Lee Eul-yong

Lee Eul-Yong (Hangul: 이을용) (born September 8, 1975) is a South Korean former football player and a coach who is currently coaching FC Seoul since 20 January. Lee was born in Taebaek, Gangwon. He attended high school in Gangneung and went on to graduate from Dankook University.

Career

He previously played for FC Seoul, Bucheon SK, and Gangwon FC in the Korean K-League, and was part of the South Korean national team at the 2002 FIFA World Cup and was one of Guus Hiddink's favorite players. He was capable of scoring free kicks similar to David Beckham's. He was notable for his goal against Turkey in the 3rd place match in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He transferred to Trabzonspor in 2002 with the help of Tınaz Tırpan. Since 2006, he had played for FC Seoul until 2008 season. In January 2009, he completed to move to Gangwon FC.

In September 2006, after a successful match against Taiwan national football team, Lee announced that he would retire from the Korean national team to focus on FC Seoul and also to make way for younger players in the upcoming 2010 World Cup.^[1][2]

Eul-yong Ta

Lee is well known by most South Koreans and other Asian football fans for a famous incident which is sometimes referred as "Eul-yong Ta (을용타)," and roughly translated as 'Eul-yong Strike/Smash'. The incident occurred during a match against China in the inaugural East Asian Cup in December 2003.

During the second half of the game, Chinese forward Li Yi kicked Lee in the shins immediately after he finished his pass. Visually upset with Li's violent play, Lee slapped Li on the back of his head. Li Yi started rolling on the pitch grabbing his head in an apparent exaggeration. For a while the entire Chinese and Korean squad ran toward the scene but further conflict did not occur, as the referee awarded a yellow card for Li and red card for Lee. Korea defeated China in the match, and Lee became the source of a popular internet meme after the incident.

Career statistics

As of 23 October 2011

Honours

International goals

Results list South Korea's goal tally first.

Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
June 29, 2002	Daegu, South Korea	Turkey	1 goal	2-3	2002 FIFA World Cup
September 29, 2003	Incheon, South Korea	Nepal	1 goal	16-0	2004 AFC Asian Cup qualification
June 4, 2006	Edinburgh, UK	Ghana	1 goal	1-3	Friendly match

References

• Video clip of the Eul-Yong Ta incident and the parodies

External links

• Lee Eul-yong – K League stats at kleague.com
• National Team Player Record (in Korean)
• Lee Eul-yong – FIFA competition record (archive)
• Lee Eul-yong at National-Football-Teams.com