South Korean footballer (born 1973)
Choi Yong-soo (Korean : 최 용수 , born 10 September 1973) is a South Korean professional football manager and former player. He competed for South Korea at the 1996 Summer Olympics .[ 1]
Playing career
Choi played as a striker for Anyang LG Cheetahs (currently FC Seoul ) in South Korea's K League . In 2000, he led Anyang to the K League title, receiving the K League MVP Award . He is considered one of the FC Seoul's legends.[ 2]
Choi also played for the South Korean national team in 1998 and 2002 FIFA World Cup .
Managerial career
Choi was appointed as the assistant coach of FC Seoul in August 2006, and was promoted as the caretaker manager in April 2011. He was finally named a permanent coach after leading Seoul as a caretaker manager during the 2011 season. He led his team to the 2012 K League title and the 2013 AFC Champions League Final . They drew all two matches of the Champions League final against Guangzhou Evergrande , a Chinese club led by Marcello Lippi , but couldn't get the title due to the away goals rule . Nevertheless, Choi was named the AFC Coach of the Year.
On 21 June 2016, he was officially appointed as the manager of a Chinese club Jiangsu Suning . He finished as runner-up in the Chinese Super League and the Chinese FA Cup . On 1 June 2017, he officially resigned from Jiangsu Suning.
On 11 October 2018, Choi was officially reappointed as the manager of FC Seoul, which was being threatened with relegation. On 9 December 2018, Choi won the relegation playoffs against Busan IPark , successfully keeping Seoul in the K League.[ 3] On 30 July 2020, he resigned from Seoul due to his poor results in the 2020 season.[ 4]
On 17 November 2021, Choi started to manage Gangwon FC . On 14 June 2023, Choi was replaced by Yoon Jong-hwan at Gangwon FC.
Personal life
Choi divorced his wife in November 2006 after a 15-month-long marriage. His former wife, a one-time contestant in a Miss Korea pageant, went through the legal procedures to take half the estate properties under Choi's name per their prenuptial agreement .[ 5]
In Australia and Pakistan, Choi is known as "Younis Choi", given to him in recognition of his low, swerving shots on goal – much like the signature delivery bowled by Pakistani cricketer Waqar Younis .[citation needed ]
Career statistics
Club
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
Anyang LG Cheetahs
1994
K League
29
9
—
6
1
—
35
10
1995
K League
21
9
—
7
2
—
28
11
1996
K League
16
4
1
0
6
1
—
23
5
1999
K League
20
12
3
5
7
2
—
30
19
2000
K League
25
10
?
?
9
4
2
1
36
15
Total
111
44
4
5
35
10
2
1
152
60
Sangmu FC (draft )
1997
Semipro League
?
?
?
?
—
—
?
?
1998
Semipro League
?
?
?
?
—
—
?
?
Total
?
?
?
?
—
—
?
?
JEF United Ichihara
2001
J1 League
26
21
3
4
5
2
—
34
27
2002
J1 League
23
16
4
3
1
0
—
28
19
2003
J1 League
24
17
0
0
2
0
—
26
17
Total
73
54
7
7
8
2
—
88
63
Kyoto Purple Sanga (loan)
2004
J2 League
33
20
1
0
—
—
34
20
Júbilo Iwata
2005
J1 League
15
1
0
0
1
0
4
2
20
3
FC Seoul
2006
K League
2
0
0
0
0
0
—
2
0
Career total
234
119
12
12
44
12
6
3
296
146
International
Appearances and goals by national team and year[ 6]
National team
Year
Apps
Goals
South Korea
1995
5
1
1997
15
11
1998
24
13
2000
5
0
2001
6
2
2002
8
0
2003
6
0
Career total
69
27
Results list South Korea's goal tally first.
List of international goals scored by Choi Yong-soo
No.
Date
Venue
Cap
Opponent
Score
Result
Competition
1
31 January 1995
Hong Kong
1
Colombia
1–0
1–0
1995 Lunar New Year Cup
2
28 May 1997
Daejeon , South Korea
7
Hong Kong
2–0
4–0
1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
3
3–0
4
14 June 1997
Suwon , South Korea
9
Ghana
2–0
3–0
1997 Korea Cup
5
24 August 1997
Daegu , South Korea
12
Tajikistan
2–0
4–1
Friendly
6
6 September 1997
Seoul , South Korea
14
Kazakhstan
1–0
3–0
1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
7
2–0
8
3–0
9
12 September 1997
Seoul , South Korea
15
Uzbekistan
1–0
2–1
1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
10
11 October 1997
Almaty , Kazakhstan
18
Kazakhstan
1–0
1–1
1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
11
18 October 1997
Tashkent , Uzbekistan
19
Uzbekistan
1–0
5–1
1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
12
3–0
13
27 January 1998
Bangkok , Thailand
21
Egypt
1–0
2–0
1998 King's Cup
14
29 January 1998
Bangkok , Thailand
22
Thailand
2–0
2–0
1998 King's Cup
15
31 January 1998
Bangkok , Thailand
23
Egypt
1–1
1–1 (a.e.t. )(5–4 p )
1998 King's Cup
16
7 February 1998
Auckland , New Zealand
24
New Zealand
1–0
1–0
Friendly
17
18 April 1998
Skopje , Macedonia
30
North Macedonia
2–1
2–2
Friendly
18
27 May 1998
Seoul , South Korea
34
Czech Republic
2–2
2–2
Friendly
19
2 December 1998
Bangkok , Thailand
39
Turkmenistan
1–0
2–3
1998 Asian Games
20
2–0
21
4 December 1998
Bangkok , Thailand
40
Vietnam
2–0
4–0
1998 Asian Games
22
4–0
23
7 December 1998
Bangkok , Thailand
41
Japan
1–0
2–0
1998 Asian Games
24
2–0
25
11 December 1998
Bangkok , Thailand
43
Kuwait
1–0
1–0
1998 Asian Games
26
13 September 2001
Daejeon , South Korea
54
Nigeria
2–2
2–2
Friendly
27
13 November 2001
Gwangju , South Korea
55
Croatia
1–0
1–1
Friendly
Managerial statistics
As of 14 June 2023
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team
From
To
Record
P
W
D
L
Win %
FC Seoul [ a]
26 April 2011
22 June 2016
266
138
70
58
0 51.88
Jiangsu Suning
1 July 2016
1 June 2017
42
19
8
15
0 45.24
FC Seoul [ a]
18 October 2018
30 July 2020
63
22
15
26
0 34.92
Gangwon FC
17 November 2021
14 June 2023
63
21
14
28
0 33.33
Total
434
200
107
127
0 46.08
Honours
Player
FC Seoul
Sangmu FC
South Korea U20
South Korea
Individual
Manager
FC Seoul
Jiangsu Suning
Individual
Notes
^ Includes ten appearances and seven goals in non-international matches (nine appearances and seven goals against non-national teams, one appearance against another KFA team).
References
^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill ; et al. "Choi Yong-soo" . Olympics at Sports-Reference.com . Sports Reference LLC . Archived from the original on 4 December 2016.
^ '독수리' 최용수, FC 서울 둥지 복귀 (in Korean). FC Seoul. 30 January 2006. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2015 .
^ Ha, Sung-ryong (18 December 2018). 간신히 1부 잔류한 FC서울…최용수 감독 "잠도 못 잤다" [FC Seoul, barely staying on the K-league Classic, coach Choi Yong-soo said, "I couldn't sleep."] (in Korean). Seoul Broadcasting System .
^ 최용수 FC서울 감독, 성적 부진 '자진사퇴' (in Korean). The Chosun Ilbo . 30 July 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2022 .
^ '독수리' 최용수,결혼 15개월 만에 파경 . Naver (in Korean). 24 November 2006.
^ "Choi Yong-soo at Korea Football Association" (in Korean). KFA. Retrieved 20 January 2020 .
^ a b Lee, Seung-soo; Schöggl, Hans; Trevena, Mark (13 May 2020). "South Korea - List of Champions" . RSSSF . Retrieved 2 September 2020 .
^ Lee, Seung-soo; Trevena, Mark (8 April 2020). "South Korea - List of Cup Winners" . RSSSF . Retrieved 2 September 2020 .
^ Di Maggio, Roberto; Garin, Erik; Jönsson, Mikael; Morrison, Neil; Stokkermans, Karel (22 November 2018). "Asian U-19/U-20 Championship" . RSSSF . Retrieved 4 September 2020 .
^ Stokkermans, Karel (20 December 2019). "East Asian Championship" . RSSSF . Retrieved 2 September 2020 .
^ 「적토마」고정운 MVP영예 . Naver (in Korean). Kyunghyang Shinmun . 20 November 1994.
^ "Asian Player of the Year" . RSSSF . 18 January 2018.
^ 프로축구 올스타전 . Naver (in Korean). The Chosun Ilbo. 8 August 1998. Retrieved 19 June 2024 .
^ 신세대 축구스타 잠실벌서 뜬다 . Naver (in Korean). The Chosun Ilbo. 21 July 1999. Retrieved 19 June 2024 .
^ '00 나이키 올스타 출전 선수 보기 (in Korean). '00 Nike All-Star Game. Archived from the original on 17 January 2001. Retrieved 19 June 2024 .
^ 패기의 상무 2연패 가을철 실업축구연맹전 . Naver (in Korean). Kyunghyang Shinmun . 17 September 1998. Retrieved 10 March 2022 .
^ "South Korea 1999" . RSSSF . 2 December 2021. Retrieved 11 March 2022 .
^ a b [프로축구] 최용수, 첫 MVP 등극 . Naver (in Korean). Kukmin Ilbo . 1 December 2000.
^ "2001 Jリーグたらみオールスターサッカー" (in Japanese). J.League Data Site. Retrieved 19 June 2024 .
^ "2003 JOMO オールスターサッカー" (in Japanese). J.League Data Site. Retrieved 19 June 2024 .
^ 최용수 FC서울 감독, 9월 K-리그 이달의 감독 선정 (in Korean). The Chosun Ilbo . 1 October 2014. Retrieved 8 December 2023 .
^ 최용수 감독, 3·4월 K리그 `이달의 감독` 선정 (in Korean). The Korea Economic Daily . 11 May 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2023 .
^ 신라스테이, K리그 후원…3월 `이달의 감독상`에 최용수 감독 선정 (in Korean). Maeil Business Newspaper . 7 April 2019. Retrieved 8 December 2023 .
External links
Choi Yong-soo managerial positions