Kim Nam-il

Kim Nam-il (Korean: 김남일; Hanja: 金南一; born 1 May 1977) is a South Korean football manager and former player who played as defensive midfielder.

Kim Nam-il

Kim with Tom Tomsk in 2010
Personal information
Full name	Kim Nam-il
Date of birth	(1977-05-01) 1 May 1977 (age 48)
Place of birth	Incheon, South Korea
Height	1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder
College career
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1996–1999	Hanyang University
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)
International career
1996	South Korea U20	4	(1)
1999	South Korea U23	17	(1)
1998–2013	South Korea	98	(2)
Managerial career
2020–2022	Seongnam FC
Medal record Representing  South Korea Men's football AFC Youth Championship 1996 South Korea Team EAFF Championship 2008 China Team
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Kim Nam-il
Hangul	김남일
Hanja	金南一
RR	Gim Namil
MR	Kim Namil

In this Korean name, the family name is Kim.

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.^[1]

In the 1996 AFC Youth Championship, he played for South Korean under-20 team, and scored his first international goal against Iran,^[2] 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.^[3]

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.^[4] 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.^[5] 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,^[6] 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.^[7] Many TV programs had asked, or pressured at times for, Kim to appear, but he rejected their offers, and appeared only on interviews instead.^[8]

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.^[9] However, he didn't make a strong impression.^[10]

In the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Kim didn't only contribute to South Korea's defense, but also attack with long-range passes.^[11][12] 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.^[13]

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.^[14]

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.^[15] 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.^[16] 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.^[17]

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[a]	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

1. Appearance in Korean Super Cup

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year^[18]

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^[19]
• Korean League Cup runner-up: 2000+^[19]

Suwon Samsung Bluewings

• Korean FA Cup runner-up: 2006^[19]
• Korean League Cup: 2005^[19]
• Korean Super Cup: 2005^[19]
• A3 Champions Cup: 2005^[20]

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors

• K League 1: 2014^[21]

South Korea U20

• AFC Youth Championship: 1996^[22]

South Korea

• EAFF Championship: 2008^[23]

Individual

• K League All-Star: 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2013^{[24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]}
• CONCACAF Gold Cup Best XI: 2002^[32]
• K League 1 Best XI: 2003^[33]
• EAFF Championship Most Valuable Player: 2008^[34]
• J.League All-Star: 2008^[35]

Manager

Individual

• K League Manager of the Month: May 2020^[36]