Lee withSuwon Samsung Bluewings in 2009 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Lee Woon-jae[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1973-04-26)26 April 1973 (age 52) | ||
| Place of birth | Cheongju,Chungbuk, South Korea | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (5 ft11+1⁄2 in) | ||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1986–1988 | Cheongju Daeseong Middle School | ||
| 1989–1991 | Cheongju Commercial High School [ko] | ||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1992–1995 | Kyung Hee University [ko] | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1996–2010 | Suwon Samsung Bluewings | 267 | (0) |
| 2000–2001 | →Sangmu FC (draft) | ||
| 2011–2012 | Jeonnam Dragons | 63 | (0) |
| Total | 330 | (0) | |
| International career | |||
| 1994–2002 | South Korea U23 | 32[α] | (0) |
| 1993 | South Korea B | ||
| 1994–2010 | South Korea | 133 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
| Lee Woon-jae | |
| Hangul | 이운재 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 李雲在 |
| RR | I Unjae |
| MR | I Unjae |
Lee Woon-jae (Korean: 이운재; born 26 April 1973) is a South Korean formerfootball goalkeeper. He was part of South Korea's1994,2002,2006 and2010 FIFA World Cup campaigns. He was the only Asian player nominated for theIFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper of the 21st Century (2001–2011).[4]
Lee was a part of theSouth Korean national team for the1994 FIFA World Cup. He was substituted into the game againstGermany for main goalkeeperChoi In-young and did not concede a goal in 45 minutes. After the 1994 World Cup, he suffered fromtuberculosis andhepatitis and worried that his playing career might end. Luckily, he made a recovery and came back to the national team in 1998, although not in time for the World Cup in France.[5]
Lee was selected forGuus Hiddink's squad for the2002 FIFA World Cup as the first-choice goalkeeper after the rivalry againstKim Byung-ji. He appeared all of seven matches until the third place play-off, and kept three clean sheets againstPoland,Portugal andSpain in the tournament. He made the history of South Korean football in the quarter-finals against Spain. After the match was ended without a goal until extra time, Lee blocked Spain's fourth shot taken byJoaquín in the penalty shoot-out. South Korea defeated Spain 5–3 on penalties, becoming the first-ever Asian team to advance to the semi-finals in the World Cup.[6][7] South Korea finished fourth place in the tournament.
Lee captained South Korea at the2007 AFC Asian Cup in place of the injuredKim Nam-il. He kept clean sheets in all of South Korea's games in the knockout stage and saved a total of three penalties in shoot-outs (two againstIran and one againstJapan). He was selected as the goalkeeper of the All-Star XI. However, he was suspended from the national team for a year, because he sneaked out from his hotel room and went on a drinking binge in an Indonesian bar along with teammatesKim Sang-sik,Woo Sung-yong andLee Dong-gook before the match againstBahrain, which defeated South Korea.
Lee is one of two players (the other beingRigobert Song ofCameroon) to be selected for four World Cups from 1994 to2010. 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 againstNigeria on 11 August 2010 in a 2–1 victory and subsequently retired from international football.
Nicknamed the "Spider Hands" in South Korea,[8] Lee is regarded as one of the greatest Asiangoalkeepers of all time.[9] He didn't have good height and rapid pace, but showed great judgments and the harmonies with defenders.[8] He was noted for his predictive ability and this made him strong on thepenalty shoot-out. In shoot-outs of hisK League career, he won 92% of matches (11 out of 12) and saved 45% of shots (26 out of 58).[10]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Suwon Samsung Bluewings | 1996 | K League | 12 | 0 | ?[a] | ? | 1 | 0 | — | — | 13 | 0 | ||
| 1997 | K League | 7 | 0 | ?[a] | ? | 10 | 0 | — | — | 17 | 0 | |||
| 1998 | K League | 18 | 0 | ?[a] | ? | 16 | 0 | — | — | 34 | 0 | |||
| 1999 | K League | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | — | 1[b] | 0 | 40 | 0 | ||
| 2002 | K League | 19 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ?[c] | ? | — | 23 | 0 | ||
| 2003 | K League | 41 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 42 | 0 | ||||
| 2004 | K League | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 26 | 0 | |||
| 2005 | K League | 17 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2[d] | 0 | 37 | 0 | |
| 2006 | K League | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 15 | 0 | |||
| 2007 | K League | 25 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | — | — | 36 | 0 | |||
| 2008 | K League | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | — | — | 39 | 0 | |||
| 2009 | K League | 25 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1[e] | 0 | 37 | 0 | |
| 2010 | K League | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | 23 | 0 | ||
| Total | 267 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 76 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 382 | 0 | ||
| Sangmu FC (draft) | 2000 | Semipro League | ? | ? | ?[f] | ? | — | — | ?[g] | ? | ? | ? | ||
| 2001 | Semipro League | ? | ? | ?[f] | ? | — | — | ?[g] | ? | ? | ? | |||
| Total | ? | ? | ? | ? | — | — | ? | ? | ? | ? | ||||
| Jeonnam Dragons | 2011 | K League | 30 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 36 | 0 | ||
| 2012 | K League | 33 | 0 | ?[a] | ? | — | — | — | 33 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 63 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 69 | 0 | ||||
| Career total | 330 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 80 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 451 | 0 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Korea | 1994 | 3 | 0 |
| 1995 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1999 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2000 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2001 | 12 | 0 | |
| 2002 | 15 | 0 | |
| 2003 | 14 | 0 | |
| 2004 | 15 | 0 | |
| 2005 | 15 | 0 | |
| 2006 | 16 | 0 | |
| 2007 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2008 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2009 | 13 | 0 | |
| 2010 | 9 | 0 | |
| Career total | 133 | 0 | |
| Competition | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| Friendlies | 55 | 0 |
| Minor competitions | 12 | 0 |
| EAFF Championship | 9 | 0 |
| CONCACAF Gold Cup | 3 | 0 |
| AFC Asian Cup qualification | 7 | 0 |
| AFC Asian Cup | 15 | 0 |
| FIFA Confederations Cup | 3 | 0 |
| FIFA World Cup qualification | 18 | 0 |
| FIFA World Cup | 11 | 0 |
| Total | 133 | 0 |
| Year | Title | Role | Note(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Cheongchun FC Hungry Eleven | Himself | ||
| 2018 | Escape Nest Season 3 | Himself | ||
| 2019 | Let's Eat Dinner Together | Himself | Episode 133 | |
| 2022 | Gundesliga | Himself | [13] |
Suwon Samsung Bluewings
Sangmu FC
South Korea U23
South Korea B
South Korea
Individual
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | South Korea captain 2002–2008 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Jeonnam Dragons captain 2011–2012 | Succeeded by |