However, as Bonfrére resigned shortly after the latter match, it was his successor and fellow Dutch Dick Advocaat who gifted Cho with his official international debut, in a friendly match against Iran on October 12, 2005. On the same occasion, the Suwon Bluewings player also scored his first international goal: a shot attempted after just a few seconds from the start of the game deflected off an opposing defender and fell into the back of the net. This goal is guessed to be the fastest goal the South Korean national team has ever scored, if the games played during the 1950s and the 1960s (which have remained unrecorded) are not counted: plus, it would eventually become Cho's only goal for the "Tigers of Asia".