Ji So-yun

Ji So-yun
지소연

Ji in 2010
Personal information
Date of birth (1991-02-21) 21 February 1991
Place of birth Seoul, South Korea
Height 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)[1]
Playing position Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Chelsea
Number 10
Youth career
2006–2008 Dongsan Info & Industry HS
2009–2010 Hanyang Women's College
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2013 INAC Kobe Leonessa 48 (21)
2014– Chelsea 49 (17)
National team‡
2007–2008 South Korea U17 14 (11)
2007–2010 South Korea U20 17 (13)
2006– South Korea[2] 95 (45)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 3 June 2017.
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11 April 2017
Ji So-yun
Hangul 지소연
Hanja 池笑然
Revised Romanization Ji Soyeon
McCune–Reischauer Chi Soyŏn

Ji So-yun (Korean: 지소연, Korean pronunciation: [tɕi.so.jʌn]; born 21 February 1991) is a South Korean professional footballer who plays for Chelsea LFC in the FA WSL and the South Korean national team.

Club career

Ji lining up for Chelsea in 2014
Ji lining up for Chelsea in 2014.

Ji started her career in Japan, playing for L. League champions INAC Kobe Leonessa between 2011 and 2013. In November 2013, Ji was subject to a transfer bid from English club Chelsea.[3] She agreed to a two-year contract in January 2014.[4] When the transfer was officially confirmed later that month, Chelsea coach Emma Hayes said of Ji: "She is one of the best midfielders in the world and our fans will love her."[5] In one of her final matches for the Japanese club, Ji scored against her soon to be new club, Chelsea in the International Women's Club Championship final.[6]

Ji was named Players' Player of the Year after her first season in England, as Chelsea narrowly missed out on the FA WSL 1 league title on the last day of the season.[7] She was named PFA Women's Players' Player of the Year in April 2015 and was also named in the PFA WSL Team of the Year.[8][9]

At the 2015 FA Women's Cup Final, staged at Wembley Stadium for the first time, Ji scored the only goal of the match to win the Cup for Chelsea.[10] In October 2015 she also scored in Chelsea's 4–0 win over Sunderland which secured the club's first FA WSL title and a League and Cup "double".[11]

International career

Ji has represented South Korea at Under 17 level and was part of the Under 20 team that finished runners up at the 2009 AFC U-19 Women's Championship and third at the 2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.[12]

In October 2006, Ji made her senior team debut while playing at the 2006 Peace Queen Cup. On 30 November 2006, she became the youngest goalscorer (15 years, 282 days) for the South Korean senior team, after scoring two goals against Chinese Taipei in the 2006 Asian Games.[12]

Ji is the all-time top goal scorer of the South Korean women's national football team.

Honours

Club

International

Individual

International goals

Scores and results list South Korea's goal tally first.

References

  1. ↑ 2015 World Cup
  2. ↑ "지소연 JI Soyun[FW]" (in Korean). Korea Football Association official website. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  3. ↑ "Chelsea Ladies FC interested in signing Ji So-yeon". Arirang (TV network). 29 November 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  4. ↑ "Korean footballer Ji So-yun to sign two-year deal with Chelsea Ladies". Arirang (TV network). 3 January 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  5. ↑ "Chelsea Ladies sign South Korean midfielder Ji So-Yun". BBC Sport. 28 January 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  6. ↑ Bond, Steve (8 December 2013). "Chelsea Ladies lose to Inac Kobe Leonessa despite defiant late rally". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  7. ↑ "Chelsea's Ji So-Yun named WSL player's player of the year". BBC Sport. 14 November 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  8. ↑ "Who won what? PFA award winners in full". BBC Sport. 26 April 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  9. ↑ "Chelsea midfielder Ji So-yun is the PFA Women's Player of the Year". Sky Sports. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  10. ↑ Aloia, Andrew (1 August 2015). "How Chelsea won the Women's FA Cup". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  11. ↑ Garry, Tom (4 October 2015). "WSL 1: Chelsea Ladies 4-0 Sunderland Ladies". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  12. 1 2 "[한국축구유망주60] 지소연: 여자축구의 미래이자 희망" (in Korean). Korea Football Association. 30 June 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
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