Birth Date: 8 January 1979 Height: 184 cm Weight: 73 kg Position: FW Current Club: Anderlecht (BEL) Int'l Goals: 8 (as of 27 May 2002) Int'l Caps: 33 (as of 27 May 2002) First Int'l Cap: New Zealand (23 January
2000)
Profile
If Korea are to progress beyond the first round of the FIFA World
CupTM
they are co-hosting, much will rest upon the youthful shoulders of
striker Seol Ki-Hyeon. Having had another hugely successful season
in Belgium, the nation's shining light returns to a land where
football fever has well and truly taken over.
Seen as the natural successor to Korea's Footballer of the Century
Cha Bum-Keun, who also starred in Europe, Seol made a spectacular
debut for Anderlecht last year scoring a 12-minute hat-trick in the
country's Super Cup final against Westerlo, while he has also made
his debut in the UEFA Champions' League.
His move to Belgium's biggest club last summer came after one
successful season with Antwerp. Despite difficulties settling in at
the start of his first season in Antwerp, Seol eventually ran into
form notching 10 goals in 25 matches.
In fact, he so impressed coach Regi van Acker that the latter wanted
to take him with him when he left for Lierse. But Seol rejected this
apparently easy option and signed for Anderlecht instead.""I had
actually decided on Lierse in order to give myself a bit of
stability, but Anderlecht is the best team in Belgium,"" the
22-year-old said of his plucky decision.
It was not the first time in his career that Seol Ki-Hyeon had
chosen the difficult option. At the end of his time as a college
player in Korea, many advised him to go to the J League in Japan.
This is the logical step for footballers from Korea. But not for
Seol, his sporting dreams lay elsewhere: Europe. However, because he
had heard from several of his countrymen of the vast difference
between the football played in Korea and by Europe's top clubs, he
decided to build up his career step-by-step.
""When I moved to Belgium, many people urged me to go to a stronger
football nation, such as England. Of course that made me wonder if
I'd made the right choice,"" Seol says. ""But when I started in
Belgium I realised that it was the ideal place to get used to
European football, and adapt my style of play.""
Jan Koller's transfer to Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund removed
Seol's main rival for a place in the Anderlecht attack. This has
helped his confidence and provided the security he has been seeking.
Seol will undoubtedly be highly-motivated to ensure that co-hosts
Korea reach at least the second round of the FIFA World Cup for the
first time in their history.
