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Lee Woon-jae

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Lee Woon-jae
Born (1973-04-26) April 26, 1973 (age 53)
Cheongju, Chungbuk, South Korea
Other names"Spider Hands"
OccupationFootballer (goalkeeper)
Years active1994–2012
Known forSouth Korean goalkeeper, four-time FIFA World Cup participant

Lee Woon-jae

Lee Woon-jae (Template:Korean; born 26 April 1973) is a retired South Korean footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Throughout his career, he represented South Korea in the FIFA World Cup tournaments of 1994, 2002, 2006, and 2010. Notably, he was the sole Asian goalkeeper to receive a nomination for the IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper of the 21st Century (2001–2011).

Born in Cheongju, located in Chungbuk, South Korea, Lee stands at 1.82 meters tall. His early football development took place at Cheongju Daeseong Middle School from 1986 to 1988, followed by Cheongju Commercial High School between 1989 and 1991. He continued his education and football training at Kyung Hee University from 1992 until 1995.

Lee's professional club career began in 1996 with Suwon Samsung Bluewings, where he amassed 267 league appearances until 2010. During his mandatory military service from 2000 to 2001, he played for Sangmu FC as part of the draft system. He later joined Jeonnam Dragons for the final phase of his playing days between 2011 and 2012, adding 63 league caps. Over his entire club career, Lee accumulated a total of 330 league appearances without scoring any goals.

On the international stage, Lee represented the South Korea U23 team from 1994 to 2002, earning 32 caps that include seven matches against non-national sides and nine appearances as an overage player during Asian Games and friendlies. In addition, he featured for the South Korea B team in 1993. His senior national team tenure spanned from 1994 to 2010, during which he won 133 caps without registering any goals.

Lee's decorated international career includes medals from various competitions: a silver medal at the 1993 Summer Universiade; bronze medals at both the 2000 and 2007 AFC Asian Cups; a bronze medal at the 2002 Asian Games; gold at the 1993 East Asian Games; and victories and runner-up finishes in East Asian Football Championships held in Japan in 2003 and 2010 respectively.

International career

Lee was included in the South Korean squad for the 1994 FIFA World Cup. During the match against Germany, he entered as a substitute for the starting goalkeeper Choi In-young and managed to keep a clean sheet throughout his 45 minutes on the field. Following the 1994 World Cup, Lee faced serious health challenges, battling both tuberculosis and hepatitis, raising concerns about the continuation of his football career. Fortunately, he recovered and rejoined the national team in 1998, although he missed out on participating in the World Cup held in France.

Under the management of Guus Hiddink, Lee was chosen as the primary goalkeeper for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, prevailing over competitor Kim Byung-ji. He played in all seven matches up to the third place playoff, achieving three clean sheets against Poland, Portugal, and Spain. Lee made South Korean football history during the quarter-final clash with Spain. After a goalless draw through extra time, he saved a penalty from Joaquín during the shootout. South Korea triumphed 5–3 on penalties, becoming the first Asian nation to reach the World Cup semi-finals. Ultimately, South Korea secured fourth place in the tournament.

At the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, Lee captained South Korea in place of the injured Kim Nam-il. He maintained clean sheets throughout all knockout phase matches and successfully saved three penalties during shootouts—two against Iran and one versus Japan. His outstanding performances earned him a spot in the tournament’s All-Star XI. Despite this, Lee faced a one-year suspension from the national team after an incident where he left his hotel without permission and engaged in heavy drinking at an Indonesian bar alongside teammates Kim Sang-sik, Woo Sung-yong, and Lee Dong-gook prior to a match against Bahrain, which South Korea subsequently lost.

Lee is among only two players—alongside Rigobert Song of Cameroon—to have been selected for four consecutive World Cups from 1994 through to the 2010 tournament. Additionally, he is one of seven Asian players to have participated in four separate World Cups. His final appearance for South Korea came in a friendly match against Nigeria on 11 August 2010, which ended in a 2–1 victory, after which he retired from international competition.

Style of play

Known as the "Spider Hands" in South Korea, Lee is widely recognized as one of the finest Asian goalkeepers ever.[1] Despite lacking notable height and speed, he excelled through exceptional decision-making and strong coordination with his defensive line.[2] His foresight on the field contributed significantly to his effectiveness during penalty shoot-outs. Throughout his K League tenure, he achieved a remarkable 92% success rate in shoot-out matches (winning 11 out of 12) and saved nearly half of the penalty attempts faced (26 out of 58).[3]

Club

rowspan = 3 || Jeonnam Dragons
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[4]
Club Season League National cup League cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Suwon Samsung Bluewings 1996 K League 12 0 ?[lower-alpha 1] ? 1 0 — — 13 0
1997 K League 7 0 ?[lower-alpha 1] ? 10 0 — — 17 0
1998 K League 18 0 ?[lower-alpha 1] ? 16 0 — — 34 0
1999 K League 27 0 0 0 12 0 — 1[lower-alpha 2] 0 40 0
2002 K League 19 0 4 0 0 0 ?[lower-alpha 3] ? — 23 0
2003 K League 41 0 1 0 — — — 42 0
2004 K League 23 0 0 0 3 0 — — 26 0
2005 K League 17 0 3 0 9 0 6 0 2[lower-alpha 4] 0 37 0
2006 (K League) 13 (0) 1 (0) 1 (0) — —) (15) (0)
2007 (K League) 25 (0) 1 (0) 10 (0) — —) (36) (0)
2008 (K League) 28 (0) 0 (0) 11 (0) — —) (39) (0)
2009 (K League) 25 (0) 5 (0) 1 (0) 5 (0) 1[lower-alpha 5] (0) (37) (0)
2010 (K League) 12 (0) 2 (0) 2 (0) 7 (0) — (23) (0)
(Total) 267 (0) 17 (0) 76 (0) 18 (0) 4 (0) (382) (0)
rowspan=3 Sangju Sangmu FC (Conscription in South Korea#Military service in sports and entertainment careers and Sangju Sangmu FC and Gimcheon Sangmu FC) (draft) 2000 Semipro League ? ? ?[lower-alpha 6] ? — — ?[lower-alpha 7] ? ? ?
2001 Semipro League ? ? ?[lower-alpha 6] ? — — ?[lower-alpha 7] ? ? ?
(Total) ? ? ? ? — — ? ? ? ?
K-League 2011 K League 30 0 2 0 4 0 — — 36 0
K-League 2012 K League 33 0 ?[lower-alpha 1] ? — — — 33 00
(Total) 63 00 02 00 4 00 (none)
Career total 330 ! 00 !19 !00 !80 !00 !18 !00 !4 !00 !451 !00
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Appearance(s) in Korean FA Cup
  2. ↑ Appearance in Korean Super Cup
  3. ↑ Appearance(s) in Asian Club Championship
  4. ↑ One appearance in A3 Champions Cup, one appearance in Korean Super Cup
  5. ↑ Appearance in Pan-Pacific Championship
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Appearance(s) in Korean National Football Championship
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Appearance(s) in Korean President's Cup National Football Tournament

International

  • National team appearances and goals by year
    Team Year Appearances Goals
    South Korea 1994 3 0
    1995 1 0
    1999 2 0
    2000 8 0
    2001 12 0
    2002 15 0
    2003 14 0
    2004 15 0
    2005 15 0
    2006 16 0
    2007 8 0
    2008 2 0
    2009 13 0
    2010 9 0
    Total career caps and goals 133 0
  • Appearances and goals categorized by competition
    Competition Appearances Goals
    Friendlies 55 0
    Minor tournaments 12 0
    EAFF Championship 9 0
    CONCACAF Gold Cup 3 0
    AFC Asian Cup qualification 7 0
    AFC Asian Cup 15 0
    FIFA Confederations Cup 3 0
    FIFA World Cup qualification 18 0
    FIFA World Cup 11 0
    Total 133 0

    • Television

    Year Title Role Notes Reference(s)
    2015 Cheongchun FC Hungry Eleven Himself
    2018 Escape Nest Season 3 Himself
    2019 Let's Eat Dinner Together Himself Episode 133
    2022 Gundesliga Himself

    Honours

    Suwon Samsung Bluewings

    Sangmu FC

    • Korean Semi-professional Championship: 2001

    South Korea U23

    South Korea B

    South Korea

    Individual Achievements

    • Selected for the K League All-Star Game in the years 1998, 1999, 2002 through 2009 consecutively
    • Named in the K League Best XI for the seasons of 1999, 2002, 2004, and 2008
    • Awarded Best Goalkeeper at the EAFF Championship in 2005
    • Included in the AFC Asian Cup Team of the Tournament in 2007
    • Honored as the Most Valuable Player of the K League 1 in 2008
    • Received MVP recognition for the Korean FA Cup in 2009
    • Featured in the AFC Opta All-time XI at the FIFA World Cup as of 2020

    See also

    Notes

    References

    1. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named afcwc
    2. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
    3. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
    4. ↑ Template:K League player

    External links

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