Football veteran Lee Young-pyo announced retirement

Korean football veteran Lee Young-pyo announced his retirement through his Canadian club on October 23, wrote Korea Observer.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC in the Major League Soccer (MLS) confirmed on its website that Lee, 36, will play his final football game on Sunday at its home against Colorado Rapids.

“I have been playing (football) for the last 28 years, so I think it’s time to stop,” Lee was quoted as saying on the website. “It is an emotional time for me, but I’m so happy because when I came here two years ago, I never expected to finish my career like this. I’m so happy to retire with a great team and great people. I owe thanks to everybody.” The crafty left fullback was an integral part of South Korea’s improbable run to the semifinals at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, which the country co-hosted with Japan. He also represented South Korea at the 2006 and 2010 World Cups, and retired from international play in early January. He ranks on the all-time South Korean list with 127 caps.

Lee started his club career in 2000 with Anyang LG Cheetahs (currently FC Seoul) in the domestic K League Classic and later played for the Dutch giant PSV Eindhoven under Guus Hiddink, the former South Korean national team head coach for the 2002 World Cup. Lee was teammates with midfielder Park Ji-sung on PSV, where they won two Dutch league titles.

He later followed Park to the English Premier League, becoming the second South Korean to join the English competition when he signed with Tottenham Hotspur in 2005. After three seasons there, the fullback joined Borussia Dortmund in the German Bundesliga.

The well-traveled man also suited up for Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal and made 64 appearances there before joining Vancouver in 2011.

He has played two full seasons with the Whitecaps. After playing the full 90 minutes in all 33 of his matches and missing just one contest, Lee was named the 2012 Whitecaps Player of the Year.

This season, he has appeared in 29 of the team’s 31 games.

Looking ahead to the final match of his career, Lee said it will be “the most memorable game in my life.” “I’m a happy guy,” he said. “I learned so many things throughout my career, much more than I had expected when I was young.” Martin Rennie, Whitecaps’ head coach, said Lee will be remembered as “a really significant player” in the team’s history.

“I think that he helped our team become more professional, he helped players learn more about what it means to succeed at this level, and he’s just a really positive role model on and off the field,” Rennie said.

“He is a legend, and I think not just because how well he’s done as a player throughout the world but for the kind of person that he is.”

Source: Korea Observer.