Lee Dong-gook

south korean football player

Lee Dong-gookHangul

이동국

Hanja

李同國

Revised RomanizationI Dong-gukMcCune–ReischauerI Tongguk
Lee. In this korean name, the family name is Lee Dong-gook ( korean : 이동국, korean pronunciation : [ i.doŋ.ɡuk̚ ] ; born 29 April 1979 ) is a south korean former professional football player who played as a hitter. He is a criminal record scorer in the K League 1, and had brief spells in Europe with Werder Bremen and Middlesbrough. He has earned 105 international caps for South Korea since 1998, scoring 33 goals. He has played at two FIFA World Cups, two AFC asian Cups and the 2000 Summer Olympics. He is holding the record of being the oldest korean musician to still play in master football. In October 2020, Lee announced his retirement from football at the end of the 2020 season. [ 1 ]

Club career [edit ]

Pohang Steelers [edit ]

Lee started playing football for Pohang Steelers and scored eleven goals with outstanding performance in his first season. He besides contributed to team ‘s title with two winning goals in the 1997–98 asian Club Championship. He was named the K League Young Player of the class and made his introduction for the South Korea national team. In January 2001, he was sent on loanword to Werder Bremen of Bundesliga but he did not settle in Bremen and only appeared seven matches as a substitute during six months. At the 2002 Korean FA Cup, he led Pohang to the concluding by scoring in the round of 16, quarter-final and semi-final, but failed to win. In March 2003, he left Pohang to perform his military servicing, joining the military team Gwangju Sangmu for two years. early in the 2006 season, his performance was at its acme with six goals in seven matches. [ 2 ] In April 2006, however, he tore the cruciate ligaments in his knee while playing in a league match that forced him out for six months, and was unable to play in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. [ 3 ]

Middlesbrough [edit ]

In January 2007, after being granted a influence permit, Lee signed for Premier League club Middlesbrough on an 18-month sign. [ 4 ] On 24 February 2007, he made his debut, coming on as an 85th minute utility for Yakubu in the 2–1 win against Reading. [ 5 ] On 29 August 2007, he scored his first goal against Northampton Town in the 2007–08 Football League Cup. [ 6 ] On 26 January 2008, he scored his irregular goal against Mansfield Town in the 2007–08 FA Cup. [ 7 ] however, he did n’t score during 23 appearances in the Premier League and defeated english fans. [ 8 ] His contract expired at the conclusion of the 2007–08 temper and Middlesbrough decided not to extend his contract. [ 9 ]

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors [edit ]

Lee signed a contract with Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma in 2008. however, he was abortive, and was transferred to Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in the 2009 transfer window. On 15 March 2009, he scored a brace in his debut for Jeonbuk against Daegu FC. He became the top scorer in the 2009 K League, scoring 21 goals in 29 matches. Jeonbuk won the first base league trophy in their history and he was named the Most Valuable Player. At the 2011 K League, he led team ‘s second league title by recording 16 goals and 15 assists with 29 appearances. He became the Most Valuable Player and the circus tent assist supplier. He besides led team to the 2011 AFC Champions League Final by scoring nine goals. Jeonbuk lost to Al Sadd after punishment shoot-out, but he was named the Most Valuable Player and top scorer. On 3 March 2012, he became the K League all-time leading scorer with 117 goals when he got two goals in the 2012 season opener against Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma. [ 10 ] In 2013, Lee was involved in a bizarre incident in a K-League couple against Seongnam FC when, while attempting to return the ball to Seongnam ‘s goalkeeper after an injury arrest, he by chance struck it past him from 40 yards to level the score at 1–1. Jeonbuk goalkeeper Choi Eun-sung then sportingly scored an own goal on function to restore Seongnam ‘s lead. [ 11 ] On 15 March 2016, he scored his thirtieth AFC Champions League goal against Becamex Binh Duong and became the AFC Champions League all-time clear scorer. On 26 November 2016, Jeonbuk won the 2016 AFC Champions League by defeating Al Ain in the final. On 2 June 2019, he scored his two-hundredth career goal at Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in a match against Sangju Sangmu FC. [ 12 ] On May 9 2020, Lee scored the only goal in a 1–0 win over Suwon Bluewings, which was luminary for being the beginning international league match, during the global COVID-19 pandemic. [ 13 ] On 1 November 2020, he played about last game of his 23-year play career, and got his retirement ceremony immediately after the plot. This bet on was the death round of the 2020 K League 1, and Jeonbuk decided their fourth consecutive title with 2–0 victory against Daegu FC. [ 14 ] On 8 November 2020, he played his last match as a substitute for eight minutes in the final examination of 2020 Korean FA Cup, getting his end trophy .

International career [edit ]

Lee Dong-gook participated in the AFC U-19 Championship in 1998. He played with Kim Eun-jung as two top and led South Korea to win the title. besides, Lee was the top scorer and MVP of the competition. [ 15 ] Lee was a member of the South Korea national team at the 1998 FIFA World Cup. He besides took function in the 2000 AFC asian Cup and finished peak scorer with six goals. In 2002, Lee was not chosen by Guus Hiddink to represent South Korea in 2002 FIFA World Cup. Fans called him “ lazy Genius ”, because they felt that he did not fully use his likely. This is besides because Hiddink emphasized potent stamen, bang-up baron, and agile travel rapidly, which are the categories that Lee struggles in, except power. [ 16 ] [ 17 ] He by and by admitted that he spent his days toast and did not watch a single game that took rate during the 2002 World Cup. [ 18 ]

Lee was coach Dick Advocaat ‘s first-choice survival at advancing for Korea ahead of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, but a stifle injury suffered in a K League peer forced him to miss the tournament. [ 3 ] On 1 November 2007, Lee was banned from the national team for twelve months after it was revealed that he, along with team captain Lee Woon-jae, teammates Kim Sang-sik and Woo Sung-yong, went on a recently night drinking spree with several female employees during the 2007 AFC asian Cup, in which Korea received third space. [ 19 ] Unlike the other members who were involved in this incident, because Lee played for Middlesbrough in England, the KFA could not ban him from his cabaret team matches. [ 20 ] Lee was listed onto the national team line up for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He came on as a substitute in the round of 16 against Uruguay, and got a all-important gamble made by Park Ji-sung, but his shot lacked the office to clear the line. South Korea lost the game 2–1 after his mistake, and he was denounced by south korean fans. In an entertainment platform, he revealed that he had been worried about his family who could get hurt due to the criticisms about him. [ 21 ] He played in qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup but was not listed on the concluding team for the tournament. After the World Cup he was recalled back to the team for a friendly match against Venezuela, where he scored a brace in a 3–1 victory, the national team ‘s first acquire in closely six months. In August 2017, Lee was called up for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier games against Iran and Uzbekistan, being one of the oldest players on the team .

personal life [edit ]

Lee married Lee Soo-jin, a smuggler up of Miss Korea 1997, in December 2005. [ 22 ] The couple have five children : twin daughters Lee Jae-si and Lee Jae-ah ( born 14 August 2007 ), gemini daughters Lee Seol-ah and Lee Soo-ah ( have a bun in the oven 18 July 2013 ) and son Lee Si-an, nicknamed Daebak ( born 14 November 2014 ). Lee, along with his five children, has appeared on the Sunday variety prove The Return of Superman ( aired on KBS World television ) [ 23 ] from 2015 to 2019. The Return of Superman shows celebrated korean fathers taking care of their children for 48 hours without their wife. Lee is the first gear on the express to have five children to take concern of. [ 24 ]

career statistics [edit ]

cabaret [edit ]

International [edit ]

Appearances and goals by national team and year[26]

National team
Year
Apps
Goals

South Korea U20

1998
6
5

1999
3
1

Total
9
6

South Korea U23

1999
14
12

2000
6
3

2002
9
5

Total
29
20

South Korea

1998
8
0

1999
0
0

2000
10
8

2001
6
1

2002
4
0

2003
1
0

2004
10
8

2005
15
4

2006
9
1

2007
7
0

2008
0
0

2009
4
0

2010
10
3

2011
2
0

2012
8
5

2013
5
0

2014
4
3

2015
0
0

2016
0
0

2017
2
0

Total
105
33

Career total
143
59

Scores and results list South Korea’s goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Lee goal.

Filmography [edit ]

Variety prove [edit ]

Honours [edit ]

player [edit ]

Pohang Steelers
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
South Korea U20
South Korea U23
South Korea
Individual