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Kim Nam-il
Kim Nam-Il IMG 2896.jpg
Kim with Tom Tomsk in 2010
Personal information
Full name Kim Nam-il
Date of birth (1977-03-14) 14 March 1977 (age 47)
Place of birth Incheon, South Korea
Height 1.82 m (5 ft 11+12 in)
Playing position Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current club Seongnam FC (manager)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2000–2004 Jeonnam Dragons 92 (7)
2003 Feyenoord (loan) 0 (0)
2003 → Excelsior (loan) 8 (0)
2005–2007 Suwon Samsung Bluewings 45 (0)
2008–2009 Vissel Kobe 54 (1)
2010–2011 Tom Tomsk 41 (0)
2012–2013 Incheon United 59 (0)
2014 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 20 (2)
2015 Kyoto Sanga 27 (1)
Total 346 (11)
National team
1996 South Korea U20 4 (1)
1999 South Korea U23 17 (1)
1998–2013 South Korea 98 (2)
Teams managed
2020– Seongnam FC
Honours
Representing  South Korea
Men's football
AFC Youth Championship
Gold 1996 South Korea Team
EAFF Championship
Gold 2008 China Team
  • Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).
Kim Nam-il
Hangul 김남일
Hanja 金南一
Revised Romanization Gim Nam-il
McCune–Reischauer Kim Namil

Kim Nam-il (Korean: 김남일; Hanja: 金南一; born 14 March 1977) is a South Korean football manager and former player who played as defensive midfielder. He is the manager of K League 1 club Seongnam FC.

Early life

Kim Nam-il began playing football in third grade of elementary school. His decision to play football was initially met with opposition from his parents because of his impressive academic performance, but he continued his football career during his schooldays.

In the 1996 AFC Youth Championship, he played for South Korean under-20 team, and scored his first international goal against Iran, He wasn't selected as a participant in the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship, but he was named in South Korean senior team for the 1998 Asian Games by the manager Huh Jung-moo. He made his senior international debut in the tournament.

Playing career

Under Guus Hiddink, Kim began to play for the national team in earnest. Former unimpressive player in the K League, he was criticized early in his international career due to poor basic skills. However, in Hiddink's belief, he became an irreplaceable defensive midfielder who could block counterattacks of the opponent team beforehand. Nicknamed the "Vacuum cleaner", he showed strong stamina and relentless tussle. In the 2002 World Cup, he appeared all five games until the quarter-finals, but he injured his ankle during the quarter-final match against Spain. South Korea lost to Germany in the semi-finals after he quit the tournament.

The term "Kim Nam-il Syndrome" began to be coined by tabloids to describe Kim's superstardom status. During the 2002 World Cup, he gained an unusually large female fan base, led to sold-out matches and goodies, and caused a sudden increase in popularity of Jeonnam Dragons. Kim, a former unknown to the public, then became highly desirable by numerous endorsement companies that were eager to pay high amounts of money. Many TV programs had asked, or pressured at times for, Kim to appear, but he rejected their offers, and appeared only on interviews instead.

In January 2003, Kim joined an Eredivisie club Feyenoord on loan, and was subleased to the satellite club Excelsior to be tested for five months. However, he didn't make a strong impression.

In the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Kim didn't only contribute to South Korea's defense, but also attack with long-range passes. He also played in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, but he was blamed by some South Korean fans after conceding a penalty kick to Nigeria.

Managerial career

Kim started his career as a coach at Jiangsu Suning in 2016. He joined the South Korea's coaching staff for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. After the World Cup, he joined Jeonnam Dragons as a coach.

On 23 December 2019, Kim was appointed as the manager of Seongnam FC.

Personal life

Kim is the youngest of the three brothers in his family, and is a close friend of Lee Kwan-woo and Lee Dong-gook.

Since 2006, there had been rumours about his relationship with anchorwoman Kim Bo-min eventually leading to the possibility of his marriage. The question was raised once again when a netizen posted a picture of a woman who he claimed was Kim Bo-min at Suwon World Cup Stadium. The woman was wearing a hat and a light green scarf that covered about half of her face. Both Kim Bo-min and Kim Nam-il neither confirmed nor denied the allegation. In an interview with a women's magazine, the footballer's parents have stated that they have heard from their son that they are romantically involved, but did not hear about marriage. In June 2007, the couple secretly became engaged and revealed that they had met three years ago. They are married and are having a son.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Jeonnam Dragons 2000 K League 20 0 2 0 10 1 32 1
2001 K League 25 0 2 0 0 0 27 0
2002 K League 14 0 0 0 1 0 15 0
2003 K League 23 6 0 0 23 6
2004 K League 10 1 2 0 0 0 12 1
Total 92 7 6 0 11 1 109 8
Feyenoord (loan) 2002–03 Eredivisie
Excelsior (loan) 2002–03 Eredivisie 8 0 0 0 8 0
Suwon Samsung Bluewings 2005 K League 2 0 3 2 4 0 1 0 10 2
2006 K League 23 0 4 0 3 0 30 0
2007 K League 20 0 1 0 8 0 29 0
Total 45 0 8 2 15 0 1 0 69 2
Vissel Kobe 2008 J1 League 31 1 1 0 1 0 33 1
2009 J1 League 23 0 1 0 2 0 26 0
Total 54 1 2 0 3 0 59 1
Tom Tomsk 2010 Russian Premier League 24 0 1 0 25 0
2011–12 Russian Premier League 17 0 0 0 17 0
Total 41 0 0 0 41 0
Incheon United 2012 K League 34 0 0 0 34 0
2013 K League 1 25 0 0 0 25 0
Total 59 0 0 0 59 0
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 2014 K League 1 20 2 0 0 20 2
Kyoto Sanga 2015 J2 League 27 1 0 0 0 0 27 1
Career total 346 11 16 2 29 1 1 0 392 14

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
South Korea 1998 2 0
2000 3 0
2001 7 1
2002 17 0
2003 11 0
2004 12 1
2005 6 0
2006 14 0
2007 2 0
2008 12 0
2009 4 0
2010 7 0
2013 1 0
Career total 98 2
Results list South Korea's goal tally first.
List of international goals scored by Kim Nam-il
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 10 November 2001 Seoul, South Korea  Croatia 2–0 2–0 Friendly
2 31 July 2004 Jinan, China  Iran 3–3 3–4 2004 AFC Asian Cup

Honours

Player

Jeonnam Dragons

  • Korean FA Cup runner-up: 2003
  • Korean League Cup runner-up: 2000+

Suwon Samsung Bluewings

  • Korean FA Cup runner-up: 2006
  • Korean League Cup: 2005
  • Korean Super Cup: 2005
  • A3 Champions Cup: 2005

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors

South Korea U20

  • AFC Youth Championship: 1996

South Korea

  • EAFF Championship: 2008

Individual

  • CONCACAF Gold Cup Best XI: 2002
  • K League 1 Best XI: 2003
  • EAFF Championship Most Valuable Player: 2008

Manager

Individual

  • K League Manager of the Month: May 2020

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Kim Nam-il para niños

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