Lee Chung-yong
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Lee Chung-Yong | ||
Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
Position(s) | Winger | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | Bolton Wanderers | ||
Number | 27 | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2004-2009 | FC Seoul | ||
2009- | Bolton Wanderers | ||
International career‡ | |||
2006-2007 | Korea Republic U-20 | ||
2007-2008 | Korea Republic U-23 | ||
2008- | Korea Republic | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15:00, 31 October 2009 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 14 October 2009 |
Lee Chung-yong | |
Hangul | 이청용 |
---|---|
Hanja | 李靑龍[1] |
Lee Chung-Yong (Korean: 이청용; born 2 July 1988) is a South Korean Footballer currently playing for Premier League club Bolton Wanderers and the South Korean national team. His first name Chung-Yong means 'Blue Dragon' in Korean.
Lee Chung-Yong is widely regarded as one of the top young footballing prospects in South Korea along with Ki Sung-Yong. Both players are affectionately known as 'Ssang Yong (쌍용, 雙龍)', owed as much to their meteoric rise in talent as their pivotal roles within FC Seoul.
In January 2009, Lee Chung-Yong was named as one (40th ranked) of the top 50 rising stars in football by the British daily, The Times.[2]
Club career
Lee started to play football at the age of 11, which is quite late compared to the others. However, his talent was evident and he soon got reputation among the local football society.
FC Seoul
In 2003, FC Seoul, then Anyang LG Cheetahs was famous for their collection of bunch of flairs, as their manager Cho Kwang-Rae was interested in young talents across the nation. Lee, who was attending Do-Bong Middle School caught the eye of a scouter, and manager Cho decided to attend his match, and after the first half, he was certain Lee had a massive potential, and decided to sign him. So Lee dropped out of the school and joined FC Seoul. For the next several years, Lee developed himself in the reserves along with another FC Seoul's treasure and his close friend Ki Sung-Yong.
Then, in 2007, Turkish manager Şenol Güneş who coached the Turkish side that came 3rd in the 2002 World Cup, joined FC Seoul. After watching Ki Sung-Yong and Lee Chung-Yong carefully, he told them that they had enough flairs to become regulars in the first team, and they certainly did.
In 2007, Lee Chung-Yong began to break into the first team, playing in 15 league matches, scoring 3 goals.
In 2008, he became a regular for Seoul, playing 22 league matches, scoring 5 goals and 6 assists. By then, he became a fan's favourite, along with Ki Sung-Yong.
In 2009 season, he was now one of the biggest stars in the squad, and he completed his "assist-hat-trick" by creating 3 goals in the opening game of the season against Chunnam Dragons on 7 March 2009. On 4 April 2009, he scored the winning goal in a match against Seoul's fierce rival, Suwon Samsung Bluewings.
Bolton Wanderers
FC Seoul confirmed Lee Chung-yong has agreed a deal to join Premier League side Bolton Wanderers. A statement from FC Seoul said: "The contract will be signed officially after a work permit is issued." On 29 July, 2009, it was announced that he had been granted a work permit allowing him to complete a £2.2m transfer from FC Seoul. He had already agreed personal terms on a three-year contract with Bolton the previous week and also underwent a successful medical.[3] The transfer was officially confirmed on the 14th of August 2009, Lee was reported as stating "I am looking forward to this new chapter in my career and cannot wait to play my first game for my new club."[4]
He made his first Bolton appearance on 15 August 2009 when coming on as a substitute for Gavin McCann in the 1-0 defeat against Sunderland at the Reebok Stadium and scored his first goal, the winning goal of the match in a 2-1 victory against Birmingham City on 26 September.[5] He was named Man of the Match in the match against Tottenham Hotspurs, providing teammate Ricardo Gardner with an assist. He made it to the ESPN Team of the Week twice in a row.
International career
He was a part of Korea Republic national under-20 football team for 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Even though South Korea didn't qualify for the knockout stage in this competition, his performance was enough to impress many fans, who began to call him "Blue Dragon" after his name.
His first under-23 match was against Syria in Damascus, October 17 2007. In addition, he was a first choice for the 2008 Beijing Olympics squad.
On May 31, 2008, He made his national team debut in the 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualification match against Jordan.
On September 5, 2008, He scored his first national team goal against Jordan in Seoul World Cup Stadium.
Club career statistics
- As of 3 Otober 2009
Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | ||
FC Seoul | 2004 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2005 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
2006 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | 4 | 0 | 1 | |
2007 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 5 | - | - | - | 25 | 3 | 6 | |
2008 | 22 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | 26 | 6 | 6 | |
2009 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 21 | 3 | 7 | |
Total | 54 | 11 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 76 | 12 | 20 | |
Bolton Wanderers | 2009-10 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | 8 | 2 | 2 |
Total | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | 8 | 2 | 2 |
Honours
Individual
- Korean League Cup Top Assister: 2007
- K-League Best 11: 2008
Club
- K-League Runners-up: 2008
International goals
- Results list Korea Republic's goal tally first.
Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
September 5, 2008 | ![]() |
![]() |
1 goal | 1-0 | Friendly match |
November 14, 2008 | ![]() |
![]() |
1 goal | 1-1 | Friendly match |
Personal Life
Lee and his girfriend attended the same middle school. Lee claims to dislike drinking and smoking, and even refrains from drinking coffee.[6]
References
- ^ "[[:Template:Languageicon]] FC서울의 '용라인'은 7번으로 통한다". isplus.joins.com/. 2008-12-03. Retrieved 2008-12-03.
{{cite news}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help); URL–wikilink conflict (help) - ^ "Football's top 50 rising stars". The Times. 2009-01-12.
- ^ "Bolton to complete Lee Chung-yong signing". The Guardian. 2009-07-22. Retrieved 2009-07-29.
- ^ "Lee Chung-Yong Deal Complete". Bolton Wanderers Football Club. 2009-08-14. Retrieved 2009-08-14.
- ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/birminghamcity/6234124/Birmingham-City-1-Bolton-Wanderers-2-match-report.html
- ^ http://www.sportsseoul.com/news2/soccer/general/2009/1012/20091012101020300000000_7522989160.html
External links
- 1988 births
- People from Seoul
- Living people
- Football (soccer) wingers
- South Korean footballers
- South Korea international footballers
- South Korean expatriate footballers
- Expatriate footballers in England
- FC Seoul players
- Bolton Wanderers F.C. players
- K-League players
- Premier League players
- Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics
- Olympic footballers of South Korea