When striker Hwang Sun-hong reeled away from Poland's goal after putting South Korea ahead in their World Cup match on Tuesday, he sprinted straight to embrace coach Guus Hiddink rather than his team mates.

South Koreans -- from once-sceptical reporters to corporate management gurus -- are now looking at Hiddink's magnetic style and charismatic touch to see what there is to learn for one of Asia's most vibrant economies as well as future soccer success.

"Guus Hiddink is an executive manager of soccer. He is not a 'soccer engineer' who only knows skill," said the daily newspaper Donga Ilbo.

"Soccer is management," it said in a banner headline the day after co-hosts South Korea beat Poland 2-0 in their opening World Cup group D match. "Forever soccer CEO."

Hiddink is firmly in the spotlight for his management style as much as for the sporting task of rebuilding the team in 18 months to achieve South Korea's first win in five World Cup tournaments.

"Strategy genius Hiddink, we love you!" said a headline from another daily Maeil Business Newspaper, revels Tuesday's

victory.

FIFA, world soccer's governing body, ranks South Korea 40th internationally but they played impressively against Poland and in recent friendlies after receiving Hiddink's advice.

Media and management experts have tried to find the reasons for Hiddink's success. They point to what they see as his impartiality in assessing strong points and his own ability to manage a team efficiently from the top.

"Koreans generally like his (Hiddink's) leading style, his discipline, his impartiality and an eye for a good talent," said Kim Do-hoon, industrial policy analyst with the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, a government think tank.

"He is independent and impartial because he is European, completely un-Korean. He is not involved in any political intrigues here," he said.

"If we apply Hiddink's leadership to other areas, maybe we can even change our society."

South Korea is one of the best performing economies in Asia and is looking to develop further by cohosting the World Cup with Japan. The governor of the central Bank of Korea said on Wednesday he was expecting 6-7 percent growth this year compared with three percent last year.

South Korea had economic problems when it had to go cap-in-hand to the International Monetary Fund during the 1997-98 financial crisis. In soccer, the South Koreans returned from the 1998 World Cup in France after a dismal showing that included a 5-0 drubbing by the Netherlands -- then coached by Hiddink.

Former South Korea head coaches, who were all Korean, were not free from outside pressures in selecting players.

Culturally, South Koreans heavily rely on private relationships based on family, school and hometown ties.

Hiddink's style of sticking to his principles and believing in himself was also noted in newspapers. He pushed for basic physical training right up to the big match.

"He was not moved at all by all those media criticisms of his way of training," said Donga Ilbo.

"He's a great leader. Since we didn't have a good director, we hadn't won any game before, even with all the talented players. But Hiddink proved to be the most appropriate leader for the team." said Choi won-hee, a 23-year-old female student in Seoul.

"I hope he will stay in Korea to initiate a power programme designed to develop new football players," said Kim Yong-suck, a 38-year-old salesman.