Kim Jung-woo (Korean: 김정우; Hanja: 金正友, born 9 May 1982) is a former South Korean footballer.
Club career
Kim was playing for military team Sangju Sangmu Phoenix to perform compulsory military service when participating in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and his low salary (₩0.95 million per year) during the military service was the talk of fans before the match against Argentina which had one of the highest earners Lionel Messi.[1]
Kim represented South Korea in the 2007 AFC Asian Cup. He scored Korea's winning goal against Indonesia and converted the decisive spot-kick in Korea's quarter-final penalty shootout victory over Iran. However, his penalty miss in the shootout against Iraq meant that South Korea went out in the semi-finals stage.
In the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Kim played a pivotal role as a holding midfielder for the South Korean team's advance to the round of 16. Despite rising interests from European clubs, he left to continue serving his country in Gwangju Sangmu.
On 22 March 2019, Kim retired through an official retirement ceremony before the match between South Korea and Bolivia at Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium.[3]
Style of play
Kim was nicknamed "Bone Jung-woo" due to his skinny build, but he had good stamina and positional sense. He took charge of center midfield with Ki Sung-yueng in the national team under manager Huh Jung-moo. Kim showed great work rate and defense while Ki concentrated on passing.[4]
Career statistics
Club
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
^Includes one appearance and one goal against non-national team, and thirteen appearances and one goal as an overage player (three appearances in Summer Olympics, seven appearances and one goal in Asian Games, three appearances in friendlies).