Director Park Jong-hwan of “Mexico’s semifinal myth” dies of chronic illness…He was 87 years old

Former coach Park died at a hospital in Namyangju, Gyeonggi-do, after showing symptoms of sepsis after being infected with COVID-19 for about a year due to dementia, Sports Kyunghyang reported, citing the bereaved family. According to reports, former coach Park had severe dementia, but there was no particular discomfort, and he died two days after being infected with Corona.

He is survived by one son and one daughter. My wife died first in 2016. The mortuary will be set up at Soonchunhyang Hospital in Hannam-dong, Seoul. “My younger brother, who lives in the United States, is on his way back home,” daughter Park Sung-sook said. “I plan to receive condolences from 12 o’clock on the 8th after my brother, who is the owner, arrives.” 안전놀이터

Former coach Park opened a new era of Korean soccer in 1983 by achieving the first semi-final myth in an international tournament by creating a “Red Devils” sensation in the Mexican Plateau. South Korean soccer later reproduced the semi-final myth at the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, followed by the 2012 London Olympics bronze medal, the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup runner-up, and the 2023 FIFA U-20 semifinals.

Former coach Park, who had a special relationship with former President Chun Doo-hwan, served as the national team coach for the 1988 Seoul Olympics with his strong charismatic leadership and took over as the founding coach of Ilhwa Chunma in 1989, winning three consecutive regular league titles. In 1996, he was appointed as the national coach, but was replaced due to poor performance at the Asian Cup. In 2003, he returned to the field as the founding coach of Daegu FC, led the team until 2006, took over as Seongnam FC head coach in 2014, and stepped down after four months. Since then, he has been appointed as the founding general manager of K3 Yeoju FC in 2018 and worked until 2020. Park graduated from Chuncheon High School and Kyung Hee University.

Coincidentally, the day former coach Park changed his fate was the day when South Korean soccer beat its “nemesis” Japan at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games and won the gold medal for the third consecutive Asian Games.