Ji So-yun

Ji So-yun (Korean: 지소연, Korean pronunciation: [tɕi.so.jʌn]; born 21 February 1991) is a South Korean professional footballer who plays for Chelsea in the FA Women's Super League and the South Korean national team.

Ji So-yun
Ji in 2010
Personal information
Date of birth (1991-02-21) 21 February 1991
Place of birth Seoul, South Korea
Height 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Chelsea
Number 10
Youth career
2006–2008 Dongsan Info & Industry HS
2009–2010 Hanyang Women's University
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2013 INAC Kobe Leonessa 48 (21)
2014– Chelsea 93 (35)
National team‡
2007–2008 South Korea U17 15 (11)
2007–2010 South Korea U20 17 (13)
2006– South Korea 125 (61)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23 February 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14 June 2020
Ji So-yun
Hangul
지소연
Hanja
池笑然
Revised RomanizationJi Soyeon
McCune–ReischauerChi Soyŏn
In this Korean name, the family name is Ji.

Club career
Ji with Chelsea in 2014

Ji started her career in Japan, playing for L. League champions INAC Kobe Leonessa between 2011 and 2013. In November 2013, Ji was subject to a transfer bid from English club Chelsea.[2] She agreed to a two-year contract in January 2014.[3] When the transfer was officially confirmed later that month, Chelsea manager Emma Hayes said of Ji: "She is one of the best midfielders in the world and our fans will love her."[4] In one of her final matches for the Japanese club, Ji scored against her soon-to-be new club, Chelsea, in the International Women's Club Championship final.[5]

Ji was named Players' Player of the Year after her first season in England, as Chelsea narrowly missed out on the FA WSL 1 league title on the last day of the season.[6] She was named PFA Women's Players' Player of the Year in April 2015 and was also named in the PFA WSL Team of the Year.[7][8]

At the 2015 FA Women's Cup Final, staged at Wembley Stadium for the first time, Ji scored the only goal of the match to win the Cup for Chelsea.[9] In October 2015 she also scored in Chelsea's 4–0 win over Sunderland which secured the club's first FA WSL title and a League and Cup "double".[10]

On 1 April 2018, Ji made her 100th appearance for Chelsea in a 1–1 draw against Arsenal.[11]

International career

Ji has represented South Korea at under-17 level and was part of the under-20 team that finished as the runners-up at the 2009 AFC U-19 Women's Championship and third at the 2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.[12]

In October 2006, Ji made her senior team debut while playing at the 2006 Peace Queen Cup. On 30 November 2006, she became the youngest goalscorer (15 years, 282 days) for the South Korean senior team, after scoring two goals against Chinese Taipei at the 2006 Asian Games.[12][13]

Ji is the all-time top goal scorer of the South Korean women's national football team with 58 goals.[13]

International goals
Scores and results list South Korea's goal tally first.
GoalDateLocationOpponentScoreResultCompetition
130 November 2006 Doha, Qatar Chinese Taipei1–02–02006 Asian Games
22–0
317 February 2007 Masan, South Korea India1–05–02008 Summer Olympics qualifiers
415 April 2007 Hai Phong, Vietnam Vietnam1–12–1
52–1
612 August 2007 Cheongju, South Korea Vietnam1–02–1
726 August 2009 Tainan, Taiwan Northern Mariana Islands1–019–02010 EAFF Women's Championship qualifiers
811–0
912–0
1016–0
1119–0
1230 August 2009 Chinese Taipei5–06–0
1310 February 2010 Tokyo, Japan China PR1–21–22010 EAFF Women's Championship
1414 November 2010 Guangzhou, China Vietnam1–16–12010 Asian Games
1516 November 2010 Jordan1–05–0
162–0
175–0
1822 November 2010 China PR2–02–0
197 March 2011 Paralimni, Cyprus Russia1–02–12011 Cyprus Women's Cup
2018 June 2011 Ehime, Japan Japan1–11–1Friendly
213 September 2011 Jinan, China Japan1–11–22012 Summer Olympics Qualifiers
2214 January 2013 Chongqing, China Canada2–03–1Friendly (Yongchuan Cup)
236 March 2013 Paralimni, Cyprus South Africa1–02–02013 Cyprus Women's Cup
248 March 2013 Northern Ireland1–03–0
2527 July 2013 Seoul, South Korea Japan1–02–12013 EAFF Women's East Asian Cup
262–0
275 March 2014 Paralimni, Cyprus  Switzerland1–11–12014 Cyprus Women's Cup
287 March 2014 Republic of Ireland1–11–1
2915 May 2014 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Myanmar1–012–02014 AFC Women's Asian Cup
3017 May 2014 Thailand1–04–0
3112 November 2014 Hsinchu, Taiwan Guam1–015–02015 EAFF Women's East Asian Cup qualifiers
328–0
3315 November 2014 Hong Kong1–09–0
3413 January 2015 Shenzhen, China China PR2–23–2Friendly
3515 January 2015 Mexico2–12–1
364 March 2015 Nicosia, Cyprus Italy1–11–22015 Cyprus Women's Cup
375 April 2015 Incheon, South Korea Russia1–01–0Friendly
388 April 2015 Russia2–02–0
3913 June 2015 Montreal, Canada Costa Rica1–12–22015 FIFA Women's World Cup
403 March 2017 Nicosia, Cyprus Scotland1–02–02017 Cyprus Women's Cup
416 March 2017 Larnaca, Cyprus New Zealand2–02–0
425 April 2017 Pyongyang, North Korea India8–010–02018 AFC Women's Asian Cup qualification
4310–0
4411 April 2017 Uzbekistan2–04–0
454–0
4619 August 2018 Palembang, Indonesia Maldives1–08–02018 Asian Games
4721 August 2018 Indonesia10–012–0
4812–0
4931 August 2018 Chinese Taipei1–04–0
5028 February 2019 Sydney, Australia Argentina4–05–02019 Cup of Nations
515–0
523 March 2019 Brisbane, Australia Australia1–11–4
536 March 2019 Melbourne, Australia New Zealand1–02–0
549 April 2019 Chuncheon, South Korea Iceland1–11–1Friendly
556 October 2019 Chicago, United States United States1–01–1
563 February 2020 Seogwipo, South Korea Myanmar1–07–02020 AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament – Third round
573–0
589 February 2020 Vietnam3–03–0

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 29 August 2020[14]
Club League Season League National Cup[lower-alpha 1] League Cup[lower-alpha 2] International[lower-alpha 3] Other[lower-alpha 4] Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
INAC Kobe Leonessa Nadeshiko League 1 2011 16840———208
2012 1643063——257
2013 169469321—3119
Total 482111615621—7634
Chelsea FA WSL 2014 1232254——199
2015 145434240—2610
2016 165451020—2310
2017 7432———106
2017–18 146325163—2812
2018–19 176312082—309
2019–20 1360041——177
2020–21 000000—1010
Total 933519152182051015463
Career total 14156302136142261023097
  1. Includes the Empress's Cup and Women's FA Cup
  2. Includes the Nadeshiko League Cup and FA WSL Cup
  3. Includes the International Women's Club Championship and UEFA Women's Champions League
  4. Include the Women's FA Community Shield

Honours

Club

INAC Kobe Leonessa

Chelsea

International

South Korea U20

South Korea Universiade

South Korea

Individual

References
  1. "2015 World Cup" (PDF).
  2. "Chelsea Ladies FC interested in signing Ji So-yeon". Arirang. 29 November 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  3. "Korean footballer Ji So-yun to sign two-year deal with Chelsea Ladies". Arirang. 3 January 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  4. "Chelsea Ladies sign South Korean midfielder Ji So-Yun". BBC Sport. 28 January 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  5. Bond, Steve (8 December 2013). "Chelsea Ladies lose to Inac Kobe Leonessa despite defiant late rally". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  6. "Chelsea's Ji So-Yun named WSL player's player of the year". BBC Sport. 14 November 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  7. "Who won what? PFA award winners in full". BBC Sport. 26 April 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  8. "Chelsea midfielder Ji So-yun is the PFA Women's Player of the Year". Sky Sports. 27 April 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  9. Aloia, Andrew (1 August 2015). "How Chelsea won the Women's FA Cup". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  10. Garry, Tom (4 October 2015). "WSL 1: Chelsea Ladies 4–0 Sunderland Ladies". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  11. "Ladies report: Arsenal 1 Chelsea 1". Chelsea F.C. 1 April 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  12. "[한국축구유망주60] 지소연: 여자축구의 미래이자 희망" [Ji So Yeon & apos; Future of women's football and hope] (in Korean). Korea Football Association. 30 June 2015. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  13. "각종기록" [Various records]. kfa.or.kr (in Korean). Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  14. "Ji So-yun profile". Soccerway. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  15. "Chelsea's South Korean star eyes World Cup success". FIFA. 31 March 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  16. "PFA awards: Leicester and Spurs dominate Premier League team". BBC Sport. 21 April 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  17. Association, Press (26 April 2019). "PFA Women's Team of the Year: Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City dominate". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  18. "IFFHS WOMAN TEAM - AFC - OF THE DECADE 2011-2020". IFFHS. 30 January 2021.
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