) 17 January 1966 (age 58)
Place of birth	Yangyang, Gangwon, South Korea
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Winger, sweeper
Youth career
1977–1979[1]	Seongsu Middle School
1980–1982[1]	Choongang High School
College career
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1983–1986[1]	Chosun University
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1987–1999	Busan Daewoo Royals	203	(34)
1992–1994	→ VfL Bochum (loan)	34	(4)
Total		237	(38)
International career
1984	South Korea U20
1984–1987	South Korea B
1985–1996	South Korea	76	(14)
Medal record Men's football Representing  South Korea Summer Universiade 1987 Zagreb Team[2] Asian Games 1986 Seoul Team 1990 Beijing Team AFC Asian Cup 1988 Qatar Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Close

Kim joined Daewoo Royals in 1987. In his first professional season, he won the K League and was named the K League Young Player of the Year.^[4] On 8 October 1991 he took a part during a friendly match for the World XI.

Kim was selected for the South Korea national team for the 1986 FIFA World Cup, playing in a major competition for the first time. He also played for South Korea in the 1986 Asian Games, winning a gold medal.

Afterwards, Kim became the greatest footballer in Asia and South Korea. In the 1988 AFC Asian Cup, he performed a key role with great dribbles, leading South Korea to the final. He became the Most Valuable Player of the tournament,^[9] although South Korea lost to Saudi Arabia after the penalty shoot-out in the final. He was also named the Most Outstanding Player in the Asian qualification of the 1990 FIFA World Cup after South Korea won the competition without a defeat.^[10] He was voted Asian Footballer of the Year for three consecutive years from 1989 to 1991.^[11]

Kim's domination over Asia interested European clubs at the time. However, he showed poor performance in the 1990 FIFA World Cup, failing to live up to their expectations.^[12] He could go to Europe two years after the end of the World Cup.

He was nicknamed the "Wild Horse" or the "Samson" due to his pace and long curly hair.^[13] He normally played as a winger, but he was capable of playing as an attacking midfielder or a sweeper. Kim possesed as well an exceptional level of stamina and good driblling skills.

In September 2003 he attended a sports management masters course at De Montfort University, Leicester until February 2004 when his studies took him to Switzerland.

Busan Daewoo Royals

• K League 1: 1987, 1991, 1997^[14]
• Korean National Championship: 1989^[14]
• Korean League Cup: 1997, 1997+, 1998+^[15]

VfL Bochum

• 2. Bundesliga: 1993–94^[16]

South Korea B

• Summer Universiade silver medal: 1987^[17]

South Korea

• Asian Games: 1986^[18]
• AFC Asian Cup runner-up: 1988^[19]
• Dynasty Cup: 1990^[20]

Individual

• World XI: 1991^[21]
• AFC Asian Cup Most Valuable Player: 1988^[9]
• AFC Asian Cup Team of the Tournament: 1988^[9]
• FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC) Most Outstanding Player: 1990^[10]
• IFFHS Asian Men's Player of the Year: 1989, 1990, 1991^[11]
• IFFHS Asia's Player of the 20th Century runner-up: 1999^[3]
• IFFHS Asian Men's Team of the 20th Century: 2021^[22]
• MasterCard Asian/Oceanian Team of the 20th Century: 1998^[23]
• Dynasty Cup Most Valuable Player: 1990^[24]
• Korean FA Best XI: 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988^{[25][26][27][28]}
• Korean FA Most Valuable Player: 1991^[29]
• K League Rookie of the Year: 1987^[4]
• K League 1 Best XI: 1987, 1991, 1996, 1997, 1999^{[30][31][32][7][33]}
• K League 1 Most Valuable Player: 1997^[7]
• K League '90s All-Star Team: 2003^[34]
• K League 30th Anniversary Best XI: 2013^[35]