| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Seol Ki-Hyeon or Seol Ki-Hyun | ||
| Date of birth | 8 January 1979 | ||
| Place of birth | Jeongseon, Gangwon, South Korea | ||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Winger / Striker | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Ulsan Hyundai | ||
| Number | 10 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1997–2000 | Kwangwoon University | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2000–2001 | Royal Antwerp | 25 | (10) |
| 2001–2004 | Anderlecht | 72 | (18) |
| 2004–2006 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 69 | (8) |
| 2006–2007 | Reading | 30 | (4) |
| 2007–2010 | Fulham | 18 | (1) |
| 2009 | → Al-Hilal (loan) | 7 | (1) |
| 2010 | Pohang Steelers | 16 | (7) |
| 2011 | Ulsan Hyundai | 29 | (3) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 1999–2000 | South Korea U-23 | 21 | (8) |
| 2000– | South Korea | 83 | (19) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 27 November 2011. † Appearances (Goals). |
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| Seol Ki-Hyeon | |
|---|---|
| Hangul | 설기현 |
| Hanja | 薛琦鉉 |
| Revised Romanization | Seol Gi-Hyeon |
| McCune–Reischauer | Sŏl Ki-Hyŏn |
Seol Ki-Hyeon or Seol Ki-Hyun (Korean: 설기현; born 8 January 1979 in Jeongseon, Gangwon) is a South Korean professional footballer who plays for Ulsan Hyundai as a winger or striker. He is also the first South Korean footballer to score in the history of the UEFA Champions League, during his time at RSC Anderlecht.
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At the end of his time as a college player in Korea, the young striker was advised to join the J League in Japan, but chose instead to try and establish his career in Europe.
After one successful season with Royal Antwerp (2000–01), he moved to Anderlecht. He played in the UEFA Champions League, and in the Belgian Super Cup, he scored a hat-trick in the space of 12 minutes.
In 2004, Seol moved to England, joining Championship club Wolverhampton Wanderers. He made over 30 appearances by the end of the 2004–05 season, scoring a few goals too. The Wolverhampton coach at the time, Glenn Hoddle, preferred Seol as one of his first-choice strikers, using him in a wide, supporting role to the main strikers.
Disappointed with the failure of Wolves to win promotion from The Championship, Seol sought a move to the Premier League following the 2006 FIFA World Cup, despite having two years of his contract left. He was reported as saying "At this stage, I'm frustrated not to be in the Premiership. I think there will be some good news after the World Cup."[1]
Seol eventually joined newly promoted Premier League club Reading on 12 July 2006 for a fee of £1 million (rising to £1.5 million based on certain criteria).[2] He scored his first Premiership goal as Reading won 2–1 at Sheffield United on September 16, 2006.[3] He scored his second goal for Reading against West Ham United, proving to be only goal of the match.[4] His third goal for Reading, his first at home, came on 18 November 2006 in the 2–0 win against Charlton Athletic.[5] He scored his fourth goal against Blackburn, the last game of the season.
Seol left Reading for Fulham on 31 August 2007 for an undisclosed fee on a three-year contract, with Liam Rosenior going the other way.[6] Reading boss Steve Coppell admitted that strained relations between him and Seol led to the move.[7] He did not score his first goal for Fulham until August 16, 2008 against Hull City, despite Fulham eventually losing 2-1.[8] Seol signed an initial 6 month loan move to Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia with a view to a permanent move on the 14th January 2009[9] Seol stated he desires to stay at Fulham to win his place in the squad,[10] and he went on to score his second goal for the club against FK Vetra in the Europa League.[11] In January 2010, to increase first-team football playing time and to improve his chance to be included in the Korean last-23 in 2010 FIFA World Cup, Seol engaged in loan talks with the Hong Kong First Division Club South China[12] but no deal was agreed. It was announced on 15 January that Seol Ki-Hyeon's contract with Fulham had been cancelled by mutual consent.[13]
On January 17, 2010, He completed a move to Pohang Steelers. His first tournament for Pohang Steelers was the 2010 Lunar New Year Cup in Hong Kong.
On 16 February 2011, he has agreed a one-year contract with K-League side Ulsan Hyundai FC to be a regular in the starting lineup.
Seol plays for South Korea internationally. He played in his first World Cup in front of his home crowd, South Korea being co-hosts with Japan for the 2002 finals. Seol was a key member of the South Korea squad during the tournament, memorably scoring the equalising goal against Italy in the knock-out stages.[14]
He married Yoon Mi in 2002. In-Woong, their son, was born in that same year. In 2005, daughter Soo-A was born.
Seol was voted by Reading fans as the official Player of the Month for August[15] and September 2006. Seol played in all three of the Royals' Premiership games in August when he helped to create three of the four goals scored.
| Club performance | League | Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Belgium | League | Belgian Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 2000-01 | Royal Antwerp | First Division | 25 | 10 | 2 | 1 | - | - | 27 | 11 | ||
| 2001-02 | Anderlecht | First Division | 20 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | 3 | 1 | 23 | 4 | |
| 2002-03 | 32 | 12 | 3 | 0 | - | 8 | 1 | 43 | 13 | |||
| 2003-04 | 19 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | 6 | 1 | 26 | 4 | |||
| 2004-05 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |||
| England | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 2004-05 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Championship | 37 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | 40 | 6 | |
| 2005-06 | 32 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | - | 36 | 4 | |||
| 2006-07 | Reading | Premier League | 27 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 31 | 4 | |
| 2007-08 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 3 | 0 | |||
| 2007-08 | Fulham | Premier League | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | 15 | 0 | |
| 2008-09 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | - | 6 | 1 | |||
| Saudi Arabia | League | Crown Prince Cup | League Cup | Asia | Total | |||||||
| 2008-09 | Al-Hilal | Premier League | 7 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 24 | 1 |
| England | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 2009-10 | Fulham | Premier League | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| South Korea | League | KFA Cup | League Cup | Asia | Total | |||||||
| 2010 | Pohang Steelers | K-League | 16 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 7 |
| Total | Belgium | 97 | 28 | 6 | 1 | - | 18 | 3 | 121 | 32 | ||
| England | 117 | 13 | 10 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 136 | 16 | ||
| Saudi Arabia | 7 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 24 | 1 | ||
| South Korea | 16 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 7 | ||
| Career total | 237 | 48 | 21 | 2 | 12 | 2 | 29 | 4 | 299 | 56 | ||
| Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 5, 2000 | Seoul | Laos | 3 goals | 9-0 | 2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification |
| April 9, 2000 | Seoul | Myanmar | 2 goals | 4-0 | 2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification |
| October 7, 2000 | Dubai | Australia | 1 goal | 4-2 | 2000 LG Cup |
| February 11, 2001 | Dubai | United Arab Emirates | 1 goal | 4-1 | 2001 Emarate Cup |
| May 26, 2002 | Suwon | France | 1 goal | 2-3 | Friendly match |
| June 18, 2002 | Daejeon | Italy | 1 goal | 1-1 (2-1 a.e.t.) | 2002 FIFA World Cup |
| November 20, 2002 | Seoul | Brazil | 1 goal | 2-3 | Friendly match |
| February 14, 2004 | Ulsan | Oman | 1 goal | 5-0 | Friendly match |
| July 31, 2004 | Jinan | Iran | 1 goal | 3-4 | 2004 AFC Asian Cup |
| May 26, 2006 | Seoul | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1 goal | 2-0 | Friendly match |
| September 2, 2006 | Seoul | Iran | 1 goal | 1-1 | 2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification |
| September 6, 2006 | Suwon | Chinese Taipei | 2 goals | 8-0 | 2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification |
| February 6, 2008 | Seoul | Turkmenistan | 2 goals | 4-0 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| September 5, 2009 | Seoul | Australia | 1 goal | 3-1 | Friendly match |
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