Lee Chun-soo facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

In this Korean name, the family name is Lee.

Quick facts for kids
Lee Chun-soo

Lee with Incheon United in 2013

Personal information

Full name

Lee Chun-soo

Date of birth

9 July 1981 (age 43)

Place of birth

Incheon, South Korea

Height

1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)

Playing position

Forward

Youth career

1994–1996

Bupyeongdong Middle School

1997–1999

Bupyeong High School

Senior career*

Years

Team

Apps^†

(Gls)^†

2002–2003

Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i

(15)

2003–2005

Real Sociedad

(0)

2004–2005

→ Numancia (loan)

(0)

2005–2007

Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i

(17)

2007–2009

Feyenoord

(0)

2008

→ Suwon Samsung Bluewings (loan)

(0)

2009

→ Jeonnam Dragons (loan)

(4)

2009–2010

Al-Nassr

(3)

2010–2011

Omiya Ardija

(8)

2013–2015

Incheon United

(5)

Total

260

(52)

National team

1999–2000

South Korea U20

(20)

1999–2006

South Korea U23

(11)

2000–2008

South Korea

(10)

Honours

Men's football

Representing South Korea
AFC Asian Cup
Bronze	2007 Indonesia/Malaysia /Thailand/Vietnam	Team
Asian Games
Bronze	2002 Busan	Team

Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

† Appearances (Goals).

Lee Chun-soo
Hangul	이천수
Hanja	李天秀
Revised Romanization	I Cheon-su
McCune–Reischauer	I Ch'ŏnsu

Lee Chun-soo (born July 9, 1981) is a famous South Korean football player who has now retired. He played as a forward, which is an attacking player, for the South Korean national team. He even played in two big tournaments, the 2002 and 2006 World Cups.

Lee Chun-soo's Club Career
Lee Chun-soo's International Career
- Playing for Youth Teams
- World Cup Appearances
Lee Chun-soo After Retirement
- Television Appearances
- Web Series Appearances
Lee Chun-soo's Career Statistics
- Club Performance
- International Goals
Lee Chun-soo's Awards and Honours
- Player Awards
- Television Personality Awards
See also

Lee Chun-soo's Club Career

Lee Chun-soo started his professional football journey with the Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i team. He quickly showed his amazing skills.

Starting Strong at Ulsan Hyundai

In his first season in 2002, Lee scored seven goals and made nine assists in 18 games. An assist is when a player helps another player score a goal. He was only 19 years old then!

Because of his great performance, he was named the Asian Young Footballer of the Year. This award is given by the Asian Football Confederation to the best young player in Asia.

Playing in Europe: Spain and Netherlands

In 2003, Lee Chun-soo moved to Spain to play for Real Sociedad. This team had finished second in the Spanish league the year before. He was the first Korean player ever to play in Spain's top football league, called La Liga.

However, his time in Spain was a bit tough. He didn't score any goals in his two years there. He was even loaned to another Spanish team, Numancia, before returning to South Korea.

Later, in 2008, Lee got a second chance to play in Europe. He joined Feyenoord, a team in the Netherlands. But he found it hard to get used to playing there. He was then loaned to a South Korean team, Suwon Samsung Bluewings.

Returning to South Korea and Retirement

After his time in Europe, Lee Chun-soo played for a few other teams. He was loaned to Jeonnam Dragons in South Korea. Then he played for Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia and Omiya Ardija in Japan.

In 2013, Lee made a comeback to the K League, South Korea's main football league. He joined Incheon United. He played for them for a few years.

On November 5, 2015, Lee Chun-soo announced that he was retiring from playing football. His retirement was celebrated at a special ceremony in 2016.

Lee Chun-soo's International Career

Lee Chun-soo also had a very active career playing for the South Korean national teams. He represented his country at different age levels and in major tournaments.

Playing for Youth Teams

In 1999, Lee was chosen to play for the South Korean under-20 team. He scored five goals in his very first game against Thailand! He even scored two goals in a 2-0 win against Brazil.

He also played for the South Korean under-23 team in the 2000 Summer Olympics.

World Cup Appearances

Lee Chun-soo played in two FIFA World Cups for the South Korean national team.

In the 2002 FIFA World Cup, which was held in South Korea, he was mostly a substitute player. But when he played, he showed great dribbling skills and good defense. In a semi-final match against Germany, he had a memorable shot that the opposing goalkeeper saved.

Lee played an even bigger role in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He was a starter in many games. He scored South Korea's first goal in the tournament with a fantastic free kick against Togo, helping his team win 2-1.

Lee Chun-soo After Retirement

After retiring from football, Lee Chun-soo has been busy with many different activities. He has appeared on television and works as a football commentator.

In 2014, he was on a TV show called SNL Korea. He also showed his singing skills on the show King of Mask Singer in 2015.

Since 2016, he has been a football commentator for JTBC3 Fox Sports. This means he talks about football games on TV. In 2021, he signed a contract with an entertainment company. He also participated in a special football match in 2024.

Television Appearances

Year	Title	Role
2021	Golden Eleven 2	Himself
2021	Brad PT & GYM Carry	Himself
2022–present	Mr. House Husband 2	Himself
2022	Gundesliga	Himself

Web Series Appearances

Year	Title	Role	Ref.
2021	Ssangssang Invitational	Himself

Lee Chun-soo's Career Statistics

Club Performance

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		Continental		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i	2002	K League	18	7	3	2	0	0	—		21	9
	2003	K League	18	8	0	0	—		—		18	8
	Total		36	15	3	2	0	0	—		39	17
Real Sociedad	2003–04	La Liga	13	0	2	0	—		6	0	21	0
Numancia (loan)	2004–05	La Liga	15	0	1	0	—		—		16	0
Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i	2005	K League	14	7	1	0	0	0	—		15	7
	2006	K League	18	5	0	0	6	2	6	3	30	10
	2007	K League	16	5	1	0	10	2	—		27	7
	Total		48	17	2	0	16	4	6	3	72	24
Feyenoord	2007–08	Eredivisie	12	0	2	0	—		—		14	0
Suwon Samsung Bluewings (loan)	2008	K League	3	0	0	0	1	1	—		4	1
Jeonnam Dragons (loan)	2009	K League	7	4	1	0	1	0	—		9	4
Al-Nassr	2009–10	Saudi Pro League	16	3	0	0	0	0	—		16	3
Omiya Ardija	2010	J1 League	16	2	2	2	0	0	—		18	4
	2011	J1 League	27	6	1	0	0	0	—		28	6
	Total		43	8	3	2	16	4	6	3	46	10
Incheon United	2013	K League 1	19	2	1	0	—		—		20	2
	2014	K League 1	28	1	0	0	—		—		28	1
	2015	K League 1	20	2	0	0	—		—		20	2
	Total		67	5	1	0	—		—		68	5
Career total			260	52	15	4	18	5	12	3	305	64

International Goals

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
South Korea	2000	9	2
	2001	7	1
	2002	16	1
	2003	6	0
	2004	4	1
	2005	8	0
	2006	17	3
	2007	10	2
	2008	1	0
Career total		78	10

Results list South Korea's goal tally first.

List of international goals scored by Lee Chun-soo
No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	5 April 2000	Seoul, South Korea	1	Laos	3–0	9–0	2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification
2	7 April 2000	Seoul, South Korea	2	Mongolia	5–0	6–0	2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification
3	13 September 2001	Daejeon, South Korea	11	Nigeria	1–2	2–2	Friendly
4	16 May 2002	Busan, South Korea	23	Scotland	1–0	4–1	Friendly
5	8 September 2004	Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam	40	Vietnam	2–1	2–1	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
6	29 January 2006	Hong Kong	54	Croatia	2–0	2–0	2006 Lunar New Year Cup
7	22 February 2006	Aleppo, Syria	58	Syria	2–1	2–1	2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification
8	13 June 2006	Frankfurt, Germany	63	Togo	1–1	2–1	2006 FIFA World Cup
9	6 February 2007	London, England	68	Greece	1–0	1–0	Friendly
10	29 June 2007	Seogwipo, South Korea	71	Iraq	2–0	3–0	Friendly