 Goalkeeper Lee Woon-jae became the hero Saturday in producing the match winning save from Joaquin in the penalty shootout that saw Korea on to a place in the World Cup semifinals against Germany.
Lee has surrendered just two goals in the five games prior to the team's quarterfinal match against Spain, Saturday, second only to Germany's captain Oliver Kahn, who has let just one past him. Lee is now being mentioned as a strong contender for the Yashin Award, named after the legendary Russian goalkeeper, Lev Yashin.
He is 1.82m tall and weighs 82kg and is considered a safe pair of hands with his calm style. In 1994, when still a student at Kyonghee University, Lee was a substitute goalkeeper in the World Cup match against Germany and kept a perfect score.
In 1996 he turned professional with Samsung's Suwon Blue Wings, but was diagnosed as suffering from hepatitis and had to undergo two years of treatment, which kept him out of the 1998 World Cup. By training hard, he was able to boost his strength and come to the attention of coach Guus Hiddink.
(Park Min-sun, sunrise@chosun.com )
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