Lee Chun-soo


Lee Chun-Soo is a retired football player from South Korea. In 2002, he joined Ulsan Hyundai FC.
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. 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. After a slow start, he finally got an assist against Ulsan Hyundai on 20 April 2013. 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.
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.

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

Honours

Club

Ulsan Hyundai FC
Feyenoord
South Korea
DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
5 April 2000Seoul1 goal9-02000 AFC Asian Cup qualification
7 April 2000Seoul1 goal6-02000 AFC Asian Cup qualification
13 September 2001Daejeon1 goal2-1Friendly match
16 May 2002Busan1 goal4-1Friendly match
8 September 2004Ho Chi Minh City1 goal2-12006 FIFA World Cup qualification
29 January 2006Hong Kong1 goal2-02006 Carlsberg Cup
22 February 2006Aleppo1 goal2-12007 AFC Asian Cup qualification
13 June 2006Frankfurt1 goal2-12006 FIFA World Cup
6 February 2007London1 goal1-0Friendly match
29 June 2007Seogwipo1 goal3-0Friendly match