Cho Jae-jin

	Cho Jae-jin
Hangul	조재진
Hanja	曺宰溱
Revised Romanization	Jo Jae-jin
McCune–Reischauer	Cho Chaejin

Cho Jae-Jin
조재진
Personal information
Full name	Cho Jae-Jin
Date of birth	9 July 1981 (age 43)
Place of birth	Paju, Gyeonggi, South Korea
Height	Script error: No such module "person height".
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
1997–1999	Daeshin High School
Senior career*
Years	Team
2000–2004	Suwon Samsung Bluewings
2002–2003	→ Gwangju Sangmu Bulsajo (Army)
2004–2007	Shimizu S-Pulse
2008	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
2009–2010	Gamba Osaka
Total
International career‡
1999–2000	South Korea U-20
2003–2004	South Korea U-23
2003–2008	South Korea
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14 January 2011; ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 14 January 2010

Cho Jae-Jin (born 9 July 1981 in Paju) is a retired South Korean football player. He was a member of national team in the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Career

Cho emerged as a national star when he played for South Korea in the 2004 Olympics. He was instrumental in Korea's second half comeback against Mali. Down 3–0, between 55" and 62" Cho scored two consecutive goals, both assisted by Kim Dong-Jin. Later in the Mali penalty box, a Mali defender in a vain attempt to defend against Cho, committed an own goal equalizing the game at 3–3. South Korea placed second in Group A and qualified for the next round, in which it was defeated by Paraguay, the runner-up team.

Before playing for Shimizu S-Pulse, Cho had played for Suwon Samsung Bluewings but did not enjoy much success. He is a close friend of Kim Dong-Jin, who was also a member of the 2004 Olympic team and now plays for FC Seoul in South Korea. He has also announced a desire to play in England and has been on record stating he envies Lee Dong-Gook's move to Middlesbrough.^{[citation needed]}

During his highly successful stint at S-Pulse Cho had received offers from FC Utrecht, Ajax, West Ham United among other European teams. FC Utrecht was the team Cho was most likely to sign for, but was reportedly unhappy with the deal offered.^[1] Having rejected the move, Cho saw out the final months of his contract with S-Pulse, before again searching for a move to Europe. However, after unsuccessful trials at Newcastle United, Portsmouth and Fulham, Cho returned to Korea in February 2008 where he signed for K. League side Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.

After a beleaguered season of bad form back in the K-League, Cho signed for Gamba Osaka on Christmas Day of 2008 for a fee of $3.5 Million.^[2] There was interest from Qatar's Al-Gharafa which had brought Juninho from the French football club Lyon prior to its offer, which Cho rejected.

On 18 March 2011, he has announced his retirement from football due to continuing problems with congenital dysplasia of the hip.

Other works

In 2004, he was chosen to pose for clothing brand "ASK." Cho has also appeared in advertisements for Adidas and Korean edition of Cosmopolitan. When the South Korea national football team sold football shirts to commemorate South Korea's performance in 2004, 34.5% of buyers who purchased Cho's shirt were female compared to 8% for Ahn Jung Hwan's shirt. He has also been made famous to many due to his prowess in the video game Pro Evolution Soccer 6.

Club career statistics

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
South Korea			League		KFA Cup		League Cup		Asia		Total
2000	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	K-League	5	0			0	0	?	?	5	0
2001	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	K-League	3	0			0	0	?	?	3	0
2002	Gwangju Sangmu Bulsajo	Amateur	-		-		-		-		-
2003	Gwangju Sangmu Bulsajo	K-League	31	3	2	1	-		-		33	4
2004	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	K-League	8	1	0	0	0	0	-		8	1
Japan			League		Emperor's Cup		League Cup		Asia		Total
2004	Shimizu S-Pulse	J. League Division 1	12	7	1	0	1	1	-		14	8
2005			29	9	3	2	7	3	-		39	14
2006			32	16	2	1	3	0	-		37	17
2007			28	13	1	0	3	1	-		32	14
South Korea			League		KFA Cup		League Cup		Asia		Total
2008	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	K-League	26	8	2	1	5	2	-		33	11
Japan			League		Emperor's Cup		League Cup		Asia		Total
2009	Gamba Osaka	J. League Division 1	25	10	3	0	1	0	6	1	35	11
2010	Gamba Osaka	J. League Division 1	10	0	1	2	1	0	4	0	16	2
Total	South Korea		73	12	4	2	5	2			82	16
Total	Japan		136	55	11	5	16	5	10	1	173	66
Career total			209	67	15	7	21	7	10	1	255	82

International career statistics

^[3]

Korea Republic national team
Year	Apps	Goals
2003	7	2
2004	3	1
2005	2	0
2006	13	4
2007	10	2
2008	3	0
Total	38	9

International goals

Results list South Korea's goal tally first.

Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
25 September 2003	Incheon	Vietnam	1 goal	5–0	2004 AFC Asian Cup qualification
24 October 2003	Muscat	Nepal	1 goal	7–0	2004 AFC Asian Cup qualification
19 December 2004	Busan	Germany	1 goal	3–1	Friendly match
1 February 2006	Hong Kong	Denmark	1 goal	1–3	2006 Carlsberg Cup
26 May 2006	Seoul	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1 goal	2–0	Friendly match
6 September 2006	Suwon	Chinese Taipei	2 goals	8–0	2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification
11 October 2006	Seoul	Syria	1 goal	2–1	2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification
5 July 2007	Seoul	Uzbekistan	2 goals	2–1	Friendly match