Lee Chung-Yong born 2 July 1988 is a South Korean footballer who plays for Premier League club Bolton Wanderers and the South Korean national team. Lee is widely regarded as one of the top young South Korean footballing prospects.In January 2009, Lee was named as one of the top 50 rising stars in football by the British daily newspaper, The Times.
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.
In 2003, Anyang LG Cheetahs, currently FC Seoul in its modern incarnation, then manager Cho Kwang-Rae began focusing on developing a youth academy within the team. Lee, who, at the time, was attending Dobong Middle School caught the eye of a scout and manager Cho decided to attend his match. After the first half, he was certain Lee had a massive potential, and decided to sign him on the spot. Subsequently, Lee dropped out of the school and joined FC Seoul. Dropping out of middle school could mean a lot later in his life since Korea does not draft middle school dropouts for its military. For the next several years, Lee honed his skills in the FC Seoul reserves along with close friend and international teammate Ki Sung-Yong.
In 2007, Şenol Güneş, famous for coaching the 3rd placed Turkey national squad in the 2002 World Cup, joined FC Seoul as manager. After watching Ki Sung-Yueng and Lee Chung-Yong carefully, he recognized both players' significant abilities and aimed to use them as important elements in the FC Seoul senior first-team. That season, Lee Chung-Yong began to break into the first team, playing in 15 league matches and scoring 3 goals.
The following year, in 2008, he cemented his place as a regular for FC Seoul, playing 22 league matches, scoring 5 goals and providing 6 assists. Both he and Ki Sung-Yong won many domestic league fans for their exciting link-up play and terrific individual qualities so much so that they were both given the affectionate moniker "Ssang Yong" or "Double Dragon", a play on their given names.
In the 2009 season, Lee continued his rampant form and he completed a hat-trick of assists in the opening game of the season against Chunnam Dragons on 7 March 2009. On 4 April 2009, he scored the winning goal in a match against Seoul's fierce rival, Suwon Samsung Bluewings.
FC Seoul confirmed that Lee Chung-Yong had agreed a deal to join Premier League side Bolton Wanderers. A statement from FC Seoul said: "The contract will be signed officially after a work permit is issued." On 29 July 2009, it was announced that he had been granted a work permit allowing him to complete a £2.2m transfer from FC Seoul. He had already agreed personal terms on a three-year contract with Bolton the previous week and also underwent a successful medical. The transfer was officially confirmed on the 14th of August 2009, Lee was reported as stating "I am looking forward to this new chapter in my career and cannot wait to play my first game for my new club." With Gary Megson's dismissal in December 2009, he became his last full signing for the club.
He made his first Bolton appearance on 15 August 2009 when coming on as a substitute for Gavin McCann in the 1–0 defeat against Sunderland at the Reebok Stadium and scored his first goal, the winning goal of the match in a 2–1 victory against Birmingham City on 26 September. He was named Man of the Match in the match against Tottenham Hotspur, providing teammate Ricardo Gardner with an assist. As a result of these good performances, Lee was named in the ESPN Soccernet Team of the Week twice in a row. His terrific form for his rookie season continued weeks later, after the international break, as he assisted Ivan Klasnic's first goal in the 3–3 draw against Manchester City at the Reebok Stadium. He was consequently named 'Man of the Match' by Sky Sports for his significant attacking presence and dribbling prowess: "The South Korean was a constant thorn in City's side and looks to be a real find for Gary Megson."
At the end of his first season, Lee won a triumvirate of awards including Bolton Player of the Year, Players' Player of the Year, and best newcomer awards. There was interest from Liverpool after the 2010 FIFA World Cup, but Lee stated that it was likely that he would remain at Bolton for the 2010–11 Premier League, and on 25 November he signed an extension to his contract, keeping him at the club until 2013.
During a pre-season friendly against Newport County on 30 July 2011, Lee suffered a broken leg after a challenge from Tom Miller. It was initially reported that the injury would rule Lee out for a minimum of nine months.
Lee's international career started as part of the South Korea national under-20 football team in the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Despite impressing against quality opposition including USA, Pato-led Brazil, and Poland, South Korea failed to make the cut for the next round. His individual performances, however, were enough to impress many neutrals and rumored to have caught the eye of many European scouts.
After his U-20 tenure, Lee Chung-Yong was part of the unsuccessful 2008 Beijing Olympics U-23 national team. His first under-23 match was against Syria in Damascus, October 17, 2007.
On May 31, 2008, Lee was given his national team debut by manager Huh Jung-Moo in the 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualification match against Jordan. He would score his first national team goal against the same team in the return leg at home on September 5, 2008 in Seoul World Cup Stadium. Lee Chung-Yong was one of the most consistent and important players in South Korea's successful seventh consecutive qualification for the World Cup and eighth overall, an Asian record.
On June 17, 2010, Lee scored an injury time goal in the first half against Argentina in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.Lee scored again in the round of 16 match against Uruguay in South Korea's 2–1 defeat. He was named in the top 10 rising stars of the 2010 FIFA World Cup by Sports Illustrated.
The Profile for Lee Chung Yong
Full name: Lee Chung-YongDate of birth: 2 July 1988
Place of birth: Seoul, South Korea
Height: 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position: Right winger
Club information
Current club: Bolton Wanderers
Number: 27
Youth career
2004–2005 FC Seoul
Senior career
2006–2009 FC Seoul 55 (11)
2009– Bolton Wanderers 65 (7)
National team
2006–2007 South Korea U-20 16 (1)
2007–2008 South Korea U-23 7 (0)
2008– South Korea 40 (5)
source:wikipedia
