Choi Yong-soo (born 10 September 1973) is a South Korean professional football manager and former player.

Playing career

Choi played as a striker for Anyang LG Cheetahs (currently

FC Seoul FC Seoul ( ko, FC 서울) is a South Korean professional football club based in Seoul that competes in the K League 1, the top flight of South Korean football. The club is owned by GS Sports, a subsidiary of GS Group. They play their home ga ...

) in South Korea's

K League K League (Hangul: K리그) is South Korea's professional football league. It includes first division K League 1 and second division K League 2. History Until the 1970s, South Korean football operated two major football leagues, the National ...

. 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 South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*su ...

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 frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

and

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea ...

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 football player and manager, who led the Italian national team to victory in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He was appointed as Italy head coach in the summer of 2004 and ...

, 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 Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...

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. Its current holders are Shandong Taishan, having beaten Shanghai Port in 2021 for a record seventh ti ...

. 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 ( ko, 부산 아이파크) 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. Its current home ground is Busan Gudeok Stadium. The club was ...

, 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 Gangwon FC (Hangul:강원 FC) is a South Korean football club. Based in Gangwon Province of South Korea, Gangwon FC joined the K League as its 15th club for the 2009 season. The club is sponsored by High1 Resort. History Foundation Gangw ...

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 prior to marriage or a civil union that enables them to select and control many of the leg ...

. 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, ur, ; born 16 November 1971) is a Pakistani cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer who captained Pakistan national cricket team. A right-arm fast bowler, Waqar Younis is regarded as one of the gre ...

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 (Hangul: K리그1) is the men's top professional football division of the South Korean football league system. The league is contested by twelve clubs. History The South Korean professional football league was founded in ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

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 Champions List of finals Titles by club K League's principle of official statis ...

: 2006 Sangmu FC * Korean Semi-professional League (Autumn): 1997, 1998 South Korea U20 * AFC Youth Championship runner-up:

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engines ...

South Korea *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the ' (FIFA), the ...

fourth place:

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains independence from Indonesia and ...

EAFF Championship EAFF E-1 Football Championship, known as the East Asian Football Championship from 2003 to 2010, and the EAFF East Asian Cup for the 2013 and 2015 editions, is a men's international football competition in East Asia for member nations of the East ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

Individual *

K League Rookie of the Year The K League Young Player of the Year Award means the best player among under-23 K League players. This award has been awarded since the 1985 season, the third season in the K League. K League 1 winners (1985–present) Rookie of the Year (1985 ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson Ma ...

* AFC Asian All Stars: 1997 * Korean Semi-professional League (Autumn) top goalscorer: 1998 * Korean FA Cup top goalscorer:

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

* K League 1 Most Valuable Player:

* K League 1 Best XI:

Manager

FC Seoul *

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

Korean FA Cup The Korean FA Cup is a national football cup knockout competition of South Korea, held annually by the Korea Football Association (KFA). Before the FA Cup was established in 1996, two predecessor competitions named All Joseon Football Tournament ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

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

runner-up:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

Jiangsu Suning *

runner-up: 2016 Individual * K League 1 Manager of the Year:

2012