Lee Dong-gook breaks K-League goal record

Lee Dong-gook of Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors broke the K-League’s goal-scoring record Wednesday night with the 127th goal of his career.

In a Hyundai Oil Bank 2012 K-League 3-0 win over Gwangju, Lee added the second goal of the game eight minutes into the second half.

If he keeps up his scoring form, he is likely to finish the season as the league’s top scorer for the second time.

His latest goal, his 63rd for the team, also ties the scoring record of the team for which he started to play as a forward in 2009. The scoring high of Jeonbuk was set by Kim Do-hoon, now assistant coach of Seongnam Ilhwa, in 2002.

Lee leads the league goal scoring table with 12 goals in 16 matches, two more than the second-place Dejan Damjanovic of FC Seoul with 10 goals in 17 games.

“I don’t attach a special meaning to records because the league is still in season. My real record will come the day I retire,” he told media, hinting at his desire to maintain his scoring spree. He has bagged six goals in the past four games.

In the Gwangju match, he showed fast mobility as an attacker in a crowded goal area. He ran behind the defensive line, controlled a cross with his chest and netted it with a right foot strike.

Driven by his goals, Jeonbuk extended its winning streak to seven games and stays atop the 16-team league. His side is just two victories short of the K-League winning streak record.

Last year, Lee was top scorer of AFC Champions League with nine goals. The competition is the premier Asian club tournament hosted by the Asian Football Confederation.

He made the national team at the 1998 World Cup, but in 2002 was not chosen by Guus Hiddink to represent Korea in the 2002 World Cup. He was coach Dick Advocaat’s first-choice forward for Korea ahead of the 2006 World Cup, but a knee injury sustained in a K-League match forced him to miss the tournament.

By Chun Sung-woo (swchun@heraldcorp.com)