Daum is reporting that Lee Eul Yong has retired from the KNT to make room for the younger players. Man, I miss him already! Exerpt below. " [JES 최원창] "후배들에게 길을 열어주고 싶었다." 이을용(31·FC 서울)이 7년간 정들었던 붉은 유니폼을 벗는다. 그는 7일 IS(일간스포츠)와의 전화 인터뷰에서 "후배들에게 기회를 열어주기 위해 대표팀 은퇴를 선언했다"며 "베어벡 감독님께 말씀드렸고 허락을 받았다. 아시안컵 본선 후 은퇴하라고 만류했지만 지금이 적기라고 판단했다"고 밝혔다. 그는 독일월드컵을 마치고 은퇴하기로 이미 마음을 굳히고 시기를 고려해왔던 것으로 알려졌다. 강릉상고를 졸업하고 철도청과 상무를 거친 이을용은 1998년 부천 SK(현 제주 유나이티드)에 입단하며 수비형 미드필더로 각광을 받았다. 이듬해인 1999년 3월 28일 서울 잠실주경기장에서 벌어진 브라질과의 친선평가전에서 A매치에 데뷔한 그는 2002한일월드컵과 2006독일월드컵에서 맹활약하는 등 51경기에서 3골을 뽑아냈다."
기립박수 thought he would stay on till the AFC, but i guess not. should have seen it coming, him coming back to the K-league and Kim Nam-il taking the captains armband etc. at least we can still see him in action in at Seoul FC. but im still gonna miss him. lets hope the KNT and the up and coming new players, who he is making room for prove to be good enough so that we dont have any cause to miss him playing for the KNT apart from the fact he was much respected and loved. In that respect he will always be missed.
I'd love to see him stay until the Asian Cup, but I respect his decision. Although this is a great loss for KNT, this should give more opportunities for some of our up-and-comers like Kim Du-hyeon, Kim Jung-woo and Baek Ji-hoon. Hopefully, we'll get to see Lee Kwan-woo wear our jersey in the near future as well. Eulyongta, you'll be missed.
Heh..isn't that a drawing of him when he hit that chinese player? Anyways, it is a great loss to see him go. I always thought he was a good, reliable, stable player and I think he could have stayed in the KNT for much longer. But I guess it's a good thing since there are younger, hungrier players lookin to make a name for themselves. I'll always remeber his spectacular goal against Turkey.
Yeah, Lee Eul Yong was an awesome man. He helped our NT a lot and made splending assists. I wish he played in the Asian Cup though. I guess he thought he was getting old and didn't want to drag the team. (although I think he would help the team more)
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo............... Eul Yongta~~~ He will be missed big time. He's the most no-nonsense gangster type defensive midfielder Asia has ever seen. Along with his deadly left foot. Korea will miss this left footed dead-ball speacialist along with his charisma.
the most under-rated player in 02 world cup. Maybe except for the Spain game he got tooled by Joaquin but anyways hehe as many of you know, I am a LEY fan boy and i will miss him a lot. I even got a Lee EY seoul jersey coming, hasnt got here though. his leave will open up spots for players like Baek, Kim Jung Woo. Like sky said I would've wanted to see him play in Asian Cup finals but oh well good luck to him
I'll always remember that killer left foot free kick against Turkey in the 3rd place game (2k2 World Cup). Of course...he's straight gansta!