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February, 2009 No.006

“Little iron man” LEE Yeong Pyo transfers to Germany and completes a full revival

LEE Yeong Pyo plays against Germany Bundesliga club Schalke 04 on September 13th 2008
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Korea Rep. national team side back LEE Yeong Pyo has recently become known as “the little iron man”. He was studying at KonKuk University when he got called up for his national team debut in June 1999, despite having had no youth team playing experience. His call up was thanks to coach Huh Jung-Moo who saw LEE’s potential whilst he was both the Korea Rep. national team coach and Sydney Olympics team coach and he has gone on to play in two FIFA World Cups, the 2002 and 2006 finals tournaments. In November 2008 he received his 100th cap for his country during their FIFA World Cup South Africa Asian Final Qualifier versus Saudi Arabia and it was due to this, and his performances with his German Bundesliga club, Borussia Dortmund, that have earned him the nickname “the little iron man”. Between marking his first Bundesliga assist in the September 28th, 2008 match versus Stuttgart and the Bayern Munich match on February 9th 2009 he recorded 14 consecutive full match appearances. Including cup games, he has 18 full match appearances this season which have cemented his nickname as “the little iron man”.
However, prior to this season starting, his position was uncertain. His appearances for English Premier League club Tottenham, where he had been transferred to in the summer of 2005, had taken a sharp downturn.

Coach Martin Jol who had praised him by saying “Gifted left backs like LEE Yeong Pyo are rare in Europe” had been replaced by Coach Ramon Diaz who increasingly preferred him warming the bench, resulting in a mere 18 appearances in the 2007-08 season. Since last season, his number 3 shirt had been taken from him and he found himself on the transfer list. This was clearly humiliating for LEE a player who had been spotted by Gus Hiddink and transferred to PSV Eindhoven, starring in their 2004-05 UEFA Champions League semi final against AC Milan.
Once on the transfer list he received offers from Dutch clubs, PSV and AZ but the team LEE Yeong Pyo chose was Bundesliga club Dortmund. In this season’s opening match Dortmund’s left back Dede injured the ligaments in his left knee resulting in a long term injury. Due to that LEE’s contract was extended to one year. The Korean media were still questioning LEE’s future but in the meantime, as mentioned above, this provided a revival to his career. The club have extended his contract for another year. Before their home match against Wolfsburg LEE joined the “century club” (100 first class matches) with the fans showing their support by giving him a ball and chanting his name. German newspaper “Bild-Zeitung” reported that “LEE Yeong Pyo came to Dortmund on a 600,000 Euro transfer but his market value is surely now 3,000,000 Euro”.

Why do they value LEE Yeong Pyo so highly? One reason is surely his versatility in filling both left and right back positions. The image of him playing as a left back in the 2002 FIFA World Cup and for PSV is strong but originally he was used as a right footed, right back. For the Korea Rep. national team too he has been used as both a left and right back and his versatility has flourished at Dortmund. It has become a valuable weapon of his. It is rare for someone of only 176cm to be such a trusted defender. “My style is to try my best not to give away any fouls when I am defending”, instead he relies on his bountiful stamina to cut down space and reads the game well thanks to his judgment, experience and presence. He also offers his young Dortmund team a strong competitor and a team player who has come through the battlefields of FIFA World Cups and UEFA Champions League. Dortmund youth team MF Florian Kringe had the following evaluation of LEE on the team website: “I have a good impression of LEE Yeong Pyo. He’s a player who reminds me of Philipp Lahm. Except that he is a little older than Lahm. More than Dede he understands any problems in the defensive line and moves to solve them.”

As a regular member of the Korea Rep. national team in their FIFA World Cup Asian Final Qualifier versus UAE on October 15th 2008.
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Philipp Lahm is widely known as a side back who, like LEE, can play both left or right for Bayern Munich and is a current German national team star. To be compared to Lahm must be a huge compliment for LEE. The Korea Rep. media have interpreted the words “understands any problem” and also praised LEE for his trustworthiness.
However the Korea Rep. media also highlighted the following. “It will be a crucial moment when the out-and-out left back Dede returns to them team”. Surely he will not have forgotten the mistreatment he received at Tottenham just yet. The issue is his attacking play. The German internet news site evaluated his performances by saying “the void Dede left was filled by bringing in a technical player. He has shown his value by working to shut down attacks but his own attacking ability is still lacking.” They are calling for him to now become a total player by aggressively participating in attacks and contributing goals and assists and therefore producing “results”. In particular, his step-over-feint move comes up whenever talking about LEE Yeong Pyo.
That's why the sight of LEE boldly taking on and attacking defenders in Germany is so sought after. More developments can be expected from “the little iron man”, a devoted Christian who has inscribed on his chair the words “A genius cannot beat a hard worker; a hard worker cannot beat someone who loves the game”.

＜Profile＞
DF LEE Yeong Pyo was born on April 23rd 1977 in Korea Rep. In 1999 he made his Olympic team debut whilst studying at KonKuk University and his professional debut in 2000 for Anyang LG Charters (now FC Seoul). His performance at the 2002 FIFA World Cup caught the eye of Coach Gus Hiddink who transferred him to Dutch giants PSV. He played from 2005-2008 at EPL club Tottenham including a 2006 FIFA World Cup campaign. In summer 2008 he transferred to Germany’s Dortmund. He is one of a handful of Asian defensive players to regularly start in a European league. 176cm, 66 kgs.

Text＝ SHIN Mu Koeng)/Pitch commnications