Anyone aware of the predominance of the Kim, Park and Lee family names in Korea will appreciate the change in the way football players will be identified on their shirts. In the case of the Korea Republic national national side, for instance, its 23 player squad against Angola on 1 March included 12 Kim and Lee surnames. Three players -- Kim Do-hun, Kim Doo-hyun and Kim Dong-hyun -- are identified as D H KIM.
"There are many players in the nation with the same last name and distinguishing among them can be difficult," the Korean Football Association announced as quoted by The Chosun. "The current system also makes it difficult to increase international name recognition, so we have decided to change it."
As an example, the Manchester United striker currently wearing a shirt that reads J S PARK will instead be identified as JISUNG.
The new shirts will first be donned in friendlies at the end of May and later be seen at the World Cup in Germany. The system has already been tried and tested with the national women's youth team last April and the national women's team started to use it in the East Asia Football Federation games last August.
"There are many players in the nation with the same last name and distinguishing among them can be difficult," the Korean Football Association announced as quoted by The Chosun. "The current system also makes it difficult to increase international name recognition, so we have decided to change it."
As an example, the Manchester United striker currently wearing a shirt that reads J S PARK will instead be identified as JISUNG.
The new shirts will first be donned in friendlies at the end of May and later be seen at the World Cup in Germany. The system has already been tried and tested with the national women's youth team last April and the national women's team started to use it in the East Asia Football Federation games last August.