Lee Jung-soo

Lee Jung-soo
Born	(1980-01-08) January 8, 1980 South Korea
Occupation(s)	Football player, coach
Years active	2002–2018 (player)
Known for	South Korean professional footballer and current coach, assistant manager of Vietnam national football team

For the speed skater, see Lee Jung-su.

Lee Jung-soo (Korean: 이정수; born on January 8, 1980) is a former South Korean professional football player and current coach, presently acting as the assistant manager of the Vietnam national football team.

Professional journey in South Korea

Following his graduation from Kyung Hee University in 2002, Lee embarked on his professional football career with the K League team Anyang LG Cheetahs, which was rebranded as FC Seoul in 2004. Initially positioned as a forward, he was advised by Anyang's head coach Cho Kwang-rae to transition into a defensive role. Throughout his tenure in the K League, Lee represented Anyang LG Cheetahs/FC Seoul, Incheon United, and Suwon Samsung Bluewings as a defender, securing a league championship with Suwon in 2008.

Playing career in Japan

In 2009, Lee transferred to the J1 League club Kyoto Sanga FC, where he demonstrated his offensive prowess by netting five goals during the season. He also took part in the Jomo Cup, a contest featuring all-star teams from both the K League and J.League, earning the Most Valuable Player accolade. The following year, Lee joined another J1 League team, Kashima Antlers, where he played for six months before moving to Qatari side Al-Sadd after participating in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Tenure at Al-Sadd

During the first leg of the semi-final in the 2011 AFC Champions League against his former club Suwon, Lee became involved in a tense dispute with fellow Al-Sadd players following a contentious second goal by Mamadou Niang. This goal was scored after Suwon had indicated the ball should be out of play to allow treatment for injured players, implying that possession ought to be returned to them. Lee publicly criticized the goal as "unfair" and proposed that Al-Sadd should concede a goal in return; however, this suggestion was declined. The incident led Lee to leave the field prematurely, prompting his coach Jorge Fossati to replace him with Ibrahim Majid for the remainder of stoppage time.

Al-Sadd ultimately triumphed over Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in the AFC Champions League final through a penalty shootout. Lee was selected to take one of the penalties but missed when his attempt struck the crossbar, marking him as the sole Al-Sadd player to miss during the shootout.

In June 2012, Chinese club Guangzhou Evergrande publicly expressed interest in acquiring Lee and reportedly secured an agreement with him after he declined to renew his contract with Al-Sadd, according to Jinghua Times. Nonetheless, Lee turned down Guangzhou's offer and opted to extend his contract with Al-Sadd for an additional year.

Retirement

During the 2015–16 campaign, Lee encountered injuries to his hand and calf, which led to a weakened defensive line for Al-Sadd in his absence. The club sought a new central defender to fill his role and extended an offer for him to transition into a coaching position. Nevertheless, Lee preferred to keep playing and politely declined the coaching opportunity. After departing from Al-Sadd in January 2016, he returned to Suwon the following month and formally announced his retirement the subsequent year.

Unexpectedly, in February 2018, Lee signed with Charlotte Independence, competing in the United Soccer League. He eventually embarked on his coaching journey after a brief playing stint with Charlotte.

International career

Lee played a key role for South Korea when the national team advanced to the knockout rounds of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He significantly contributed to South Korea’s offensive efforts by netting two goals from set pieces during the group phase.

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
FC Seoul	2002	K League	9	1	0	0	2	0	?	?	—		11	1
	2003	K League	18	1	1	0	—		—		—		19	1
	2004	K League	2	0	0	0	0	0	—		—		2	0
	Total		29	2	1	0	2	0	?	?	—		32	2
Incheon United	2004	K League	11	0	1	0	9	0	—		—		21	0
	2005	K League	9	1	0	0	8	0	—		—		17	1
	Total		20	1	1	0	17	0	—		—		38	1
Suwon Samsung Bluewings	2006	K League	23	2	2	0	13	0	—		—		38	2
	2007	K League	6	0	0	0	4	0	—		—		10	0
	2008	K League	17	1	1	0	7	0	—		—		25	1
	Total		46	3	3	0	24	0	—		—		73	3
Kyoto Sanga	2009	J1 League	32	5				1	0	—		33	5
Kashima Antlers	2010	J1 League	10	3	0	0	0	0	5	1	1	0	16	4
Al-Sadd	2010–11	Qatar Stars League	19	2	?	?	?	?	5	2	—		24	4
	2011–12	Qatar Stars League	15	1	?	?	?	?	7	0	3	0	25	1
	2012–13	Qatar Stars League	21	2	?	?	?	?	—		?	?	21	2
	2013–14	Qatar Stars League	22	2	?	?	4	0	8	0	?	?	34	2
	2014–15	Qatar Stars League	24	2	?	?	?	?	12	0	?	?	36	2
	2015–16	Qatar Stars League	11	1	?	?	?	colspan= "2" | —	colspan= "2" | —	11	1
	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	2016	K League 1	27	3	4	0	colspan= "2" | —	0	0	colspan= "2" | —	31	3
2017		K League 1	3	0	0	0	colspan= "2" | —	2	0	colspan= "2" | —	5	|- ! colspan= "2" | Total !30 !3 !4 !0 ! colspan= "2" | — !2 !0 ! colspan= "2" | — !36 !3 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- International Appearances and goals by national team and year National team Year Appearances Goals South Korea 2008 5 0 2009 11 1 2010 17 3 2011 14 1 2012 6 0 2013 1 0 Total career 54 5 In the results, South Korea’s score is listed first. Comprehensive list of international goals by Lee Jung-soo No. Date Location Opponent Score at goal Final score Match type 1 5 September 2009 Seoul, South Korea Template:Fb 2–0 3–1 Friendly 2 18 January 2010 Málaga, Spain Template:Fb 2–0 2–0 Friendly 3 12 June 2010 Port Elizabeth, South Africa Template:Fb 1–0 2–0 2010 FIFA World Cup 4 22 June 2010 Durban, South Africa Template:Fb 1–1 2–2 2010 FIFA World Cup 5 25 March 2011 Seoul, South Korea Template:Fb 1–0 4–0 Friendly Honours Suwon Samsung Bluewings K League 1 Champion: 2008 Korean FA Cup Winner: 2016 Korean League Cup Title: 2008 Kashima Antlers Japanese Super Cup Winner: 2010 Al-Sadd Qatar Stars League Champion: 2012–13 Emir of Qatar Cup Titles: 2014, 2015 Qatari Stars Cup Winner: 2010 Qatar Cup Runner-up: 2012, 2013 Sheikh Jassim Cup Champion: 2014 AFC Champions League Winner: 2011 South Korea U20 AFC Youth Championship Champion: 1998 South Korea B Silver medalist at the East Asian Games: 2001 South Korea Third place in the AFC Asian Cup: 2011 Runner-up in the EAFF Championship: 2010 Individual Achievements Selected for the K League All-Star Game in 2008 Awarded Most Valuable Player at the J.League All-Star Soccer in 2009 Included in the J.League All-Star Soccer squad in 2009 Named in the Qatar Stars League Team of the Season for 2013–14 References External links Template:K League player Lee Jung-soo – National Team statistics at KFA (in Korean) Template:FIFA player Template:NFT player Template:J.League player Kyoto Sanga F.C. Player Profile (in Japanese)