“I’ve learned a lot through my home page”

“It was a good experience. I’ve learned a lot.”

On November 17, 2007, in the final qualifying round of Olympic football in the Asian region, Korean National Football Team finished 0 to 0 against Uzbekistan. Prompted by angry fans criticizing him, Ki Seong-yong (19, FC Seoul) posted on his home page, “If you are frustrated, why don’t you come and play.” That sparked the ire of many fans. He, the youngest on the Korean National Olympic Soccer Team, regarded what happened in 2007 as good opportunity to promote himself.

Your correspondent met him at a training venue in Guri city on Jan. 2, as training for the year has just started. He smiled and said, “I belatedly found that fans criticized me because they liked me. I will do my best for them.”

Simply by luck?

Ki was in the minor leagues until 2006. He moved to the majors when Senol Gunes came to head the FC Seoul in early 2007. Soon after Ki’s arrival to the majors, he joined the Olympic team by appealing to Pim Verbeek. “Many players were injured. And I was lucky,” Ki says.

Last year his team saw unusually many forwards injured such as Kim Eun-jung, Park Joo-young, and Lee Cheong-yong. Gunes saw his ability in the first overseas training and selected him to play in the major league.

Soccer experts say he handles the ball easily and has a unique style.

He started playing soccer when he was a fourth-grader in Suncheon Joongang Elementary School. After finishing the first year at Gwangyang Jecheol Middle School, he went to Brisbane, Australia to learn soccer for four years. He was a member of national teams for under-16-year olds and 20-year olds.

○ Performance is the last word

“Now those who were injured are back. So I have to compete with them. I have to become a player who contributes to his team,” Ki notes.

About being picked as a key player for his team and for the Olympic team, he admitted he got arrogant: “This year, I would start as if I am a beginner. I am always grateful that the Olympic Team is mostly composed of those born in 1985 and 1986. I, who was born in 1989, am a member.” But he also showed his ambition saying, “I have to become a major player based on merit.”

○ Ultimate dream is a Premier Leaguer

“Thanks to his thorough self-control, Park Ji-sung (Manchester United) is playing in the England Premier League,” he said. “Thorough self-control” is also his motto. He said his favorite player is Steven George Gerrard (Liverpool). He said, “Gerrard is perfect. So it is very hard for me to be a player like him. But I would like to become a player like him.”

“I know I am not perfectly prepared but I want to play in the Premier League like Park Ji-sung.”

yjongk@donga.com