Li Yi

Infobox Football biography
playername= Li Yi
李毅
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1979|6|20
cityofbirth = Bengfu, Anhui
countryofbirth = China
height = 1.84 m
position = Striker
currentclub = flagicon|China Xian Chanba
clubnumber =
years = 1997
1998
1999
2000-2006
2007-present
clubs = Tianjin Huochetou
Shenzhen Pingan
Beijing Guoan
Shenzhen Kingway
Xian Chanba
caps(goals) =
18 (4)
nationalyears = 2001-present
nationalteam = flagicon|China China
nationalcaps(goals) = 29 (2)
pcupdate = 7 February 2007
ntupdate = 7 February 2007

Li Yi (zh-s|s=李毅) is a Chinese soccer player and coach. A striker on China national football team. He now plays for Xian Chanba.

His critical and pretentious off-field comments often overshadow his soccer skills. Comments such as saying his ball protecting is similar and comparable to Thierry Henry, makes him a target for much criticism from home fans. His nick name is Emperor Li Yi.

2003 East Asian Cup Controversy

The 2003 EAC game opened in the face of heated political bitterness on both sides as Korea and China were bitterly embroiled over geographical claims over Goguryeo, which most historians consider as a Korean state if not by history then by culture though, China has persistently claimed that Goguryeo as a Chinese kingdom.

Also, two other factors added a great deal to apprehension between players during this match. The first was the enormous overseas expectation that China was no match for Korea and thus wouldn’t be able to put up a good fight out of fear of losing, a phenomenon coined in China as "Koreaphobia." This was because the Korea Republic National football team and the Chinese team had played 26 matches as of 2006 which resulted in 15 Korean wins and 11 draws. The 2003 East Asian Cup was thus heralded as a prime opportunity for China to end the losing streak against Korea.

As for Korea, the Korean team was embittered over the string of frequent rule violations during previous Korean games and how in 1998, a Chinese player had severely injured Korea’s star forward, Hwang Sun-Hong and thus preventing him from playing in the 1998 World Cup in France. [ [http://news.media.daum.net/sports/soccer/200604/14/pressian/v12379060.html 이동국, '제2의 황선홍'이 되어줬으면…] ] [ [http://news.media.daum.net/sports/others/200605/30/ohmynews/v12875251.html 자라 보고 놀란 가슴 소댕 보고 놀란다] ]

Unsurprisingly, this game was played in a passionate manner on both sides. Tensions during the match peaked when South Korea closed the first half, leading by one point. In the second half of the game, Li Yi, playing forward, kicked Lee's right shin after Lee completed a pass. Recently recovering from ankle injury, Lee, upset at Li's violent play, slapped Li on the back of his head, after which Li Yi started rolling on the ground grabbing his head in apparent exaggeration. The field violence quickly simmered down as the referee awarded a yellow card for Li for exaggeration and red card for Lee for violence [ [http://www.dcinside.com/webdc/lecture/study_list.php?id=423&code1=50&code2=60&s_mode=&s_que= µð½ÃÀλçÀ̵å ÄÁÅÙÃ÷ ] ] though Yi's acting on the field was far from forgotten. Within weeks amused Internet surfers launched a flurry of photoshopped parodies of various TV and movie villains looming over Li Yi's writhing figure.

Other Matches

In ACL 2005, Yi scored two critical goals in-game and a the third goal in over time, for a 3-1 win against Al-Ahli (Jeddah) of Saudi Arabia.

References

External links

* [http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-05/27/content_446349.htm "China names squad for soccer friendly"] , "China Daily", May 27, 2005.
* [http://www.china.org.cn/english/sports/101834.htm "China Crushes Indonesia 5-0 in Asian Cup"] , July 22, 2004.
* [http://tieba.baidu.com/f?kw=%C0%EE%D2%E3 "Li Yi's forum"] .