Choi Yong-soo (, born 10 September 1973) is a South Korean professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager and former player. He competed for South Korea at the 1996 Summer Olympics.

Playing career

Choi played as a striker for Anyang LG Cheetahs (currently

FC Seoul FC Seoul () is a South Korean professional Association football, football club based in Seoul that competes in the K League 1, the top flight of Football in South Korea, South Korean football. The club is owned by GS Sports, a subsidiary of GS G ...

) in South Korea's

K League K League () is South Korea's professional football league. It includes the first division K League 1 and the second division K League 2. Clubs competing in the K League have won a record total of twelve AFC Champions League Elite, AFC Champions ...

. In 2000, he led Anyang to the K League title, receiving the

K League MVP Award The K League Most Valuable Player Award is a football award for players in K League. The award is given to the player deemed the most valuable player in the league each season. K League 1 winners (1983–present) K League 2 winners (2013–p ...

. He is considered one of the FC Seoul's legends. Choi also played for the South Korean national team in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

and

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

Managerial career

Choi was appointed as the assistant coach of

in August 2006, and was promoted as the caretaker manager in April 2011. He was finally named a permanent coach after leading Seoul as a caretaker manager during the 2011 season. He led his team to the 2012 K League title and the 2013 AFC Champions League Final. They drew all two matches of the Champions League final against Guangzhou Evergrande, a Chinese club led by

Marcello Lippi Marcello Romeo Lippi (; born 12 April 1948) is an Italian former professional association football, football player and manager, who led the Italy national football team, Italy national team to victory in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He was appoin ...

, but couldn't get the title due to the

away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...

. Nevertheless, Choi was named the AFC Coach of the Year. On 21 June 2016, he was officially appointed as the manager of a Chinese club Jiangsu Suning. He finished as runner-up in the

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

and the

Chinese FA Cup The Chinese FA Cup (, abbreviated as CFA Cup) is the national knockout cup competition in China organized by the Chinese Football Association. The current holders are Shanghai Port, having beaten Shandong Taishan in 2024 for their first title. H ...

. On 1 June 2017, he officially resigned from Jiangsu Suning. On 11 October 2018, Choi was officially reappointed as the manager of FC Seoul, which was being threatened with relegation. On 9 December 2018, Choi won the relegation playoffs against

Busan IPark Busan IPark FC () is a South Korean professional football club based in Busan that competes in K League 2, the second tier of the South Korean football pyramid. They play their home games at the Busan Gudeok Stadium. Busan IPark was founded as ...

, successfully keeping Seoul in the K League. On 30 July 2020, he resigned from Seoul due to his poor results in the 2020 season. On 17 November 2021, Choi started to manage Gangwon FC. On 14 June 2023, Choi was replaced by Yoon Jong-hwan at Gangwon FC.

Personal life

Choi divorced his wife in November 2006 after a 15-month-long marriage. His former wife, a one-time contestant in a Miss Korea pageant, went through the legal procedures to take half the estate properties under Choi's name per their

prenuptial agreement A prenuptial agreement, antenuptial agreement, or premarital agreement (commonly referred to as a prenup), is a written contract entered into by a couple before marriage or a civil union that enables them to select and control many of the legal ...

. In Australia and Pakistan, Choi is known as "Younis Choi", given to him in recognition of his low, swerving shots on goal – much like the signature delivery bowled by Pakistani cricketer

Waqar Younis Waqar Younis Maitla HI ( Punjabi, ; born 16 November 1971) is a Pakistani cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer who captained Pakistan national cricket team. A right-arm fast bowler, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest bowle ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Results list South Korea's goal tally first.''

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

FC Seoul *

K League 1 The K League 1 () is a professional association football league in South Korea and the highest level of the South Korean football league system. The league is contested by twelve clubs. It is one of the most successful leagues in the Asian Foo ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

Korean League Cup The Korean League Cup was a professional football competition in South Korean football. It was held by the K League Federation from 1986 to 2012. Sponsorship Results Finals Titles by club K League's principle of official statistics is tha ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

Sangmu FC * Korean Semi-professional League (Autumn): 1997, 1998 South Korea U20 * AFC Youth Championship runner-up:

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

South Korea * EAFF Championship:

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

Individual * K League Rookie of the Year:

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

* AFC Asian All-Star: 1997 * K League All-Star: 1998, 1999, 2000 * Korean Semi-professional League (Autumn) top goalscorer: 1998 * Korean FA Cup top goalscorer:

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

* K League 1 Most Valuable Player:

* K League 1 Best XI:

* J.League All-Star: 2001, 2003

Manager

FC Seoul *

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Korean FA Cup The Korea Cup (), formerly the Korean FA Cup, is a national Association football, football cup knockout competition of South Korea, held annually by the Korea Football Association (KFA). Before the competition was established in 1996, two simil ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

runner-up:

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Jiangsu Suning *

runner-up:

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Individual * K League 1 Manager of the Year:

* K League All-Star: 2013 * AFC Coach of the Year: 2013 *

Manager of the Month: September 2014, March/April 2016, March 2019 *

Best Manager:

Notes

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Choi, Yong-soo 1973 births Living people FC Seoul players FC Seoul non-playing staff FC Seoul managers Gangwon FC managers Gimcheon Sangmu FC players JEF United Chiba players Kyoto Sanga FC players Júbilo Iwata players J1 League players J2 League players K League 1 players 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for South Korea Men's association football forwards Expatriate men's footballers in Japan South Korean expatriate sportspeople in Japan South Korean expatriate men's footballers South Korea men's international footballers South Korea men's under-23 international footballers South Korea men's under-20 international footballers South Korean men's footballers South Korean football managers K League 1 managers Yonsei University alumni Footballers from Busan Footballers at the 1998 Asian Games Expatriate football managers in China Chinese Super League managers Asian Games competitors for South Korea