Hwang Hee-chan

Hwang Hee-chan (Korean: 황희찬; born 26 January 1996) is a South Korean professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers and the South Korea national team.

In this Korean name, the family name is Hwang.
Hwang Hee-chan
Hwang with Red Bull Salzburg in 2017
Personal information
Full name Hwang Hee-chan[1]
Date of birth (1996-01-26) 26 January 1996
Place of birth Chuncheon, Gangwon, South Korea
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[2]
Position(s) Winger, attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Number 11
Youth career
2009–2014 Pohang Steelers[note 1]
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2020 Red Bull Salzburg 86 (28)
2015–2016 → FC Liefering (loan) 31 (13)
2018–2019 → Hamburger SV (loan) 20 (2)
2020–2022 RB Leipzig 20 (0)
2021–2022 → Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan) 30 (5)
2022– Wolverhampton Wanderers 35 (8)
International career‡
2011–2012 South Korea U17 7 (7)
2013–2014 South Korea U20 12 (6)
2015–2018 South Korea U23 22 (5)
2016– South Korea 57 (11)
Medal record
Representing  South Korea
Men's football
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place2018 Jakarta-PalembangTeam
AFC U-23 Championship
Silver medal – second place2016 QatarTeam
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 8 October 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17 October 2023
Hwang Hee-chan
Hangul
Hanja
Revised RomanizationHwang Huichan
McCune–ReischauerHwang Hŭich'an

Hwang is nicknamed "Hwangso", the Korean word for bull, in South Korea due to his aggressive playing style and surname.[3]

Youth career

Hwang Hee-chan was born in Chuncheon, but his family moved to Bucheon right after his birth. They lived there until he was eleven years old.[4]

Hwang started to play football at Singok Elementary School in Uijeongbu. In 2008, he scored the most goals in both Hwarangdaegi Tournament and Dongwon Youth Cup, which were South Korean national youth competitions. His strong performance continued in the South Korean national under-12 team. Hwang scored 22 goals in the Kanga Cup, setting a new record of the tournament. With outstanding performances in these competitions, he was awarded the grand prize of the Cha Bum-kun Football Award, given to the best youth footballers in South Korea.[5]

After graduating from Singok Elementary School, he entered Pohang Jecheol Middle School and started to play in Pohang Steelers under-15 team, the school's affiliated football club. In 2011, his team won the middle school division of the Korean National School League, hosted by Korea Football Association, and Hwang received the MVP award of the competition.[6]

Subsequently, he joined Pohang Jecheol High School and Pohang Steelers under-18 team. In the 2013 K League Junior, contested between youth teams of K League clubs, he scored 12 goals in 12 games for his team, helping his high school to win the league.[7] Afterwards, in the high school division of the National School League, he once again led Pohang to the title, becoming the MVP in addition to the top scorer.[8]

Club career

Red Bull Salzburg

In December 2014, Pohang Steelers intended to sign forward Hwang Hee-chan as a homegrown player, but he opted to sign with Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg.[9] On 3 November 2016, Hwang came off the bench and scored a brace in a Europa League match for Salzburg against Ligue 1 side Nice, contributing to his team's first Europa win of the campaign.[10] He failed to score in his first Austrian Bundesliga season.

During the 2017–18 season Salzburg had their best ever European campaign. They finished top of their UEFA Europa League group for a record fourth time before beating Real Sociedad and Borussia Dortmund, thus making their first-ever appearance in the competition's quarter-finals.[11] On 12 April, Hwang scored a goal against Lazio, leading a 4–1 victory to proceed to the semi-finals.[12] On 3 May 2018, Hwang played in the second away match of the semi-final, when Salzburg defeated Marseille by 1–2 but lost on aggregate 3–2.[13] On 31 August 2018, Hwang joined Hamburger SV on a loan deal until the end of the 2018–19 season.[14]

During the 2019–20 season, Hwang drew plaudits alongside Salzburg's attacking players Erling Haaland and Takumi Minamino.[15] The trio were particularly praised for their exploits in the Champions League, where Hwang was involved in eight goals by recording three goals and three assists,[16] and winning two penalty kicks.[17][18] His playing style was described as energetic with accurate passing and an eye for dribbling.[19] In all competitions, Hwang had a remarkable season, scoring 16 goals and providing 22 assists in 40 appearances.[20]

RB Leipzig

On 8 July 2020, Hwang signed for RB Leipzig on a five-year contract.[21] On 12 September, he scored a goal and created an assist against Nürnberg in the first round of the 2020–21 DFB-Pokal, where he made his debut.[22] He helped Leipzig to reach the 2021 DFB-Pokal Final by scoring against VfL Wolfsburg and Werder Bremen, though he was a substitute.[23][24] However, he failed to score in his first German Bundesliga season.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 29 August 2021 Hwang joined Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers on a season long loan.[25] On 11 September, Hwang scored Wolves' second goal away to Watford on his debut as a second-half substitute in a 2–0 win.[26] He then got his first goals at Molineux on 2 October, as he scored both goals in Wolves' 2–1 win against Newcastle United, both strikes coming from similarly tight angles.[27] On 26 January 2022, the club announced that they had activated a clause in his loan deal that would see him join the club on a permanent deal on 1 July 2022, upon the expiration of his loan, signing a contract until 2026.[28] He scored five goals in his debut campaign in the Premier League.

On 30 September 2023, Hwang scored the decisive goal against Manchester City to win the match 2–1 at home to give the 2022–23 Premier League champions their first loss in the 2023–24 season.[29]

International career

In the 2012 AFC U-16 Championship, South Korea was eliminated in the quarter-finals, but Hwang became the top scorer of the tournament with five goals including a hat-trick against North Korea.[30]

Hwang participated in the 2016 Summer Olympics and scored a goal in a group match against Germany, which finished in a 3–3 draw.[31]

In a friendly on 28 March 2018, Hwang scored South Korea's second goal against Poland, with the match ending in a 2–3 loss.[32]

In the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Hwang started in South Korea's first two matches against Sweden and Mexico. He was criticized for not converting a scoring chance against Sweden. He was substituted in for Koo Ja-cheol in the 2–0 victory against Germany, but was brought off after only 20 minutes for Go Yo-han. After the tournament, manager Shin Tae-yong expressed remorse for taking off Hwang and explained that it was a tactical decision as Hwang was struggling to help the team on defense.[33]

In the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Hwang scored the winning goal in stoppage time against Portugal to secure a 2–1 win, which helped South Korea advance to the Round of 16.[34]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 21 October 2023[35]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[lower-alpha 1] League cup[lower-alpha 2] Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Red Bull Salzburg 2015–16 Austrian Bundesliga 13010——140
2016–17 Austrian Bundesliga 261262—3[lower-alpha 3]23516
2017–18 Austrian Bundesliga 20533—14[lower-alpha 4]53713
2019–20 Austrian Bundesliga 271151—8[lower-alpha 5]44016
Total 8628156—251112645
FC Liefering (loan) 2014–15 Austrian 2. Liga 132———132
2015–16 Austrian 2. Liga 1811———1811
Total 3113———3113
Hamburger SV (loan) 2018–19 2. Bundesliga 20210——212
RB Leipzig 2020–21 Bundesliga 18053—3[lower-alpha 6]0263
2021–22 Bundesliga 2010——30
Total 20063—30293
Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan) 2021–22 Premier League 3050010—315
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2022–23 Premier League 2731140—324
2023–24 Premier League 950011—106
Total 3681151—4210
Career total 22356231061281128078
  1. Includes Austrian Cup, DFB-Pokal, FA Cup
  2. Includes EFL Cup
  3. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. Four appearances and two goals in UEFA Champions League, ten appearances and three goals in UEFA Europa League
  5. Six appearances and three goals in UEFA Champions League, two appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
  6. Appearances in UEFA Champions League

International
As of match played 17 October 2023[36]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
South Korea 201630
201761
2018121
2019112
202021
202192
202283
202361
Total5711
Scores and results list South Korea's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Hwang goal.[37]
List of international goals scored by Hwang Hee-chan
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
113 June 2017Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar Qatar2–22–32018 FIFA World Cup qualification
227 March 2018Silesian Stadium, Chorzów, Poland Poland2–22–3Friendly
322 January 2019Rashid Stadium, Dubai, United Arab Emirates Bahrain1–02–1 (a.e.t.)2019 AFC Asian Cup
410 October 2019Hwaseong Stadium, Hwaseong, South Korea Sri Lanka3–08–02022 FIFA World Cup qualification
517 November 2020BSFZ-Arena, Maria Enzersdorf, Austria Qatar1–02–1Friendly
69 June 2021Goyang Stadium, Goyang, South Korea Sri Lanka4–05–02022 FIFA World Cup qualification
711 November 2021Goyang Stadium, Goyang, South Korea United Arab Emirates1–01–02022 FIFA World Cup qualification
86 June 2022Daejeon World Cup Stadium, Daejeon, South Korea Chile1–02–0Friendly
923 September 2022Goyang Stadium, Goyang, South Korea Costa Rica1–02–2Friendly
102 December 2022Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan, Qatar Portugal2–12–12022 FIFA World Cup
1117 October 2023Suwon World Cup Stadium, Suwon, South Korea Vietnam2–06–0Friendly

Honours

Red Bull Salzburg

RB Leipzig

South Korea U23

Individual

Notes
  1. Played for Pohang Jecheol Middle School from 2009 to 2011, and Pohang Jecheol High School from 2012 to 2014, which were academies of Pohang Steelers.

    References
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