Lee Woon-jae

Lee Woon-Jae
이운재

Woon-Jae with Suwon Samsung Bluewings in 2009
Personal information
Date of birth (1973-04-26) 26 April 1973
Place of birth Cheongju, Chungbuk, South Korea
Height 1.82 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Goalkeeper
Youth career
1994–1995 Kyung Hee University
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–2010 Suwon Samsung Bluewings 267 (0)
2000–2001 → Sangmu (Army)
2011–2012 Chunnam Dragons 63 (0)
Total 330 (0)
National team
1992–1996 South Korea U-23 16 (0)
2002 South Korea U-23 9 (0)
1993–2010 South Korea 133 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
Lee Woon-jae
Hangul 이운재
Hanja 李雲在
Revised Romanization I Un-jae
McCune–Reischauer I Unjae

Lee Woon-jae (Korean: 이운재; born 26 April 1973) is a South Korean former football goalkeeper who last played for Chunnam Dragons in the K-League. He was part of Korea's 1994, 2002, 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cup campaigns. In South Korea, he is also known as "Spider Hands".

Playing career

Suwon Samsung Bluewings

Lee moved to Suwon from Kyung Hee University, making his debut for the K-League club in 1996. He made over 100 appearances during his first spell with the club before moving to Sangmu, the sports division of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces while serving his mandatory two-year period of military service. He returned to Suwon in 2002 and remained at the club since, amassing over 200 league appearances for the club.

International career

Lee has been a member of the South Korea national team since the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. He was a part of the 1994 World Cup squad in the United States and was substituted into the game against Germany after starting goalkeeper Choi In-young conceded three goals. At the 2002 World Cup, Lee was selected in South Korea manager Guus Hiddink's squad and was first-choice goalkeeper ahead of Kim Byung-ji. In 2006, he started for Korea at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, ahead of younger high-profile goalkeepers such as Kim Young-kwang. He captained the side at the 2007 Asian Cup in place of the injured Kim Nam-il.

Lee is well known for saving vital penalties during international competitions. At the 2002 World Cup, he made football history during the quarter-final between Spain and South Korea, which ended in a draw and went to penalties. After both sides scored their first three penalties, Korea scored its fourth goal, and Lee blocked Spain's fourth shot, taken by the 21-year-old winger Joaquín. Korea scored its fifth penalty and went on to the semi-finals against Germany. In addition, he saved a total of three shootout penalties during the 2007 Asian Cup, two against Iran and one against Japan (they would win both matches and finish third overall). Before the 2007 Asian Cup match against Bahrain, Lee was suspended for a year after he sneaked out from his hotel room and went on a drinking binge in an Indonesian bar along with South Korean teammates Kim Sang-sik, Woo Sung-yong and Lee Dong-gook.

Lee is one of two players (the other being Rigobert Song of Cameroon) to be selected for the 2010 World Cup that were also selected for the 1994 World Cup. He is one of seven players from Asia to play in four different World Cups.

He played his last game for the national team in a friendly against Nigeria on 11 August 2010 in a 2–1 victory, subsequently retiring from international football.

Career statistics

As of 7 November 2011
Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
South Korea League KFA Cup League Cup Asia Total
1996Suwon BluewingsK-League 120??10-130
199770??100-170
1998180??160-340
199927000120-390
2000Sangmu-??--
2001-??--
2002Suwon BluewingsK-League1904000??230
200341010--420
20042300030-260
2005170309060350
20061301010-150
200725010100-360
200828000110-390
2009250501050360
2010120202070230
2011Chunnam Dragons3002040-360
Career total 29701908001804140

International career statistics

[1]

Korea Republic national team
YearAppsGoals
199430
199510
199600
199700
199800
199920
200080
2001120
2002150
2003140
2004150
2005150
2006160
200780
200820
2009130
201090
Total1330

International clean sheets

Results list South Korea's goal tally first.

Honours

Individual

Club

Suwon Bluewings

International

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lee Woon-jae Official Records at KFA.com
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Hong Myung-bo		 South Korea captain
2002–2008 		Succeeded by
Park Ji-sung
Preceded by
Yeom Dong-gyun		 Chunnam Dragons captain
2011–2012 		Succeeded by
Lee Seung-hee
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