Lee Chun-soo

Lee Chun-Soo (Korean: 이천수; born 9 July 1981) is a retired football player from South Korea. In 2002, he joined Ulsan Hyundai FC.[2]

This is a Korean name; the family name is Lee.
Lee Chun-Soo
이천수
Personal information
Full name Lee Chun-Soo
Date of birth (1981-07-09) 9 July 1981
Place of birth Incheon, South Korea
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[1]
Playing position(s) Forward / Winger
Youth career
1997–1999 Bupyeong High School
2000–2001 Korea University
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2003 Ulsan Hyundai Horangi 36 (15)
2003–2005 Real Sociedad 13 (0)
2004–2005 → Numancia (Loan) 15 (0)
2005–2007 Ulsan Hyundai Horangi 48 (17)
2007–2009 Feyenoord 12 (0)
2008 → Suwon Bluewings (Loan) 3 (0)
2009 → Jeonnam Dragons (Subleasing) 7 (4)
2009–2010 Al-Nassr 16 (3)
2010–2011 Omiya Ardija 43 (8)
2013–2015 Incheon United 67 (5)
National team‡
1999–2000 South Korea U20 14 (20)
1999–2004 South Korea U23 21 (11)
2006 South Korea U23 (Wild card) 6 (0)
2000–2008 South Korea 78 (10)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 6 November 2015
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 1 May 2014
Lee Chun-soo
Hangul
이천수
Hanja
李天秀
Revised RomanizationI Cheon-su
McCune–ReischauerI Ch'ŏnsu

He played as a forward for the national team during the 2002 World Cup, the 2004 Summer Olympics, and the 2006 World Cup.

Football career

While Lee attended Bupyeong High School, he was already being highly touted as the future of Korean football, along with Choi Tae-Uk.

In 2002, Lee scored seven goals in the K-League and made the World Cup squad. After the World Cup, he moved to Real Sociedad of Spain, becoming the first Korean to play in the Spanish La Liga. After a mediocre season, however, he was loaned to fellow Spanish side Numancia, before returning to Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i of South Korea's K-League.

Though Lee joined Ulsan mid-season, his performance proved to be invaluable to Ulsan's capture of the 2005 league, scoring a hat trick in the first leg of the finals. He was subsequently named the K-League's Most Valuable Player on 28 December 2005.

At the 2006 World Cup, he scored Korea's first goal with a free kick against Togo in a 2–1 win.

In the summer of 2008, Lee joined Feyenoord of the Netherlands but failed to adapt to the country.

In July 2008 Feyenoord officially announced Lee's loan to Korean powerhouse Suwon Samsung Bluewings on a one-year deal. His stint was ill-received: he performed poorly, had clashes with the coaching staff, and was ultimately suspended from the K-League.

After a few months, Suwon released him and on 26 February 2009, he was loaned to the Chunnam Dragons until 31 July 2009. On 13 June 2009, he signed with the Dragons.[3] In the last week of June 2009, however, a secret contract was exposed. Feyenoord had also tried to transfer Lee to Al Nassr and Chunnam ultimately released him due to problems.

He also left Saudi Arabia while still under contract with Al Nassr. He eventually joined Omiya Ardija of Japan.

On 31 March 2013, he came back to the K-league after 1381 days with Incheon United in a game against Daejeon Citizen.[4] After a slow start, he finally got an assist against Ulsan Hyundai on 20 April 2013.[5] On 25 May 2013, he scored his first goal since his comeback against Busan IPark. While at the club, he took the role of veteran to lead the juniors and seniors as one team.[6]

On 5 November 2015, he announced his retirement as a player.

His final performance came in March 2016 in an international fixture between Korea and Lebanon. [7]

Life after football

In 2005, he took a special seminar at Goyang Baekyang Middle School with Chung Mong-joon, president of the Korea Football Association.

In June 2014, he starred in the SNL Korea corner "GTA Soccer Game Winning Eleven" alongside Kim Min-kyo.

In December 2015, he appeared on the show 'Masked Singer" and displayed his singing skills.

As of March 2016, he is a commentator for JTBC3 Fox Sports.

Club statistics
As of 1 May 2016
Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
SeasonClubLeague AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
South Korea League KFA Cup League Cup Asia Total
2002Ulsan Hyundai HorangiK League 11873200-219
200318800--188
Spain League Copa del Rey Copa de la Liga Europe Total
2003-04Real SociedadLa Liga13020-60210
2004-05Numancia15010--160
South Korea League KFA Cup League Cup Asia Total
2005Ulsan Hyundai HorangiK League 11471000-157
20061850062633010
200716510102-277
Netherlands League KNVB Cup League Cup Europe Total
2007-08FeyenoordEredivisie12020--140
South Korea League KFA Cup League Cup Asia Total
2008Suwon Samsung BluewingsK League 1300011-41
2009Chunnam Dragons741010-94
Saudi Arabia League Crown Prince Cup League Cup Asia Total
2009–10Al-NasrSaudi Premier League1630000-163
Japan League Emperor's Cup League Cup Asia Total
2010Omiya ArdijaJ1 League1622200-184
20112761000-286
South Korea League KFA Cup League Cup Asia Total
2013Incheon UnitedK League 119210--202
201428100--281
201520200--202
Total South Korea 16141721856319251
Spain 28030-60370
Netherlands 12020--140
Saudi Arabia 1630000-163
Japan 4383200-4610
Career total 2605215418512330564

Honours

Club

Ulsan Hyundai FC

Feyenoord

International

South Korea

International goals
Results list South Korea's goal tally first.
DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
5 April 2000Seoul Laos1 goal9-02000 AFC Asian Cup qualification
7 April 2000Seoul Mongolia1 goal6-02000 AFC Asian Cup qualification
13 September 2001Daejeon Nigeria1 goal2-1Friendly match
16 May 2002Busan Scotland1 goal4-1Friendly match
8 September 2004Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam1 goal2-12006 FIFA World Cup qualification
29 January 2006Hong Kong Croatia1 goal2-02006 Carlsberg Cup
22 February 2006Aleppo Syria1 goal2-12007 AFC Asian Cup qualification
13 June 2006Frankfurt Togo1 goal2-12006 FIFA World Cup
6 February 2007London Greece1 goal1-0Friendly match
29 June 2007Seogwipo Iraq1 goal3-0Friendly match
gollark: Yes, making DC would be more annoying.
gollark: Immediately submitted to memeCLOUD™.
gollark: By the way, I already wrote my entry last year.
gollark: However, you may transpile C++ to Rust.
gollark: C++ is not permitted.

References
  1. "Korea Republic - Chun-Soo Lee - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway".
  2. "Lee Chun Soo, character details". https://people.search.naver.com/search.naver?where=nexearch&sm=tab_ppn&query=%EC%9D%B4%EC%B2%9C%EC%88%98&os=94862&ie=utf8&key=PeopleService. External link in |website= (help)
  3. 이천수, 전남과 연봉계약.."상위 수준" (in Korean). Yonhap. 13 June 2009.
  4. "1381일 만에 복귀전… "이천수 살아있네"". The Kyunghyang Shinmun. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  5. "이천수 '아직 죽지 않았어' 전북현대전서 어시스트". 뉴스천지. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  6. "Lee scored comeback goal". Segye Financial News. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  7. 김, 우종 (24 March 2016). "'아듀 풍운아여~' 이천수, 24일 레바논전서 은퇴식 '작별 인사'".
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