Lee Cheon-soo Soars as Full-Time Player

”Nimble feet” Lee Cheon-soo, 23, (Numancia) played full time in Spain’s pro soccer league, the Primera Liga, and made an extraordinary play.

Lee Cheon-soo contributed to his team’s 1-0 victory all over the field as an attacking midfielder and also centerfielder in a home game against Hetafe in the Primera Liga 2004-2005 season yesterday at Los Pajaritos Stadium, Soria, Spain.

Francisco, the coach of Numancia, expressed his satisfaction in an interview with the Spanish sports journal “AS,” saying, “Lee Cheon-soo is one of the best players on the team and who can get goals. He was too fast for the other players to catch him.”

Four minutes after the game started, Lee Cheon-soo made an exquisite free kick 30m from the goal that was barely kicked by the opposite team’s goalkeeper.

Six minutes into the game, Lee Cheon-soo broke through the opposite team’s defense line on the left side, surprising them, and Julio Pineda, seizing the opportunity, received a pass and put in a shot on goal that led the team to victory.

In the second half, Lee, attacking from the front, snatched a ball bounced from an opposing defender and launched a powerful right-footed shot on goal 41 minutes into the game. Unfortunately, the ball hit the left goal post and bounced back, losing Lee a chance to record his first goal in the Primera Liga.

Lee Cheon-soo joined the Real Sociedad Team in the Primera Liga last year, the first time ever for a Korean soccer player. His record was only two assists in a total of 13 games last season, and he was loaned to Numancia last month. In just two games, he has taken a position as a major player on the team.

Numancia, which has been back and forth between the Primera Liga (the first league) and the second league, enjoyed victory over its opponent that day for the first time in four years, jumping the team to ninth place among 20 teams with one win, two ties, and one loss.

Lee Cheon-soo’s next game will be against Malagawa on September 23, where he will again be seeking his first Primera Liga goal.

Soon-Il Kwon stt77@donga.com