Lee Eul-yong

In this Korean name, the family name is Lee.

Lee Eul-yong (Korean: 이을용; born 8 September 1975) is a South Korean football coach, manager and former player.

Lee Eul-yong

Personal information
Full name	Lee Eul-yong
Date of birth	(1975-09-08) 8 September 1975 (age 49)
Place of birth	Taebaek, Gangwon, South Korea
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
1991–1993	Gangneung Commerce High School
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1995	Korea Railroad
1996–1997	Sangmu FC (draft)
1998–2003	Bucheon SK	90	(11)
2002–2003	→ Trabzonspor (loan)	19	(0)
2003–2004	FC Seoul	27	(0)
2004–2006	Trabzonspor	55	(1)
2006–2008	FC Seoul	57	(0)
2009–2011	Gangwon FC	58	(1)
Total		306	(13)
International career
1999–2006	South Korea	51	(3)
Managerial career
2012–2014	Gangwon FC (assistant)
2018	FC Seoul (caretaker)
Medal record Men's football Representing  South Korea EAFF Championship 2003 Japan Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Lee Eul-yong
Hangul	이을용
Hanja	李乙容
Revised Romanization	I Eul-yong
McCune–Reischauer	I Ŭryong

Early life

Lee was born in Taebaek, Gangwon, and attended high school in Gangneung. He continued his football career during his school days, but he failed to join a university football club. He stopped playing football for a while before receiving an offer to join semi-professional club Korea Railroad.^[1][2] His son, Lee Tae-seok, too is a football player.

International career

Lee was part of the South Korean national team in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Noted for his accurate kicks including free-kicks, he provided two assists against Poland and the United States, and scored a free-kick against Turkey. After the World Cup, he transferred to Trabzonspor with the help of Tınaz Tırpan.^[3]

In September 2006, after a match against Chinese Taipei, Lee announced that he would retire from the national team to focus on FC Seoul and also to make way for younger players in the upcoming 2010 FIFA World Cup.^[4][5]

Personal life

Internet meme

Main article: Eul-yong Ta

Lee is well known by most South Koreans and other Asian football fans for a famous incident which is sometimes referred as "Eul-yong Ta (을용타)," and roughly translated as 'Eul-yong Strike/Smash'. The incident occurred during a match against China in the inaugural East Asian Cup in December 2003.

During the second half of the game, Chinese forward Li Yi kicked Lee in the shins immediately after he finished his pass. Visually upset with Li's violent play, Lee slapped Li on the back of his head. Li Yi started rolling on the pitch grabbing his head in an apparent exaggeration. For a while the entire Chinese and Korean squad ran toward the scene but further conflict did not occur, as the referee awarded a yellow card for Li and red card for Lee. Korea defeated China in the match, and Lee became the source of a popular internet meme after the incident.

Career statistics

Club

As of 23 October 2011

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Korea Railroad	1995	Semipro League	?	?	?	?	?	?	—		?	?
Sangmu FC (draft)	1996	Semipro League	?	?	?	?	?	?	—		?	?
	1997	Semipro League	?	?	?	?	?	?	—		?	?
	Total		?	?	?	?	?	?	—		?	?
Bucheon SK	1998	K League	14	3	2	0	19	0	—		35	3
	1999	K League	17	1	3	0	8	0	—		28	1
	2000	K League	27	5	3	0	10	0	—		40	5
	2001	K League	26	2	1	0	0	0	—		27	2
	2002	K League	6	0	0	0	1	0	—		7	0
	Total		90	11	9	0	38	0	—		137	11
Trabzonspor (loan)	2002–03	Süper Lig	19	0	2	0	—		—		21	0
FC Seoul	2003	K League	17	0	1	0	—		—		18	0
	2004	K League	10	0	0	0	0	0	—		10	0
	Total		27	0	1	0	0	0	—		28	0
Trabzonspor	2004–05	Süper Lig	26	0	3	0	—		3	0	32	0
	2005–06	Süper Lig	29	1	3	0	—		2	0	34	1
	Total		55	1	6	0	—		5	0	66	1
FC Seoul	2006	K League	14	0	2	0	0	0	—		16	0
	2007	K League	22	0	2	0	8	1	—		32	1
	2008	K League	21	0	0	0	9	0	—		30	0
	Total		57	0	4	0	17	1	—		78	1
Gangwon FC	2009	K League	22	0	1	0	2	0	—		25	0
	2010	K League	17	0	0	0	0	0	—		17	0
	2011	K League	19	1	2	0	1	0	—		22	1
	Total		58	1	3	0	3	0	—		64	1
Career total			306	13	25	0	58	1	5	0	394	14

International

Results list South Korea's goal tally first.

List of international goals scored by Lee Eul-yong

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	29 June 2002	Daegu, South Korea	Turkey	1–1	2–3	2002 FIFA World Cup
2	29 September 2003	Incheon, South Korea	Nepal	8–0	16–0	2004 AFC Asian Cup qualification
3	4 June 2006	Edinburgh, Scotland	Ghana	1–1	1–3	Friendly

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role	Note(s)	Ref.
2015	Cheongchun FC Hungry Eleven	Himself
2020	We Can Game	Himself
2022	Gundesliga	Himself		[6]
2022–present	Kick A Goal Season 3	Himself		[7]

Honours

Player

Sangmu FC

• Korean Semi-professional League (Autumn): 1996, 1997
• Korean National Championship: 1996

Bucheon SK

• Korean League Cup: 2000+

Trabzonspor

• Turkish Cup: 2003

FC Seoul

• Korean League Cup runner-up: 2007

South Korea

• EAFF Championship: 2003

Individual

• K League All-Star: 2001, 2003, 2004^[8][9][10]

Television personality

List of awards and nominations received by TV personality Lee Eul-yong

Award ceremony	Year	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
SBS Entertainment Awards	2022	Leader of the Year Award[a]	Kick A Goal	Won	[12]

1. Shared with Ha Seok-ju, Kim Byung-ji, Kim Tae-young, Choi Jin-cheul, Choi Sung-yong, Hyun Young-min, Lee Young-pyo, Oh Beom-seok, Cho Jae-jin and Baek Ji-hoon^[11]