Turkish Leaguer Returns to FC Seoul

Lee Eul –yong (31), who played in the Turkish league, yesterday joined the FC Seoul team at the Seoul World Cup Stadium and expressed how he feels about his returning to the K-league, saying, “A soccer player should become a warrior on the field.”

Lee said, “I didn’t play well during the World Cup and had many troubles living abroad. I decided now was the best time to come back to the Korean league,” and added that he wanted to see his team win the championship.

When asked whether he might want to shed the image of Turkish warrior, Lee showed his still energetic spirit, saying, “A player should dominate an opponent and become a fighter.”

Lee initially hoped to advance to a European league on the back of the Germany World Cup, but chose to return to the K- league after his plan didn’t go as planned. A director of Lee’s management company, Kim Hak-ryul, stated, “After the World Cup, Lee received worse contract terms and conditions from European teams than before.”

Lee also had many difficulties in living in a foreign country.

Lee noted, “My wife and family had many troubles in living in Turkey and I was worried about my children’s education.”

Lee remarked, “The Turkish league is no different from European leagues. The level of K-league is also not that lower than European’s,” and said that he learned a lot about the game playing in the Turkish league.

Lee stressed, “For the Korean soccer to develop, more young players should move to foreign leagues and K-league players should show performances high enough to satisfy fans.”

FC Seoul coach Lee Jang-soo announced, “We had a big gap on the midfield after Kim Dong-jin pulled out. I’m planning to deploy Lee on the left side at midfield.” Lee’s jersey number is 77.

Jae-Yun Jung jaeyuna@donga.com