Jo Hyeon-woo (Korean: 조현우; born 25 September 1991) is a South Korean footballer who plays as goalkeeper for K League 1 club Ulsan HD and the South Korea national team.[3][4]

Jo Hyeon-woo
Personal information
Full name Jo Hyeon-woo[1]
Date of birth (1991-09-25) 25 September 1991 (age 33)
Place of birth Seoul, South Korea
Height 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)[2]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
Ulsan HD
Number 21
Youth career
2007–2009 Chung-Ang University High School [ko]
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2012 Sun Moon University [ko]
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2019 Daegu FC 210 (0)
2020– Ulsan HD 174 (0)
International career
2010 South Korea U20 2 (0)
2013–2018 South Korea U23 7[α] (0)
2015– South Korea 39 (0)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  South Korea
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2018 Jakarta-Palembang
EAFF Championship
Winner 2017 Japan
Winner 2019 South Korea
Runner-up 2022 Japan
AFF U-19 Youth Championship
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Vietnam
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 10 November 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19 November 2024
Jo Hyeon-woo
Hangul
조현우
Hanja
Revised RomanizationJo Hyeon-u
McCune–ReischauerCho Hyŏnu

Early life

edit

Jo was raised by his mother and father who was a gymnast in Seoul. Jo decided to become a goalkeeper when he saw Kim Byung-ji's lead while watching 1998 France in elementary.[5] He later said, "I was excited about playing football after watching the World Cup as I could be someone else's dream."[6] In his fifth grade, the football coach of Shinjeong Elementary School Ham Sang-heon asked for the best goalkeeper in the schoolyard as he was worried he would not have a goalkeeper. The children pointed to Jo. The coach tested Jo by making him save several shots. This would be the beginning of his career. He has been the main goalkeeper and has played in national tournaments ever since. In response, his old coach said "It was not once or twice that teams won because of Jo's success in the penalty shoot-out".[7]

Club career

edit

After graduating from Sun Moon University, Jo entered the 2013 K League 1 draft and was selected by Daegu FC.[8] He failed to prevent the relegation of his team in his first professional season, and had to compete in the K League 2. Since the 2015 season, Jo evolved into Daegu's first-choice goalkeeper and became the best goalkeeper in the K League 2. He finally helped Daegu promote to the K League 1 in 2016. He also contributed to Daegu's first Korean FA Cup title in 2018.

After a successful career in Daegu, Jo joined Ulsan Hyundai on 20 January 2020.[9] He contributed to Ulsan's three consecutive K League 1 titles from 2022 to 2024, and was named the K League 1 Most Valuable Player in 2024. He became the second goalkeeper to win the K League 1 MVP award, following Lee Woon-jae.[10]

International career

edit

Early career

edit

In November 2015, Jo was called up for South Korea's national team by manager Uli Stielike to play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Laos and Myanmar.[11] He was selected as the national representative for the EAFF E-1 Football Championship in 2017 winning the competition's best goalkeeper award.[12]

2018 World Cup

edit

In May 2018, Jo was named in South Korea's preliminary 28-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[13] Originally expected to be the third-choice keeper, Jo made his international debut in a major competition.[14][15] His performances in the first two matches against Sweden and Mexico were impressive, despite both ending in defeats for South Korea. He was lauded particularly for his point-blank save against Swedish striker Marcus Berg which put him in the spotlight. Jo then played a prominent role in Germany's historic elimination from the first round of a World Cup for the first time since 1938 with a stellar performance, earning him the Man of the Match award.[16] Jo made seven saves without conceding any goals.[4] Despite this performance, South Korea learned after the match that they had been eliminated from the tournament due to Sweden beating Mexico (South Korea needed Mexico to beat Sweden to advance).[17] South Korea finished ahead of Germany in Group F, placing third.

2018 Asian Games

edit

Jo was named in the South Korean under-23 team for the 2018 Asian Games as an over-aged player. He appeared in two matches against Bahrain and Kyrgyzstan in the group stage and finalized them with clean sheets. He also played in the round of 16 against Iran, but he was injured in this match. He was replaced by Song Bum-keun in the quarter-finals against Uzbekistan, but Song conceded three goals. Song received criticisms for his poor performance, and so Jo appeared again in semi-finals and final. He contributed to South Korea's gold medal by conceding only two goals in the tournament and was subsequently exempt from mandatory military service.

Career statistics

edit

Club

edit
As of 10 November 2024[3][18]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Daegu FC 2013 K League 1 14 0 0 0 14 0
2014 K League 2 15 0 0 0 15 0
2015 K League 2 41 0 2 0 43 0
2016 K League 2 39 0 2 0 41 0
2017 K League 1 35 0 1 0 36 0
2018 K League 1 28 0 4 0 32 0
2019 K League 1 38 0 0 0 6[a] 0 44 0
Total 210 0 9 0 6 0 225 0
Ulsan HD 2020 K League 1 27 0 5 0 32 0
2021 K League 1 38 0 1 0 8[a] 0 2[b] 0 49 0
2022 K League 1 36 0 1 0 6[a] 0 43 0
2023 K League 1 36 0 2 0 6[a] 0 44 0
2024 K League 1 37 0 3 0 10[a] 0 50 0
Total 174 0 12 0 30 0 2 0 218 0
Career total 384 0 21 0 36 0 2 0 443 0
  1. ^ a b c d e Appearances in AFC Champions League (Elite)
  2. ^ Appearances in FIFA Club World Cup

International

edit
As of match played 19 November 2024
Appearances and goals by national team and year[19]
National team Year Apps Goals
South Korea 2017 3 0
2018 8 0
2019 5 0
2021 2 0
2022 4 0
2023 2 0
2024 15 0
Career total 39 0

Filmography

edit

Television

edit
Year Title Role Note(s) Ref.
2022 Daughter Thieves Himself [20]

Honours

edit

Daegu FC

Ulsan HD

South Korea U23

South Korea

Individual

Notes

edit
  1. ^ Includes five appearances as an overage player in Asian Games.

References

edit
  1. ^ "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 – Squad list: Korea Republic (KOR)" (PDF). FIFA. 15 November 2022. p. 17. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 November 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  2. ^ "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia – List of Players" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 4 June 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  3. ^ a b Jo Hyeon-woo at Soccerway
  4. ^ a b "'San Zusi' Has Been Replaced By 'San Cho,' South Korea's Godly Keeper". The18. Archived from the original on 27 June 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  5. ^ 2013년 새로운 친구를 소개합니다 (in Korean). Daegu FC. 17 January 2013. Archived from the original on 24 June 2018.
  6. ^ [월드컵] 월드컵 보고 꿈 키운 조현우 "나도 누군가의 꿈이 되도록" (in Korean). Yonhap News Agency. 16 June 2018. Archived from the original on 24 June 2018. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  7. ^ Park, Jae-rim (15 November 2017). 깜짝스타 조현우, 선수 시작은 ‘땜질용’이었다 (in Korean). Football Journal. Archived from the original on 24 June 2018. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  8. ^ 대구FC 신인 보강 마무리 (in Korean). Youngnam Ilbo. 11 December 2012. Archived from the original on 13 January 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
  9. ^ 조현우 국가대표 골키퍼 울산 현대 이적 (in Korean). The Kookje Daily News. Archived from the original on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  10. ^ a b c 조현우가 울먹였다! 16년만 골키퍼 MVP…감독상·영플은 ‘강원 동화 주역’ 윤정환·양민혁 품으로 [K리그 대상 종합]. Naver (in Korean). Sports Seoul. 29 November 2024. Retrieved 29 November 2024.
  11. ^ "Roster for 2nd World Cup Qualifier Announced". KBS World. 2 November 2015. Archived from the original on 23 August 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  12. ^ Kim, Ui-gi (16 December 2017). 이재성 동아시안컵 MVP, 조현우 베스트 GK 등극 [Lee Jae-sung Dong-A San Cup MVP, Jo Hyun-woo best GK] (in Korean). Hankook Ilbo. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  13. ^ "Revealed: Every World Cup 2018 squad – 23-man & preliminary lists & when will they be announced?". Goal. Archived from the original on 2 December 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  14. ^ Wilson, Jonathan (27 June 2018). "Germany crash out of World Cup group stage after defeat to South Korea". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  15. ^ "FIFA World Cup 2018: South Korea's Cho Hyun-woo, once considered too short to be a keeper, stands tall against Germany - Firstpost". Firstpost. 28 June 2018. Archived from the original on 28 June 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  16. ^ "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia - Matches - Korea Republic - Germany". FIFA. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  17. ^ "World Cup 2018: Germany out of tournament after losing to South Korea". BBC Sport. 27 June 2018. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  18. ^ Jo Hyeon-woo – K League stats at kleague.com (in Korean)  
  19. ^ "Jo Hyeon-woo at Korea Football Association" (in Korean). KFA. Archived from the original on 25 September 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  20. ^ Choi, Ji-yoon (6 March 2022). 결혼 4개월차 장동민, 장인과 일상 공개…'딸도둑들' [Jang Dong-min revealed his daily life with his father-in-law four months after marriage…'Daughter Thieves']. Naver (in Korean). Newsis. Archived from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  21. ^ [K리그 어워즈] '킬러' 조나탄-주민규, 챌린지 베스트 11 선정 (in Korean). InterFootball. 1 December 2015. Archived from the original on 25 August 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  22. ^ 패트리엇, 별을 쏘다 (in Korean). The Hankyoreh. 8 November 2016. Archived from the original on 26 August 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  23. ^ [2017 K리그 올스타전] 한국-베트남 수교 25주년 기념 K리그 올스타 x VIETNAM. Facebook (in Korean). K League. 28 July 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  24. ^ '호날두 차고 조현우 막는다'.. 팀 K리그, 유벤투스전 명단 공개 (in Korean). Financial News. 16 July 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
  25. ^ "Tottenham Hotspur 6-3 K-League XI". Tottenham Hotspur. 13 July 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  26. ^ "K-League XI vs. Atletico Madrid 3 - 2". Soccerway. 27 July 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  27. ^ 팀 K리그 22명 선수단 확정.. 린가드, 기성용 부상으로 정호연, 오베르단 대체 선발 (in Korean). K League. 23 July 2024. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
  28. ^ [2017 K리그 어워즈] 표심 분석…과반수 'MVP' 이재성, 90% 지지 '영플' 김민재 (in Korean). SPOTV News. 20 November 2017.
  29. ^ [포토] 조현우, K리그1 K리그1베스트11 골키퍼 선정! (in Korean). Sports Chosun. 3 December 2018. Archived from the original on 21 February 2024. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  30. ^ [포토] 조현우, K리그1 베스트11 골키퍼 (in Korean). Sports Donga. 2 December 2019. Archived from the original on 25 September 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  31. ^ [포토] 울산 조현우, 베스트11 골키퍼 수상 (in Korean). Sports Seoul. 5 November 2020. Archived from the original on 25 September 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  32. ^ 울산 현대 조현우 7시즌 연속 베스트11 GK부상 수상 (in Korean). Sports World. 7 December 2021. Archived from the original on 7 December 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  33. ^ 울산 이청용 K리그 '최고의 별'... 홍명보는 감독상 영예 (종합). Naver (in Korean). Starnews Korea. 24 October 2022. Archived from the original on 24 October 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  34. ^ 조현우 7회 연속 베스트11 대기록, 제르소-엄원상은 간발의 차로 수상[K리그 대상]. Naver (in Korean). Sports Seoul. 4 December 2023. Archived from the original on 4 December 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  35. ^ "EAFF E-1 Football Championship 2017 Final Japan". EAFF. Archived from the original on 24 August 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  36. ^ "AFC Champions League 2021 Technical Report & Statistics" (PDF). AFC. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 February 2022. Retrieved 14 May 2022.
edit