Lee Hoe-taik (, born 11 October 1946) is a former

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

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 ...

player and manager. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest South Korean forwards of all time. He is also one of four players inducted into the Korean FA Hall of Fame.

Early life

Lee started his youth career late in high school, but showed a fast development. He was selected for the

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

three years after beginning football in earnest. On 10 December 1966, Lee made his senior international debut against

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

in the

1966 Asian Games The 1966 Asian Games, also known as the V Asiad or Bangkok 1966, were a continental multi-sport event that was held from 9 to 20 December 1966, in Bangkok, Thailand. A total of 142 events in 16 sports were contested by athletes during the games. T ...

Club career

Lee joined Yangzee, founded by the

Korean Central Intelligence Agency The National Intelligence Service (NIS; ) is the chief intelligence agency of South Korea. The agency was officially established in 1961 as the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA; ), during the rule of general Park Chung Hee's military Sup ...

to develop the national team. In the 1967

Pestabola Merdeka Merdeka Tournament () is an international friendly football tournament held in Malaysia to commemorate the Independence Day. It is mainly played at Independence Stadium, in Kuala Lumpur. "Merdeka" is the Malay word for independence. As of 202 ...

, Lee scored three goals, contributing to team's title. Yangzee also participated in the

1969 Asian Champion Club Tournament The 1969 Asian Champion Club Tournament was the 2nd edition of the annual Asian club football competition hosted by Asian Football Confederation. Ten domestic league champions from ten countries competed in the tournament. The tournament was held ...

. Lee scored a hat-trick in the first group match against Mysore State. Lee was injured during the third group match against

Bangkok Bank Bangkok Bank Public Company Limited (, Royal Thai General System of Transcription, RTGS: Thanakhan Krung Thep) is one of the largest commercial banks in Thailand. Its branch network includes over 800 branches as of May 2024, within Thailand, wit ...

, but assisted the winning goal in the next match against Vietnam Police. Yangzee won all of the five matches including the semi-finals before the final, but it lost 1–0 to Israeli club

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv () is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, j ...

after extra time in the final.

International career

Lee scored three goals in five matches of the 1968 Summer Olympics qualification. South Korea failed to qualify for the Olympics on goal difference, although their points were tied with

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, the group winners. In the

1970 FIFA World Cup qualification A total of 75 teams entered the 1970 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. Hosts Mexico and defending champions England qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition. Fo ...

, Lee showed poor performance and couldn't prevent South Korea's elimination. However, Lee proved his worth again as an important playmaker in the

1969 King's Cup The 1969 King's Cup were held from November 19 to November 28, 1969, in Bangkok. This was the second edition of the international football competition. Indonesia were set to defend the championship they won in 1968. In the final, South Korea ...

after the failure in the World Cup qualification. He assisted three winning goals against

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

, and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, leading South Korea to the title. Lee's performance was continued in the 1970 Pestabola Merdeka. In the group stage, he scored the winning goal against

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, and assisted two goals against Indonesia. In the semi-finals and the final, Lee consecutively scored winning goals against

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

. On 5 September 1970, South Korea had a friendly match with Benfica. Lee scored the opener, but the match ended in a 1–1 draw with

Eusébio Eusébio da Silva Ferreira (; 25 January 1942 – 5 January 2014), nicknamed the "Black Panther", the "Black Pearl" or "O Rei" ("The King"), was a Portuguese Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Stri ...

's penalty equaliser. Lee recorded a goal against

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and two assists against Malaysia in the

1970 King's Cup The 1970 King's Cup were held from November 8 to November 20, 1970, in Bangkok. This was the third edition of the international football competition. South Korea were set to defend the title they won in 1969 and in the final they would take the ti ...

, helping South Korea win the competition again. Lee played for South Korea in the

1970 Asian Games The 6th Asian Games also known as Bangkok 1970, were held from 9 to 20 December 1970 in Bangkok, Thailand.- - Seoul, South Korea, had been selected to host the 6th Games but it declined due to both financial reasons and security threats from ne ...

, making the effort to won a major title. He scored the winning goal against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

in the group stage, and assisted all of South Korea's two goals in the semi-finals against Japan. After defeating its biggest rivals, South Korea shared the gold with Burma by drawing 0–0 in the final. Lee was named the Korean FA Player of the Year as the largest contributor to three Asian titles of the national team in that year. Lee also participated in the

1972 AFC Asian Cup The 1972 AFC Asian Cup was the 5th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), that was hosted in Thailand. The finals were held in Thailand between 7 M ...

. Lee scored the winning goal against

Khmer Republic The Khmer Republic (, ; ) was a Cambodian state under the United States-backed military dictatorship of Marshal Lon Nol from 1970 to 1975. Its establishment was formally declared on 9 October 1970, following the 18 March 1970 coup d'état w ...

in the group stage. In the final against Iran, he assisted the equaliser, but South Korea finally lost 2–1 after extra time. On 2 June 1972, South Korea had a friendly match with

Santos Santos may refer to: People *Santos (surname) * Santos Balmori Picazo (1899–1992), Spanish-Mexican painter * Santos Benavides (1823–1891), Confederate general in the American Civil War Places *Santos, São Paulo, a municipality in São Paulo ...

, for which

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...

was playing. Lee scored a goal, but South Korea lost 3–2.

Style of play

Lee was nicknamed the "Leopard" in South Korea due to his innate stamina, rapid pace, and powerful shots. He was also proficient in creating chances, giving many key passes to other forwards in the middle.

Managerial career

Lee managed

POSCO Atoms The Pohang Steelers (Hangul: 포항 스틸러스) are a South Korean professional football club based in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province that compete in the K League 1, the top flight of South Korean football. The Steelers were founded on 1 ...

from 1987 to 1992 and won two

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 ...

s. Lee also managed the South Korea national team from 1988 to 1990. He finished the

1988 AFC Asian Cup The 1988 AFC Asian Cup was the 9th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international association football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in Qatar between 2 December and 18 Decembe ...

as a runner-up, and recorded nine wins and two draws without a defeat in the

1990 FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification, qualification competition for the 1990 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA FIFA#Structure, confederations. Each confederation — the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Confederat ...

. However, his team lost all three group matches in the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second ...

, struggling at world-class level.

Career statistics

International

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

Honours

Player

Yangzee * Korean National Championship: 1968 *

Korean President's Cup The President's Cup National Football Tournament is a football competition, held by Korea Football Association, for South Korean semi-professional and amateur football clubs. This competition was originally one of major club competitions of Sout ...

: 1968 *

Asian Champion Club Tournament The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) 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 cl ...

runner-up:

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

POSCO FC * Korean Semi-professional League (Spring): 1975 * Korean National Championship runner-up: 1977 *

: 1974 South Korea *

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

AFC Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second-oldest c ...

runner-up:

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

Individual * Korean FA Best XI: 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974 * Korean FA Most Valuable Player: 1970 *

Best Player: 1974 * Korean FA Hall of Fame: 2005

Manager

Hanyang University * Korean National Championship: 1983 POSCO Atoms *

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 ...

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

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 *

runner-up:

Individual * K League 1 Manager of the Year:

* K League All-Star: 2000

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Hoe-taik 1946 births Living people Sportspeople from Gimpo South Korean men's footballers South Korea men's international footballers 1972 AFC Asian Cup players Footballers from Gyeonggi Province Pohang Steelers players Pohang Steelers managers Jeonnam Dragons managers South Korean football managers South Korea national football team managers 1988 AFC Asian Cup managers 1990 FIFA World Cup managers Footballers at the 1966 Asian Games Footballers at the 1970 Asian Games Men's association football forwards Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Asian Games footballers for South Korea Medalists at the 1970 Asian Games 20th-century South Korean sportsmen Asian Games gold medalists in football