Lee Dong-gook

At 44 years old, Lee Dong-gook has this physical status:

Lee Dong-gook (born 29 April 1979) is a South Korean professional football striker who currently plays for Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.

He is a record scorer in the K League 1, and he had brief stints in Europe with SV Werder Bremen and Middlesbrough. Lee has earned 105 international caps for South Korea since 1998, scoring 33 goals.

He has appeared at two FIFA World Cups, two CONCACAF Gold Cups, two AFC Asian Cups, and the 2000 Olympics.

Personal life

Lee Soo-jin, a runner up to Miss Korea 1997, married Lee Soo-jin in December 2005. Lee Jae-ah and Lee Jae-ah (born 14 August 2007), twin daughters Lee Seol-ah and Lee Soo-an (born 18 July 2013) and son Lee Si-an were among the five children (born 14 November 2014).

Lee, along with his five children, appeared on the Sunday variety show The Return of Superman (which aired on KBS World TV) from 2015 to 2019. Popular Korean fathers are seen taking care of their children for 48 hours without their spouses, according to a Return to Superman. Lee is the first on the show to have five children to take care of.

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Club career

Lee began his career in 1998 with the Pohang Steelers in K League, rather than going to university. Lee was named Rookie of the Year after scoring eleven goals for Pohang in his first K League season. He was also instrumental in helping Pohang win the Asian Club Championship in that year.

He was sent on loan to Werder Bremen in January 2001, but he didn't manage to settle in Bremen. During six months, he appeared in only seven games as a replacement.

He scored six goals in seven league games in early 2006, when his results were at their highest level. However, he tore the cruciate ligaments in his knee while playing in a league match that required him to miss six months and was unable to participate in the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

In 1998, Lee's father gave a bribe to an employee of the Military Manpower Administration in order to avoid Lee's military service. The scheme ended in smog, and was revealed by the prosecutor's office in October 2001. Lee and his father were chastised for their plot, but the court ordered the monetary punishment of his father. Lee wasn't punished at all, and he didn't have the opportunity to exempt military service from military service by participating in the 2002 Asian Games. Despite the special care, he failed to win a gold medal in the Asian Games, but he had to do his duty. He joined the Gwangju Sangmu military team in March 2003.

Lee signed for Middlesbrough in January 2007, after being granted a work permit, and joined the Premier League Middlesbrough on an 18-month deal. In the 2–1 victory over Reading on February 24, he made his debut on February 24th in his 85th minute. In the 2007–08 Football League Cup, he scored his first goal against Northampton Town on August 29, 2007. In the 2007–08 FA Cup, he scored his second goal against Mansfield Town on January 26, 2008. However, he didn't score during 23 appearances in the Premier League and disappointed English fans. Middlesbrough, who decided not to renew his deal after the 2007-08 season, decided not to renew his deal.

Lee signed a Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma contract in 2008, but his difficult time was still on going. In the 2009 transfer window, he was moved to Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. Lee made the best scorer in the 2009 K League by scoring 21 goals in 29 appearances, and Jeonbuk claimed their first-ever league trophy. After a fruitful season, he was named Most Valuable Player. Lee also had 16 goals and 15 assists in 29 appearances in the 2011 K League, leading Jeonbuk's second league title. He has been named as both the Most Valuable Player and the top assist provider once more. Since scoring nine goals before the semi-finals, he helped Jeonbuk advance to the 2011 AFC Champions League Finals. Jeonbuk lost the final to Al Sadd after a penalty shoot-out, but he was named the Most Valuable Player and the top scorer. Lee scored 117 goals in the 2012 season opener against Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma on March 3, 2012, making him the K League's all-time leading scorer with 117 goals.

Lee was involved in a bizarre occurrence in a K League match against Seongnam FC in 2013. Seongnam's goalkeeper had to return the ball after an injury stoppage, but it was inadvertently hit him from 40 yards to a 1-1 score. Choi Eun-sung, a goalkeeper for Jeonbuk, scored an own goal on purpose to recover Seongnam's lead.

Since winning multiple K League titles in 2014 and 2015, Lee received his third and fourth MVP awards. Lee scored his 30th AFC Champions League goal against Becamex Binh Duong on March 15 and became the AFC Champions League's all-time top scorer. Lee and Jeonbuk won the 2016 AFC Champions League after defeating Al Ain in the final on Friday.

Jeonbuk was suspended nine points for bribing two referees, and Korean fans cried that the punishment was too light. Lee, on the other hand, denied the wrongdoing in his squad and didn't accept the result after losing the league championship.

In a match against Sanggu Sangmu on June 2, he scored his 200th career goal at Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. Lee scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory over Suwon Samsung Bluewings on May 9, 2020, the first league match in the world during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lee played virtually every game of his 23-year playing career on November 1st, and he received his retirement party immediately after the game. This game, which ended as a 2–0 victory over Dae FC in the final round of the 2020 K League 1, and Jeonbuk gained their fourth successive title. He appeared in his last game as a substitute for eight minutes in the 2020 Korean FA Cup final on Sunday, and won his first trophy on November 8th.

International career

Lee was a member of the South Korean national team and was playing a match against the Netherlands as a replacement in the 1998 FIFA World Cup. He led South Korea to the AFC Youth Championship crown after the World Cup, winning the tournament's MVP and top scorer.

Lee was also involved in the 2000 AFC Asian Cup. South Korea's first victory in the group stage came thanks to a hat-trick against Indonesia. In extra time of the quarter-final match against Iran, he scored a golden goal. In the semi-finals against Saudi Arabia, he also scored a goal, but South Korea lost this time. Since scoring the winning goal in the third place match against China, he became a top goalscorer with six goals.

Lee was not selected by Guus Hiddink to represent South Korea in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Fans called him "Lazy Genius" because they felt he didn't fully use his potential. Hiddink also highlighted strong stamina, great stamina, and agile speed, which are the three main categories Lee struggles in other categories other than power. He later confessed to bingeing his alcohol and did not watch a single game that took place during the 2002 World Cup.

Lee was one of coach Dick Advocaat's first-choice picks for Korea ahead of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, but a knee injury in a K League match forced him to miss the tournament. Lee was suspended from the national team for a year after it was revealed that he, team captain Lee Woon-jae, teammates Kim Sang-sik and Woo Sung-yong went on a late night partying spree during the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, in which Korea finished third place. Unlike the other participants in this incident, Lee played for Middlesbrough in England, so the KFA would not exclude him from his club team matches.

Lee was chosen as a reserve striker for the national team of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He came on as a replacement in the round of 16 against Uruguay and had a crucial chance against Park Ji-sung. However, his shot was weak enough to cross the goal line, and South Korea lost the game due to his mistake. He had been booed by South Korean fans and was worried that his family would be hurt by the rumors of him.

Lee participated in qualifiers for both 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cups, but was not included in the tournament's final squads.

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