South Korea's governing soccer body on Monday rejected local reports that said national team coach Guus Hiddink might be dismissed over Korea's fourth place finish at the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
The disappointing performance underscored Korea's troubles at the international level less than four months before Korea and Japan are scheduled to host the World Cup 2002 finals.

'The Association decided early on that Hiddink's contract would not be renewed after the World Cup.

But following incomprehensible results such as 5-0 losses to France and the Czech Republic, and after the Gold Cup competition, the time could be brought forward,' Seoul-based daily Sports Chosun said, quoting an unnamed Korea Football Association (KFA) official.

It said a 2-1 loss to lowly Canada, ranked 92nd in the world against Korea's place at 42nd, had put Hiddink's job in doubt.

'I don't think it's going to happen,' KFA director general Ka Sam-hyeon said. 'These reports are groundless.'

Dutch coach Hiddink steered Korea to the semifinals of the Gold Cup after winning a quarterfinal penalty shootout over Mexico following a scoreless draw.

But Korea squandered scoring chances throughout the tournament, a problem Hiddink attributed to a lack of 'killer instinct' in his front line.

South Korea's 4-1 drubbing of Scotland has fuelled the excitement starting to grip the co-host country two weeks before the start of the World Cup 2002 finals.

Thursday's victory also helped ease concerns that the South Korean side might fail to make it past the opening group stage of the tournament, which the Asian country is hosting with Japan.

Beyond the soccer pitch, the win gave South Koreans respite from gloomy political news about a threatened labour strike and a major bribery scandal involving the youngest son of President Kim Dae-jung.

'It was so exciting and unbelievable. I was tired of political news, so it was fresh to me,' said 23-year-old student Cho Sun-young.

The four goals were the most scored since Dutch coach Guus Hiddink took over the team in early 2001 and the star of the night was Perugia's Ahn Jung-hwan, who scored two goals.

'Saviour of the final 16', read the headline on the front page of the Sports Seoul newspaper, reflecting South Korea's hope of a berth in the latter stages of the tournament - something that has eluded them in all five past World Cup appearances.

Ahn, who was dubbed the 'Natural Born Killer' by another South Korean daily, has recently married and kissed his wedding ring after scoring his second goal.

Goals by younger players Lee Chun-soo and Yun Jung-hwan helped raised hopes of South Korea reaching the knock-out stages, although not everyone is confident.

'I am not sure we can reach the final 16,' said 25-year-old Kim Sung-jun, a central bank employee.

'We did well but our competitor played poorly yesterday.'

Scotland, who failed to qualify for the finals, are ranked 54th in the world, while South Korea moved up to 40th in FIFA's latest rankings released on Wednesday.

To advance to the second stage of the finals, South Korea must finish in the top two of group D which also features Portugal, the United States and Poland.