Park Sung-hwa

Playing career

Park played Handball until he attended middle school, but started playing football at Dongnae High School. His jumping ability made him a notable youth footballer. He was called up to the South Korea national youth team, but could not play as a youth international due to the refusal of his school.

After entering Korea University, Park played for the university's football team at the 1974 Korean President's Cup. He successfully overwhelmed 1.9-m-tall forward Kim Jae-han in a 1–0 win over Korea Housing Bank despite his 1.77-m height, receiving attention again from the Korea Football Association. That year, he was selected for the national B team, playing Merdeka Tournament matches.

Park played for the senior national team in the qualifiers of the 1976 Summer Olympics and the 1978 FIFA World Cup, but failed to qualify for both tournaments. Instead, he won a gold medal at the 1978 Asian Games after South Korea drew with North Korea without a goal in the final. China mostly attempted aerial duels against South Korea in the second group stage before medal matches, and this tactical decision was unsuccessful due to Park's existence.

When K League's inaugural season was held in 1983, Park received the Most Valuable Player award with his team Hallelujah FC winning the league title.

Managerial career

Yukong Elephants

After retiring as a player at the end of the 1987 season, Park worked as a coach at K League club Hyundai Horang-i from 1989 to 1991. He moved to the same league's Yukong Elephants prior to the 1992 season, and was appointed their caretaker manager in May when predecessor Kim Jung-nam resigned for poor results. At the end of the season, Yukong finished bottom of the league, but signed a permanent contract with Park. In September 1994, he left the club, being replaced by Valery Nepomnyashchy.

Pohang Steelers

Park managed Pohang Steelers from 1996 to 2000 after studying in England for a year. He led Pohang to win two consecutive Asian Club Championship titles in the 1996–97 and 1997–98 seasons.

South Korea U20

Park became the manager of the South Korea under-20 team in November 2001, and led them to win two successive AFC Youth Championship titles in 2002 and 2004. In contrast with the results in Asia, his team had difficulty dominating opposing teams at the FIFA World Youth Championship, being eliminated in the round of 16 and the group stage at the 2003 and 2005 tournaments respectively.

South Korea U23

Park signed for K League side Busan IPark in July 2007, but left for the South Korea under-23 team 17 days after the signing. His team succeeded in qualifying for the 2008 Summer Olympics by finishing first in their group of the qualifying tournament, but was criticised for scoring only four goals in six matches. During the Olympics, his team finished third with four points in the Group D, where they drew 1–1 with Cameroon, lost 3–0 to Italy and defeated Honduras 1–0.

Myanmar

Park managed Chinese Super League club Dalian Shide since June 2010, but was sacked for earning only eight points in nine matches during the 2011 season. His next destination was Myanmar where he was in charge of their senior and under-23 teams until 2013. He was sacked for his fatal illusion at the 2013 SEA Games. He was mistaken about the tournament's tiebreaker, giving the main players a break in the last group stage match against Indonesia, which was three points and a large goal difference behind Myanmar. However, the tournament priortised head-to-head record, and a 1–0 defeat to Indonesia made them go out of the tournament. The tournament was held by Myanmar, but he did not know the fact.

Career statistics

International

Results list South Korea's goal tally first.

Honours

Player

Korea University

Korean National Championship: 1974, 1976

Korean President's Cup runner-up: 1976

ROK Army

Korean National Semipro League (Spring): 1980

Korean President's Cup runner-up: 1980

Hallelujah FC

K League 1: 1983

POSCO Atoms

K League 1: 1986

South Korea

Asian Games: 1978

Individual

Korean National Championship Best Player: 1976

Korean FA Best XI: 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1984

Korean President's Cup top goalscorer: 1977

Korean FA Most Valuable Player: 1979

K League 1 Most Valuable Player: 1983

K League 1 Best XI: 1983, 1984

AFC Asian All-Star: 1985

K League '80s All-Star Team: 2003

Manager

Yukong Elephants

Korean League Cup: 1994

Pohang Steelers

Korean FA Cup: 1996

Korean League Cup runner-up: 1996, 1997+

Asian Club Championship: 1996–97, 1997–98

South Korea U20

AFC Youth Championship: 2002, 2004

Individual

AFC Coach of the Month: February 1998, April 1998