Lee Chung-yong

At 36 years old, Lee Chung-yong has this physical status:

Lee Chung-yong (born 2 July 1988) is a South Korean footballer who plays as a winger for 2.

Bundesliga club VfL Bochum and is a South Korean international. He is nicknamed "Blue Dragon", which is a literal translation of his given name "Chung-yong".

He joined in the 2004 season and ever since his early debut at the age of 18 for the South Korean side FC Seoul in the 2006 season of K League, Lee has gathered much attention from domestic football fans of South Korea in general, particularly because in South Korean football, where new players mostly make their entrance into professional clubs through a draft system, dropping out of middle school to sign a contract with a top division football club was a very rare case. In January 2009, The Times named Lee as one of the top 50 rising stars in football.

Early life

Lee Chung-yong's football career started at the age of 11. Although considered to have started too late by some, his enormous talent was evident and his reputation grew among the Seoul youth football development community.

Personal life

Lee married his middle-school girlfriend at Hotel Shilla in Seoul on 12 July 2014.

Lee said he shuns alcohol and smoking, and even refrains from drinking coffee. Upon arriving in England, he reportedly spent two to three hours a day studying English and attended English classes to improve his speaking ability.

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Club career

FC Seoul, then known as Anyang LG Cheetahs in its current form, in 2003, then known as Anyang LG Cheetahs, then known as Anyang LG Cheetahs, then known as Anyang LG Cheetahs, then known as Anyang LG Cheetahs, then manager Cho Kwang-rae, started focusing on the team's youth academy. Lee, who was attending Dobong Middle School at the time, caught a spy and boss Cho's interest and decided to attend his match. After seeing only the first half of the season, he was certain Lee had a lot of promise and decided to book him on the spot. Lee dropped out of the school and joined FC Seoul later this year. Since Korea does not draft middle school dropouts for its military, dropping out of middle school could mean a lot later in his life. FC Seoul has signed a few youngsters this way, with Lee Chung-yong himself, Ko Yo-han, Koh Myong-jin, and Song Jin-hyung among the most notable ones being Song Jin-hyung. In 2006, he made his K League debut as a Substitute. Lee honed his skills in the FC Seoul reserves over the next two years, as well as close friend and international teammate Ki Sung-yueng.

Enol Güneş, a footballer who coached the third team in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, joined FC Seoul as coach in 2007. After watching the youngsters Koh Myong-jin, Ki Sung-yueng, and Lee Chung-yong closely, he recognized the players' potential and wanted to use them as key pieces in the FC Seoul first team. Lee Chung-yong made his way into the first team of the season by playing in 15 league matches and scoring three goals.

He cemented his place as a regular for FC Seoul in 2008, playing 22 league games and scoring five goals. Both he and Ki Sung-yong gained a following in domestic leagues for their links-up play and individual attributes, to the point that they were all given the affectionate moniker "Ssang Yong" or "Double Dragon," a play on their given names.

In the first game of the season against Chunnam Dragons on March 7, 2009, Lee maintained his good form and even finished with a hat-trick of assists. He scored the winning goal in a match against Seoul's fierce rival, Suwon Samsung Bluewings, on April 4, 2009.

Lee Chung-yong had agreed to a transfer to Bolton Wanderers in the Premier League, according to FC Seoul. "The employment will be signed officially after a work permit is issued," FC Seoul's statement said. FC Seoul's Joe Perry was granted a work permit allowing him to complete a £2.2 million transfer. He had already decided personal terms on a three-year deal with Bolton the previous week, and he also underwent a fruitful medical. Lee was officially announced on August 14th, 2009, "I am looking forward to this new chapter in my career and can't wait to play my first game for my new club." Gary Megson's release in December 2009 marked the club's last complete signing.

In a 1–0 loss to Sunderland at the Reebok Stadium on September 15, he made his first Bolton appearance on August 15, 2009, scoring his first goal, the match's winning goal. In the match against Tottenham Hotspur, he was dubbed Man of the Match, and Ricardo Gardner, a teammate, was named Man of the Match. Lee was selected in the ESPN Soccernet Team of the Week twice in a row as a result of his good results. His good form in his first season continued weeks after the international break as he helped Ivan Klasnic's first goal in a 3-3 draw against Manchester City at the Reebok Stadium. "The South Korean was a constant thorn in City's side and is now known as 'Man of the Match' by Sky Sports for his consistent attacking presence and dribbling prowess, and it appears that Gary Megson was a good find."

Lee received a triumvirate of accolades, including Bolton Player of the Year, Players' Player of the Year, and Best Newcomer award at the end of his first season. Following the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Liverpool displayed an enthusiasm, but Lee said that it was likely that he would remain in Bolton for the 2010–11 Premier League, and that he would keep the team alive until 2013.

On a pre-season friendly against Newport County on July 30, 2011, Lee sustained a fractured leg after a challenge from Tom Miller. Lee was expected to miss at least nine months as a result of the injury, but Bolton was hopeful that the player would return before the season's end. Lee began training with the Bolton first team again in April 2012 and was excited to play a game or two before the season came to an end.

Lee ruled out a return for him this season, but Lee returned to action as a second-half replacement in Bolton's 2–2 draw with West Bromwich Albion on May 4th, 2012, drawing a standing ovation from the home crowd. Lee had signed an unannounced new deal the summer before, extending his Reebok contract to the end of the 2014-15 season. Every game Lee had scored for Bolton, Bolton had triumphed, but Bolton had won. Bolton lost 2–1 to Middlesbrough on September 27, 2012, breaking the streak, but Lee's goal ended it.

In the 2012–13 season, Lee was brought right back to full fitness as he returned to full fitness. Lee took several months to recover the spark he had displayed in his first two seasons with the club after such traumatic injury. However, Lee seemed to be returning to form in the second half of the season, establishing him as one of South Korea's top footballers. In the Championship, he had a respectable return of four goals and seven assists.

Lee was in the Championship with Bolton from 2013 to 2014. When Bolton finished 14th in the table, he scored in each of his last two games of the season.

Lee signed for Crystal Palace's undisclosed fee on February 2, 2015, ahead of Barry Bannan's transfer deadline. Lee's deal was not extended until June 2018. On August 25, he scored his first goal for the team against Shrewsbury Town in the League Cup for the first time. He scored his first league goal for Palace, a 30-yard volley at the 90th minute to beat Stoke City 2–1 on 19 December 2015.

Lee was released by Crystal Palace on June 28, 2018 after his deal came to an end. Bolton tried to re-sign their former employee, but Lee was unable to obtain a work permit, causing the player to be suspended. This was Bolton's second time in 2018 that he had failed to sign Lee as he had offered to join on loan, but Dougie Freedman (who previously worked with Bolton) had to cancel the loan agreement after it had been agreed due to an injury to Bakary Sako. When Lee was informed of this, he was planning to fly to Bolton.

Lee signed for 2 on September 6, 2018. VfL Bochum, a Bundesliga team, is under a contract until the 2018-2019 season, with the possibility of extending beyond. In 23 appearances in the 2018–192 series, he scored a goal and six assists. Bundesliga. He received his 26th highest score in the German football magazine's statistics about all 2. Players in the Bundesliga.

Lee signed for Ulsan Hyundai, a K League one club. He won the 2020 AFC Champions League with Ulsan in December. He was instrumental in helping them win the 2022 K League 1 MVP Award and was also named in the K League 1 Best XI for the second time in his career.

International career

Lee's international career began with his appearance in the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in South Korea. Despite impressing against quality opponents, including the United States, Brazil, and Poland, South Korea did not qualify for the next round. Lee's individual performances, on the other hand, were enough to convince several neutrals and reportedly captured the attention of several European scouts.

Lee was part of the struggling national under-23 team for the 2008 Summer Olympics during his under-20 tenure. When the Olympics were being held, Koreans nominated Lee as the Most awaited player among Korean footballers. In Damascus, he was against Syria on October 17th, 2007.

In the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Jordan, Lee was given his national team debut by manager Huh Jung-moo on May 31. In the return leg at home on September 5, 2008, he would score his first national team goal against the same team. Lee Chung-yong was one of South Korea's most consistent and important players in the country's seventh straight qualifier for the FIFA World Cup and eighth overall, an Asian record. In the first half of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Lee scored a injury time goal against Argentina on June 17. Lee scored once more in the round of 16 matches against Uruguay in South Korea's 2–1 loss. Sports Illustrated selected him in the top ten rising stars of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Lee made his 50th appearance for the Korean national team in a friendly match against Mali on October 15, 2013. Korea won the game 3–1. Lee had two assists as Korea defeated the game 3–1. Lee captained the team against Switzerland one month later, scoring the winning goal with an 87th-minute header. It was his first international goal in over three years, his last in the 2010 World Cup. Lee was chosen for the South Korea team for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. As Korea was eliminated at the group level, he started all three games. He made a late challenge to Anthony Vanden Borre in the game against Belgium, effectively ending the Belgian's participation for the remainder of the tournament as a result.

Lee was selected in South Korea's squad for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. However, during the team's first match against Oman, he sustained a hairline fractured his right tibia and was unable to participate in the remainder of the tournament. Lee was selected in South Korea's preliminary squad for the 2018 World Cup, but he did not make the final selection.

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