Kim Nam il

Pre-fame

Kim Nam-Il began playing soccer in 3rd grade in grade school. His decision to play soccer was initially met with opposition from his parents because of his impressive academic performance.

Formerly an unimpressive attacking midfielder, Guus Hiddink converted Kim into an international-class holding midfielder by utilising his defensive talents, being named to the best XI of the 2002 Gold Cup under his tutelage.

2002 FIFA World Cup

Kim became a star in 2002 because of his performance in 2002 FIFA World Cup. Kim was nicknamed "The Vacuum Cleaner" from his peers for his clean tackling and aggressiveness to 'sweep' his zone of any balls.

Kim Nam-Il Syndrome

The term "Kim Nam-Il Syndrome" began to be coined by tabloids to describe Kim's superstardom status. During the 2002 World Cup, he gained an unusually large female fan base, led to sold-out matches and goodies, and caused a sudden increase in Chunnam Dragons's popularity. Kim, a former unknown to the public, then became highly desirable by numerous endorsement companies that were eager to pay high amounts of money. Many TV programs had asked, or pressured at times for, Kim to appear, but Kim rejected their offers, and appeared only on interviews instead.

He also became notorious for his frank and eccentric personality. Quotes of Kim during the Interviews surfaced on the internet, such as "Hey, Myung Bo, let's eat," (명보야 밥먹자) referring to Hong Myung Bo who is eight years his senior.

Post-2002 World Cup

After the World Cup, Kim briefly played on loan for Excelsior, a Dutch football club, hoping he would get an opportunity to play for Feyenoord, where Song Chong-Gug used to play for at the time. Unfortunately, Kim's contract expired before he could make a strong impression, and had no choice but to come back to Korea to play for Chunnam Dragons, where he used to play for before 2002 Football World Cup.

Kim's transfer to Suwon Bluewings in 2005 caused quite a controversy when traded for not one, but two athletes. One of the athletes who were traded for Kim was Ko Jong-Soo who was once a star player of the team for a very long time.

2006 World Cup

Overcoming an injury in his right foot, Kim made a comeback in late 2005 and quickly re-established his position in the national team and consequently won a place in the South Korean squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

In 2006, he said that he had given up his hope of playing for a football club in Europe, and wants to be "a legend of K-League who will be remembered by his fans forever."

In August 2006, he was chosen as the captain of the Korean national football team inheriting the title from Lee Woon-Jae.

2007

In March 2007, Kim recently suffered a neck injury during a match against Busan I'Park. Suwon Samsung won the match 1–0 and set a record for 200 wins in the least number of games.

Move to Japan

In 2008, he moved to Japan to play for J1 League side Vissel Kobe. He played 31 league games and scored 1 goal in his first season in Japan. His team finished in 10th place.

Fresh start in Russia

In 2009, he moved to Russian club FC Tom Tomsk. For the time being, he has secured a starting spot as a defensive midfielder, providing staunch control of the midfield.

After the 2010 FIFA World Cup, he was advised by his agent to leave Russia for Saudi Arabia and join Al-Shabab Riyadh, but later Kim Nam-Il was declined and had to stay in Tomsk.

Return to the K-League

In 2012, Kim became a free agent after his contract with Tomsk expired. Although being interested in some J.League and Chinese Super League clubs, he decided to play for his hometown side Incheon United. On 24 January 2012, he joined the team along with his 2002 World cup fellow Seol Ki-Hyeon.

Return to national team

On 17 May 2013, Kim Nam-il has returned to national team remaining 2014 World Cup qualifiers next month.

He left Jeonbuk Hyundai in 2015 for Japanese side Kyoto Sanga FC

Personal life

Kim is the youngest of the three brothers in his family, and is a close friend of Lee Kwan-Woo and Lee Dong-Gook.

Since 2006, there had been rumours about his relationship with anchorwoman Kim Bo-Min eventually leading to the possibility of his marriage. The question was raised once again when a netizen posted a picture of a woman whom he claimed was Kim Bo-Min at Suwon World Cup Stadium. The woman was wearing a hat and a light green scarf that covered about half of her face.

Both Kim Bo-Min and Kim Nam-Il neither confirmed nor denied the allegation. In an interview with a women's magazine, the footballer's parents have stated that they have heard from their son that they are romantically involved, but did not hear about marriage. In June 2007, the couple secretly became engaged and revealed that they had met three years ago.they are married and they have a son

International goals

Individual

Club

International