Hiddink recalls the mystery call that led to 2002

Guus Hiddink has recalled the moment an unknown number called him in 2001, a call that changed South Korean football forever. "My first encounter with South Korea was in 1998, during the World Cup in France. I was head coach of the Netherlands, and they were in our group," Hiddink told FourFourTwo (1). The mystery caller turned out to be Ka Sam-hyun, who asked to meet at a hotel opposite Hiddink's home in the Netherlands. "How does he know where I live? How did he get my number?" Hiddink remembered thinking (1). That meeting set in motion the appointment that would culminate in South Korea's historic run to the 2002 World Cup semi-finals. For a nation still reeling from a group-stage exit in 2026, the memory of what came from that phone call cuts deep.