Cho Jae-jin

Cho Jae-Jin (born 9 July 1981 in Paju) is a retired South Korean football player. He was a member of national team in the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Career

Cho emerged as a national star when he played for South Korea in the 2004 Olympics. He was instrumental in Korea's second half comeback against Mali. Down 3–0, between 55" and 62" Cho scored two consecutive goals, both assisted by Kim Dong-Jin. Later in the Mali penalty box, a Mali defender in a vain attempt to defend against Cho, committed an own goal equalizing the game at 3–3. South Korea placed second in Group A and qualified for the next round, in which it was defeated by Paraguay, the runner-up team.

Before playing for Shimizu S-Pulse, Cho had played for Suwon Samsung Bluewings but did not enjoy much success. He is a close friend of Kim Dong-Jin, who was also a member of the 2004 Olympic team and now plays for FC Seoul in South Korea. He has also announced a desire to play in England and has been on record stating he envies Lee Dong-Gook's move to Middlesbrough.

During his highly successful stint at S-Pulse Cho had received offers from FC Utrecht, Ajax, West Ham United among other European teams. FC Utrecht was the team Cho was most likely to sign for, but was reportedly unhappy with the deal offered.^[1] Having rejected the move, Cho saw out the final months of his contract with S-Pulse, before again searching for a move to Europe. However, after unsuccessful trials at Newcastle United, Portsmouth and Fulham, Cho returned to Korea in February 2008 where he signed for K. League side Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.

After a beleaguered season of bad form back in the K-League, Cho signed for Gamba Osaka on Christmas Day of 2008 for a fee of $3.5 Million.^[2] There was interest from Qatar's Al-Gharafa which had brought Juninho from the French football club Lyon prior to its offer, which Cho rejected.

On 18 March 2011, he has announced his retirement from football due to continuing problems with congenital dysplasia of the hip.

Other works

In 2004, he was chosen to pose for clothing brand "ASK." Cho has also appeared in advertisements for Adidas and Korean edition of Cosmopolitan. When the South Korea national football team sold football shirts to commemorate South Korea's performance in 2004, 34.5% of buyers who purchased Cho's shirt were female compared to 8% for Ahn Jung Hwan's shirt. He has also been made famous to many due to his prowess in the video game Pro Evolution Soccer 6.

Club statistics

National team statistics

^[3]

International goals

Results list South Korea's goal tally first.

Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
25 September 2003	Incheon, South Korea	Vietnam	1 goal	5–0	2004 AFC Asian Cup qualification
24 October 2003	Muscat, Oman	Nepal	1 goal	7–0	2004 AFC Asian Cup qualification
19 December 2004	Busan, South Korea	Germany	1 goal	3–1	Friendly match
1 February 2006	Hong Kong	Denmark	1 goal	1–3	2006 Carlsberg Cup
26 May 2006	Seoul, South Korea	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1 goal	2–0	Friendly match
6 September 2006	Suwon, South Korea	Chinese Taipei	2 goals	8–0	2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification
11 October 2006	Seoul, South Korea	Syria	1 goal	2–1	2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification
5 July 2007	Seoul, South Korea	Uzbekistan	2 goals	2–1	Friendly match

Team honors

Gamba Osaka

• Emperor's Cup – 2009

See also

• List of Koreans
• South Korea national football team

References

External links

• Cho Jae-jin – K League stats at kleague.com
• Cho Jae-jin – National Team Stats at KFA (in Korean)
• Cho Jae-jin – FIFA competition record (archive)