Korean goalie popular on FIFA Online 4

The screenshot from FIFA Online 4 football game shows Korean national football team goalkeeper Cho Hyun-woo with an overall rating of 76 while German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer has a rating of 83. / Courtesy of Nexon

Though Korea was knocked out of the FIFA World Cup Russia with one win and two losses, football fans all over the world were stunned by the Korean players' desperate performance to defeat mighty Germany during the group stage on June 27.

Among the Korean players, goalkeeper Cho Hyun-woo especially wowed the world as he was the spearhead in his country's 2-0 win over Germany. Against the defending champion, Cho blocked all 26 shots including six shots on goal and FIFA officially recognized him as the Man of the Match.

Cho is also displaying his presence in the online computer football game “FIFA Online 4.” Developed by Electronic Arts and distributed here by local game giant Nexon, the “FIFA Online” franchise is the most popular online football game in Korea.

The online football game allows users to join the transfer market. As it happens in the real world football transfer market, each player has their own value and users can upgrade and buy players from the market with their in-game virtual currency BP.

According to Nexon, Cho's wage was 41,800 BP before Korea played Sweden in the World Cup group stage on June 18, but his wage soared to nearly 10 times more after the Sweden match. Though Cho allowed a penalty goal to lose to Sweden 1-0, fans recognized Cho as he made a number of good saves.

Nexon said Cho is also highly ranked among goalies featured at the World Cup. Cho has an overall rating of 76 points, only seven points less than German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who also plays for Bayern Munich in Bundesliga.

To get in the World Cup mood, Nexon unveiled a World Cup mode of FIFA Online 4 so that users can choose a national team among 32 teams and compete for the title.

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