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This is a Korean name; the family name is Lee.

Lee Young-Pyo
Personal information
Full name	Lee Young-Pyo
Date of birth	April 23, 1977 (1977-04-23) (age 30)
Place of birth	Hongcheon, Republic of Korea
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Playing position	Leftback
Club information
Current club	Tottenham Hotspur
Number	3
Youth clubs
	Konkuk University
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2000-2002 2002-2005 2005-	Anyang LG Cheetahs PSV Eindhoven Tottenham Hotspur	67 (3) 82 (1) 64 (0)
National team2
1999-	Korea Republic	93 (5)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15:01, 19 December 2007 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 12:00, 23 March 2007 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Lee Young-Pyo
Hangul 이영표 Hanja 李榮杓 Revised Romanization Yi Yeong-pyo McCune-Reischauer Yi Yŏngp'yo

Lee Young-Pyo (Korean: 이영표; born April 23, 1977 in Hongcheon) is a South Korean football player, currently playing for Tottenham Hotspur in the English Premier League. He is also known to be a strong Christian, evident as he once said that a greater number of Christians on a team would make it stronger.^[1]

Lee is recognized for his excellent speed, superb dribbling skills, and pin-point crosses. His former manager Martin Jol once called him: "the best left-back in Holland, and one of the best left-backs in Europe today." ^{[2] [3]}

He has previously played for Anyang LG Cheetahs in the Korean K-League and then spent two years with PSV Eindhoven of the Netherlands, earning high acclaim from PSV Coach Guus Hiddink, who had previously coached Lee and South Korea during the 2002 World Cup. Recognized as the best left-back in Holland after the 2004-2005 season, Tottenham signed him amidst heavy competition with several Serie A clubs. He transferred to Tottenham in August 2005.

In August 2006, AS Roma of Italy's Serie A tried to sign him, but he backed out at the last minute for "personal reasons." An Italian media report said religion played a part in his decision to reject the transfer offer. On August 31, 2006, Lee held a press conference in Korea and denied that religion was a factor in his decision. He said that moving to AS Roma would have been great for him in terms of football alone but he decided against it for personal reasons that he would not reveal, despite being pressed for answers by 50 attending reporters.^[4]

Contents 1 Career 1.1 Anyang Cheetahs FC (2000-2002) 1.2 PSV Eindhoven (2002-2005) 1.3 Tottenham Hotspur (2005-present) 2 Club career stats 3 References 4 External links

Lee attended Konkuk University in Seoul and began his professional career with the Anyang Cheetahs of the Korean K-League. He featured prominently during South Korea's World Cup run and established himself on the world stage during that tournament.^[5] After a stellar 2002 World Cup, Lee followed Guus Hiddink and teammate Park Ji-Sung to PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands.

At PSV, Lee flourished under Hiddink's guidance and soon established himself in PSV's first team. Known for his endurance, technique, and ability in both defence and attack, Lee was widely regarded as the best left-back in the Dutch Eredivisie. Lee and his compatriot Park were instrumental in PSV Eindhoven's 2005 run to the Champions League semi-final, although to their disappointment, they were knocked out by AC Milan.

Despite PSV's persistent attempts to keep him, Lee moved to the English club Tottenham Hotspur in August 2005.

At Tottenham, Lee was an immediate hit and earned a spot on the Premier League's best eleven in his debut week. Tottenham coach Martin Jol, at the time of his signing on August 31, 2005, touted him as "the best left-back in Holland, and one of the best left-backs in Europe today." ^{[2] [3]} His form did however fluctuate in the 05/06 season, many seeing him, along with Canadian right-back Paul Stalteri as one of the reasons Tottenham did not qualify for the Champions' League, despite them being almost ever present in a defence which conceded the fourth lowest amount of goals in that season.

In the beginning of 2006-07 season, Lee moved to right full-back due to Benoît Assou-Ekotto's impressive pre-season performance and an injury to regular right-back Stalteri. Lee then faced increased competition when Tottenham signed French defender Pascal Chimbonda on the final day of the transfer period. Lee also suffered a knee injury and then Tottenham offered his rights to AS Roma of Italy's Serie A. Lee rejected the deal due to "religious reasons", which was later explained false.

Lee regained his place in the first team when Assou-Ekotto's form began to falter, most notably in a very poor performance against arch-rivals Arsenal. Lee came on as a half-time substitute in that match and was a notable improvement, and has since been largely preferred by Jol, although there is a consensus among some fans that the left-back position still could use some improvement, with Gareth Bale and Gabriel Heinze both being linked with future moves to Spurs. Gareth Bale has since signed for Tottenham and Gabriel Heinze for Real Madrid.

On August 9, 2007, Tottenham manager Martin Jol announced that Lee would be "fit for selection" in "one or two weeks",^[6] marking Lee's recovery from a season-ending injury sustained in a UEFA Cup Quarterfinal match against Sevilla on April 5, 2007.^[7] On August 18, 2007, Lee made his first start of the season against Derby County.

Last update: 10 September 2007

Season	Team	Country	Division	Apps	Goals
2000	Anyang LG Cheetahs	South Korea	1	15	2
2001	Anyang LG Cheetahs	South Korea	1	29	0
2002	Anyang LG Cheetahs	South Korea	1	23	1
02/03	PSV Eindhoven	Netherlands	1	15	0
03/04	PSV Eindhoven	Netherlands	1	32	0
04/05	PSV Eindhoven	Netherlands	1	31	1
05/06	PSV Eindhoven	Netherlands	1	3	0
05/06	Tottenham Hotspur	England	1	31	0
06/07	Tottenham Hotspur	England	1	21	0
07/08	Tottenham Hotspur	England	1	3	0

• Lee Young-Pyo career stats at Soccerbase
• FootballDatabase provides Young-Pyo Lee's profile and stats

v • d • e South Korea squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup Fourth Place

1 Lee Woon‑Jae • 2 Hyun Young‑Min • 3 Choi Sung‑Yong • 4 Choi Jin‑Cheul • 5 Kim Nam‑Il • 6 Yoo Sang‑Chul • 7 Kim Tae‑Young • 8 Choi Tae‑Uk • 9 Seol Ki‑Hyeon • 10 Lee Young‑Pyo • 11 Choi Yong‑Soo • 12 Kim Byung‑Ji • 13 Lee Eul‑Yong • 14 Lee Chun‑Soo • 15 Lee Min‑Sung • 16 Cha Du‑Ri • 17 Yoon Jung‑Hwan • 18 Hwang Sun‑Hong • 19 Ahn Jung‑Hwan • 20 Hong Myung‑Bo • 21 Park Ji‑Sung • 22 Song Chong‑Gug • 23 Choi Eun‑Sung • Coach: Hiddink

v • d • e South Korea squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup

1 Lee Woon‑Jae • 2 Kim Young‑Chul • 3 Kim Dong‑Jin • 4 Choi Jin‑Cheul • 5 Kim Nam‑Il • 6 Kim Jin‑Kyu • 7 Park Ji‑Sung • 8 Kim Do‑Heon • 9 Ahn Jung‑Hwan • 10 Park Chu‑Young • 11 Seol Ki‑Hyeon • 12 Lee Young‑Pyo • 13 Lee Eul‑Yong • 14 Lee Chun‑Soo • 15 Baek Ji‑Hoon • 16 Chung Kyung‑Ho • 17 Lee Ho • 18 Kim Sang‑Sik • 19 Cho Jae‑Jin • 20 Kim Yong‑Dae • 21 Kim Young‑Kwang • 22 Song Chong‑Gug • 23 Cho Won‑Hee • Coach: Advocaat

v • d • e Tottenham Hotspur F.C. – current squad

1 Robinson • 2 Chimbonda • 3 Lee • 4 Zokora • 5 Kaboul • 6 Tainio • 7 Stalteri • 8 Jenas • 9 Berbatov • 10 Keane • 12 Černý • 14 Ghaly • 15 Malbranque • 16 Bale • 17 Boateng • 18 Defoe • 19 Taarabt • 20 Dawson • 21 Routledge • 22 Huddlestone • 23 Bent • 24 Gray • 25 Lennon • 26 King (c) • 27 Alnwick • 29 Ifil • 30 Gardner • 31 Forecast • 32 Assou-Ekotto • 33 Rocha • 35 Dervite • 36 Dawkins • 37 Rose • 38 Archibald-Henville • Manager: Ramos