Seol Ki-hyeon

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Family name hatnote Template:Infobox football biography Template:Infobox Korean name

Seol Ki-hyeon (Template:Korean; born 8 January 1979) is a South Korean former professional footballer who played as a winger, and who currently is the manager of Gyeongnam FC. He is also the first South Korean footballer to score in the history of the UEFA Champions League, during his time at Anderlecht.

Club careerEdit

Career in BelgiumEdit

In July 2000, Seol joined a Belgian club Royal Antwerp.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He became the second South Korean footballer to score in double figures during a season in Europe, following Cha Bum-kun.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> After a successful season with Royal Antwerp, Seol moved to Anderlecht in the same league. He scored a hat-trick in the space of 12 minutes in the 2001 Belgian Super Cup.<ref name="Seol2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He also became the first South Korean player to score in the qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He won the 2003–04 Belgian First Division with Anderlecht.<ref name="Seol3">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Wolverhampton WanderersEdit

In August 2004, Seol moved to England, joining a Championship club Wolverhampton Wanderers.<ref name="Seol1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Wolverhampton manager at the time, Glenn Hoddle, preferred Seol as one of his first-choice forwards,<ref name="Seol1"/> using him in various roles such as striker, attacking midfielder and winger.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Disappointed by the failure of Wolves' promotion, Seol sought Premier League clubs interested in him before the 2006 FIFA World Cup despite having two years left on his contract. He was reported as saying "At this stage, I'm frustrated not to be in the Premiership. I think there will be some good news after the World Cup."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

ReadingEdit

Seol eventually joined newly promoted Premier League club Reading on 12 July 2006 for a reported transfer fee of £1.5 million.<ref name="fulham">Template:Cite news</ref> He was voted the Reading Player of the Month for August by fans after showing great performances early in the season.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On 16 September 2006, he scored his first Premiership goal in a 2–1 win over Sheffield United.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On 1 October 2006, he scored his second goal for Reading in a 1–0 win over West Ham United.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> His third goal for Reading, his first at home, came on 18 November 2006 in the 2–0 win against Charlton Athletic.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> However, his performance was not consistently kept during the rest of the season. He scored his fourth goal in the last game of the season against Blackburn Rovers.

FulhamEdit

Seol left Reading for Fulham on 31 August 2007 for an undisclosed fee on a three-year contract, with Liam Rosenior going the other way.<ref name="fulham"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Reading boss Steve Coppell admitted that strained relations between him and Seol led to the move.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

After his manager Lawrie Sanchez was replaced by Roy Hodgson, Seol wasn't chosen as Hodgson's player during the rest of the season. He scored his first goal for Fulham in a 2–1 defeat to Hull City on 16 August 2008,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but he still didn't show something special the next season. On 14 January 2009, he signed an initial six-month loan move to Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia with a view to moving permanently.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> However, he stated that he desired to stay at Fulham to win his place in the squad at the end of his loan deal.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Seol scored his second goal for the club in a Europa League qualifier against FK Vėtra on 30 July 2009, but he failed to made a twist for his status.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On 15 January 2010, It was announced that his contract with Fulham was cancelled by mutual consent.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

RetirementEdit

Seol played for Pohang Steelers, Ulsan Hyundai, and Incheon United in the K League after leaving Fulham. During his K League career, he was criticised for poor communication with clubs and fans about his future.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He announced his retirement on 2 March 2015 in order to become the interim manager of Sungkyunkwan University. His retirement ceremony took place in a friendly match between South Korea and Jamaica on 13 October 2015.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

International careerEdit

Seol Ki hyeonwas a participant in 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cup. In the 2002 World Cup hosted by his country, he helped South Korea to reach the semi-finals as a starter. He also scored crucial equaliser in the round of 16 against Italy.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was nominated for the Ballon d'Or in that year.<ref name="Seol4">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Managerial careerEdit

On 26 December 2019, Seol was appointed as manager of Gyeongnam FC.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

MediaEdit

Seol was sponsored by sportswear company Nike and appeared in Nike commercials. In a global Nike advertising campaign in the run up to the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, he starred in a "Secret Tournament" commercial (branded "Scopion KO") directed by Terry Gilliam, appearing alongside football players such as Thierry Henry, Ronaldo, Edgar Davids, Fabio Cannavaro, Francesco Totti, Ronaldinho, Luís Figo, and Hidetoshi Nakata, with former player Eric Cantona the tournament "referee".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Career statisticsEdit

ClubEdit

citation
Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		Continental		Other		Total
CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Royal Antwerp	2000–01	Belgian First Division	25	10	2	1	—		—		—		27	11
Anderlecht	2001–02	Belgian First Division	20	3	0	0	—		3Template:Efn	1	1Template:Efn	3	24	7
	2002–03	Belgian First Division	32	12	3	0	—		8Template:Efn	1	—		43	13
	2003–04	Belgian First Division	19	3	1	0	—		6Template:Efn	1	—		26	4
	2004–05	Belgian First Division	1	0	0	0	—		1Template:Efn	0	—		2	0
	Total		72	18	4	0	—		18	3	1	3	95	24
Wolverhampton Wanderers	2004–05	Championship	37	4	2	1	1	1	—		—		40	6
	2005–06	Championship	32	4	2	0	2	0	—		—		36	4
	Total		69	8	4	1	3	1	—		—		76	10
Reading	2006–07	Premier League	27	4	4	0	0	0	—		—		31	4
	2007–08	Premier League	3	0	0	0	0	0	—		—		3	0
	Total		30	4	4	0	0	0	—		—		34	4
Fulham	2007–08	Premier League	12	0	2	0	1	0	—		—		15	0
	2008–09	Premier League	4	1	0	0	2	0	—		—		6	1
	2009–10	Premier League	2	0	0	0	1	0	2Template:Efn	1	—		5	1
	Total		18	1	2	0	4	0	2	1	—		26	2
Al Hilal (loan)	2008–09	Saudi Pro League	7	0	5	0	5	1	7Template:Efn	0	—		24	1
Pohang Steelers	2010	K League	16	7	0	0	0	0	2Template:Efn	0	—		18	7
Ulsan Hyundai	2011	K League	34	5	4	2	7	2	—		—		45	9
Incheon United	2012	K League	40	7	1	1	—		—		—		41	8
	2013	K League 1	26	4	3	1	—		—		—		29	5
	2014	K League 1	7	0	0	0	—		—		—		7	0
	Total		73	11	4	2	—		—		—		77	13
Career total			344	64	29	6	19	4	29	4	1	3	422	81

Template:Notelist

InternationalEdit

citation
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
CitationClass=web }}</ref>
South Korea	2000	16	6
	2001	11	1
	2002	14	3
	2003	3	0
	2004	15	2
	2005	4	0
	2006	9	4
	2007	2	0
	2008	4	2
	2009	4	1
Career total		82	19

Results list South Korea's goal tally first.

List of international goals scored by Seol Ki-hyeon
No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	5 April 2000	Seoul, South Korea	Template:Fb	4–0	9–0	2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification
2				8–0
3				9–0
4	9 April 2000	Seoul, South Korea	Template:Fb	1–0	4–0	2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification
5	9 April 2000	Seoul, South Korea	Template:Fb	2–0	4–0	2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification
6	7 October 2000	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	Template:Fb	3–2	4–2	2000 LG Cup
7	11 February 2001	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	Template:Fb	3–1	4–1	2001 Dubai Tournament
8	26 May 2002	Suwon, South Korea	Template:Fb	2–1	2–3	Friendly
9	18 June 2002	Daejeon, South Korea	Template:Fb	1–1	2–1 Template:Aet	2002 FIFA World Cup
10	20 November 2002	Seoul, South Korea	Template:Fb	1–0	2–3	Friendly
11	14 February 2004	Ulsan, South Korea	Template:Fb	2–0	5–0	Friendly
12	31 July 2004	Jinan, China	Template:Fb	1–1	3–4	2004 AFC Asian Cup
13	26 May 2006	Seoul, South Korea	Template:Fb	1–0	2–0	Friendly
14	2 September 2006	Seoul, South Korea	Template:Fb	1–0	1–1	2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification
15	6 September 2006	Suwon, South Korea	Template:Fb	1–0	8–0	2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification
16	6 September 2006	Suwon, South Korea	Template:Fb	3–0	8–0	2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification
17	6 February 2008	Seoul, South Korea	Template:Fb	2–0	4–0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
18	6 February 2008	Seoul, South Korea	Template:Fb	4–0	4–0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
19	5 September 2009	Seoul, South Korea	Template:Fb	3–1	3–1	Friendly