Guus Hiddink tells a visually-impaired child to pose after presenting soccer cleats at a completion ceremony for the second Hiddink Dream Field at Handong Global University in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province on Wednesday. /Yonhap
The children chased after the noise, and even as they bumped and tumbled they were all in good spirits. On the green pitch with these visually-impaired children was Guus Hiddink, the former coach of Korea's national soccer team and current coach of Russia's national team. A whistle blew to signal the end of the game, and a girl who was holding tight to Hiddink's hands kicked the ball into the net with all her might. "I'm surprised his hands are so big and warm," she said with a big smile.
A completion ceremony for the second Hiddink Dream Field was held at Handong Global University in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province on Wednesday. When Hiddink appeared with his girlfriend Elizabeth, the gathered crowd erupted in applause and cheers. Besides university students and some 500 soccer fans eager to see the Dutch coach, there were several people with impaired vision in the crowd. A boy from the Sacred Heart Rehabilitation Center for the Blind in Chungju, North Chungcheong Province said, "I work out hard on the field that coach Hiddink built for us. I was so excited thinking about meeting him that I couldn't sleep."
Guus Hiddink makes an uppercut gesture -- his trademark move -- at a completion ceremony for the second Hiddink Dream Field at Handong Global University in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province on Wednesday. /Yonhap
Hiddink set up the Guus Hiddink Foundation in 2003 to help poor children, and the Hiddink Dream Field is the foundation's major project of building soccer fields for children with impaired vision. The first field was built at the Sacred Heart Rehabilitation Center in 2006, and a third will be built in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province in 2009. The second field at Handong Global University measures 44 m by 23 m and is topped with artificial turf and equipped with a shock-absorbing fence.
After the friendly match with the visually-impaired children, Hiddink said he was proud of what has been done so far but hungry for more. He added the foundation needs as much interest and help as it can get.
englishnews@chosun.com