“Motivated Bridge Room” Choi Tae-wook Transfers To Incheon

"My skills have revived since I got married. Since being dealt to the best team in the league, my hometown team, the next target is making it abroad."

The “prince” of the Korean Olympic soccer team, Choi Tae-wook (23), left his ex-team

An-Yang LG and agreed to sign the most premium contract in free agent history with the newly launched team, Incheon United FC, as he settles down.

Choi`s transfer fee is nearly $1.1 million.

The size of Choi`s contract is the largest in domestic history which exceeds the $1 million contract of Kim Dae-yi (Suwon Samsung) and Kim Eun-joong (An-Yang) respectively over two days. The contract term is five years and the annual salary has yet to be revealed to the public, but it`s rumored to be estimated at $200,000 plus incentives.

Choi Tae-wook led his team to become the strongest team in Korea in the late 1990s along with his high school teammate Lee Chun-soo (Spain Real Sosiad) and jumped to the pros in 2000.

Packed with blazing speed (he can sprint the 100m in 11 seconds) and his medium range shooting abilities, Choi went through the juniors, the Olympic team, and the National team and is currently preparing for the world stage.

His capabilities has been proven during the recent Olympic games as he came off the friendly match in Qatar. Choi performed a hat trick in the opening match against Paraguay and scored six goals to finish as the scoring king.

Choi has brilliantly improved with his marriage. Lets hear some words from his equally young wife. "Choi and I talk a lot about soccer. Our future plans are shaping up as well. Choi knows more than anyone else that’s his drawback is playing timidly. We try to work it out together. Now that he is back with his hometown team, he will overcome it."

The couple can’t spare time for their sweet honeymoon. After their honeymoon, Choi joined the Olympic team 10 days later for field training. On January 31, Choi must head to Turkey for another training session.

"Of course, soccer is my first priority. I`ll save the sugary honeymoon for later," said Choi. The bride commented, "I`m just happy to hear that Choi improved after marriage. I`ll help him focus on soccer and that will be my role."

Choi Tae-wook’s dream is to make it to the English Premier League. Money is an important issue but even more than that, the Incheon team`s promise for cooperatively assisting Choi to move abroad was a bigger motivation.

" Nothing more excited me than coming back home. My wife advised me to have a fresh mindset and exert it on soccer. This year, the Olympic final preliminary round and the main round are in place, and I believe great results will show with my efforts."

Jong-Koo Yang yjongk@donga.com