Three years ago South Korea humiliated the stars from Portugal, Spain and Italy on their way to the semi-final of the World Cup, before the Germans eventually kicked them out.
Ji-Sung Park and Young-Pyo Lee celebrate Park's semi-final goal against AC Milan. (Photography/GettyImages)
Only three players of the squad headed for Europe as most of the others never left the Far East.
Those three travelled to Holland in the footsteps of their coach Guus Hiddink. Young-Pyo Lee and Ji-Sung Park went with him to PSV. Chong-Gug Song was signed by Feyenoord for 4m euros where he hooked up with Japanese star Shinji Ono.
Come 2005 the first two almost threw AC Milan out of the Champions League while the other quietly returned home after last Christmas. What happened to them in the meantime?
Song was the first to arrive in September 2002 and made an immediate impact. 'Song becomes hit' announced Dutch football magazine Voetbal International after his first training sessions in Rotterdam. Adjusting so well, coach Bert van Marwijk could not refuse him a place in the starting eleven in the next game, at FC Twente.
A rampant Feyenoord slaughtered the home team 5-1 with Ono and Song sensational in midfield. What a buy! As the months went by however, the form of the team deteriorated and so did Song.
An injury, picked up shortly before the winter break, put him out for a some months, after which he struggled to get back into the midfield.
As a right back he had an indifferent second year, which made some hacks wonder whether the real Song had sent his brother to Rotterdam after the summer.
The arrival of Gullit last year did not help him as the manager decided to make some tactical changes after the Van Marwijk era. As Song had never been able to pick up a language other than his mother tongue, he could do not anything but smile and nod at the pointers Gullit was giving him about his new role.
This complete lack of communication was the eventual reason that the club agreed to sell Song to South Koreans Suwon Samson Bluewings this January for half the money they had invested in him.
In a winning team football-lingo is universal and mere eye contact is enough to open an offside trap. When it is all falling apart, then coaches tend to rely on the players that understand what they want. Clearly, for Gullit, Song did not belong to that group.
Chong-Gug Song: Flogged by Feyenoord after initial success. (MikeHewitt/GettyImages)
In January 2004 Lee and Park were heading for the same track at PSV.
They had both arrived during the winterbreak the year before and celebrated the title, but until then never looked like world beaters from the World Cup.
At that time Mark van Bommel said in an interview: 'They are here, but that is all you can say about them. They have not made any progression. When you say something about some mistake they make, they smile and then continue making them. That is quite frustrating.'
Especially as the club had seen Lee mock Luis Figo several times in the World Cup game against Portugal, while Park scored the spectacular goal that sealed the end of Spain in the tournament.
Both had the potential to make it, but seemed to be lacking the necessary bravura on the pitch as well as in the dressingroom.
Yet Hiddink always kept faith in them. The foreign football world can be a lonely place when things are not going for you, but at least there was someone around who knew their abilities and would not let them down so easily.
The turning point may have come last summer. After one-and-a-half year of continuous assistence their translator Chung reached the end of his contract and left them to take on lives of their own.
He now says: 'Since they came here, both of them relied completely on me with every sort of communication, diners, shop visits etc. They did not do anything when I did not. When I left, they had to take care of themselves. To my surprise this transition went very smoothly and the interaction with their teammates and everyone else in Eindhoven increased enormously. They even speak some Dutch now! If only I'd left a bit earlier.'
It is even rumoured they eat spaghetti at the PSV training centre De Herdgang daily, while to the average Korean Chinese food is already as exotic as it comes.
Now they have really settled, their performances have improved dramatically.
As a left-back Young-Pyo Lee has rarely missed a game since he came to PSV. At first he stuck to his defensive job, but at the start of the 2004/5 season he began marches along the flank.
His runs into opponents' half have resulted in goals against Ajax, Feyenoord and FC Twente.
Ji-Sung Park scored the first against AC Milan in Eindhoven while Lee created the second for Cocu to head home. Apparently, Lee takes his strength from religion which he discusses with several PSV teammates.
Ji-Sung Park makes a nice duo with his countryman, but is less interested in heavenly matters. His favorite book is the Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown.
Hiddink: Father figure to PSV's twin, and successful, Korean imports. (MatthewAshton/Empics)
His stuttering start at PSV was mainly due to a hidden knee injury and the lack of rest after the World Cup. Both players are completely fit now in body and mind. PSV reaped the fruits of patience during the knock-out stages of the Champions League when both South Koreans kept running at their opponents and never tired.
Recently PSV took the option on Lee's contract which means he will be staying until 2007. The 27-year old is said however to be mature enough for a move to another European competition like the Premier League.
Not so Ji-Sung Park, four years younger then Lee, who seems happy to extend his time at PSV for several years. He is still very close to Guus Hiddink, a sort of a father figure to him, while his real father is around too.
He has become quite the celebrity in Eindhoven as well. The city embraces its Koreans as never before.
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