Lu Kun-chi

Football player infobox
playername= Lu Kun-chi


fullname = Lu Kun-chi (呂昆錡)
height = height|m=1.85
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1985|2|6
cityofbirth = Tainan
countryofbirth = R.O.C. (Taiwan)
position = Goalkeeper
currentclub =
clubnumber =
youthyears = 1992-1997 1997-2000 2000-2003
youthclubs = Jia Li Primary School Jia Li Junior High School Pei Men SHS
years = 2003-2006 2007 2008-present
clubs =Taiwan PE College Grulla Morioka Taiwan PE College
caps(goals) = 1 (0) 2 (0)
pcupdate =
nationalyears =2003-2007 2004-present
nationalteam = Chinese Taipei U-23　 Chinese Taipei　
nationalcaps(goals) = 2 (0) 15 (0)　
ntupdate =

Lu Kun-chi (zh-cp|c=呂昆錡|p=Lǔ Kūnqí, born February 6 1985 in Tainan County, Taiwan) is a Taiwanese football goalkeeper. Nicknamed "Taiwanese Buffon" (台灣布馮), he is the first choice goalkeeper in the Chinese Taipei national football team.

Biography

Early years

Lu was born in Tainan, Taiwan. He has one brother and one sister, among whom he is the youngest. Lu started to play football at the age of 10 after his family moved to Jiali, another township in Tainan other than which he was born. He has played goalkeeper since age 11 in Jiali Primary School and Jiali Junior High School.

When he was 14, his height reached 180 cm (5 ft 11 in). It was thought he was likely to be included in the Chinese Taipei U-15 squad, but he was not. "At that time, I told myself I should enter the [Chinese Taipei] youth team in three years," he said to the press after years. [cite news
title=寶島門神 角足東瀛
url=http://news.chinatimes.com/2007Cti/2007Cti-News/2007Cti-News-Content/0,4521,11051204+112007022400056,00.html
publisher=China Times
date=2007-02-24
language=Chinese] Under the instruction of Pei Men goalkeeper coach Hung Chin-chang, he spent only two years to make his wish come true. He was called up to the Chinese Taipei U-21 at age 17, the U-23 at age 18, and eventually the senior team in 2004.

Chinese Taipei debut

Lu's Chinese Taipei senior team debut was on October 14, 2004 against Palestine in 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification. [cite news
title=呂昆錡 新一代掌門人
url=http://libertytimes.com/2004/new/oct/15/today-sp3.htm
publisher=Liberty Times
date=October 15, 2004
language=Chinese] His amazing performance soon earned him a regular place in the national team. Since then, he has been the first choice goalkeeper for Chinese Taipei. He also performed well in domestic league. He has been voted as the Best Goalkeeper in the Chinese Taipei National Football League 2005 season at the time he plays for National Taiwan College of Physical Education. [cite news
title=男足聯賽最佳陣容之1》守門員篇－呂昆錡
url=http://www.ltsports.com.tw/NewWeb/news.asp?no=43867&N_Class=4
publisher=LTSports
date=2005-11-15
language=Chinese]

eeking opportunities in Japan

In June, 2005, Masakazu Suzuki, former manager of J. League side Júbilo Iwata, was invited to Taiwan to give lectures and to provide selection tests to Taiwanese talented youngsters. [cite news
title=前日本冠軍隊教頭來台選才，呂昆錡有望前進J聯盟
url=http://www.ltsports.com.tw/newweb/news.asp?no=40997&N_Class=4
publisher=LTSports
date=2005-05-28
language=Chinese] Lu took the test but did not perform himself because he was too nervous to keep his pace. One month later, supported by his professor Chao Jung-jui in Taiwan PE College, he went to Japan for the first time to accept the training tests provided by Yokohama FC and JEF United Ichihara Chiba. [cite news
title=前進J聯盟，呂昆錡赴日測試
url=http://www.ltsports.com.tw/newweb/news.asp?no=41709&N_Class=4
publisher=LTSports
date=2005-07-21
language=Chinese] However, he failed to earn his position in both clubs.

In October, 2006, with the recommendation of then Chinese Taipei manager Toshiaki Imai, Lu flew to Japan again to join the trainings with Yokohama F. Marinos for 2 weeks along with his teammate Chen Po-liang. [cite news
title = 戰畢伊朗呂昆錡、陳柏良赴日逐夢
url = http://www.ltsports.com.tw/NewWeb/news.asp?no=49711&N_Class=4
publisher = LTSports
date = 2006-10-11
language = Chinese]

Grulla Morioka

After two months of waiting, although there was no update from Yokohama, Lu received an invitation from Grulla Morioka of the Japanese regional Tohoku League. [cite news
title = 台灣第一門將呂昆錡將加盟日本盛岡仙鶴職業隊
url = http://www.ltsports.com.tw/NewWeb/news.asp?no=50390&N_Class=4
publisher = LTSports
date = 2006-12-16
language = Chinese] [cite news
title=グルージャに台湾GK　東北社会人サッカー
url=http://www.iwate-np.co.jp/sports/2006sports/m12/spo0612282.html
date=2006-12-28
publisher=Iwate Daily
language=Japanese] He became the first Taiwanese male footballer to join a Japanese professional football club.cite news
title=台湾からの海外移籍第１号 ル・クンチ来日
url=http://www.grulla.jp/topics/topics_2007/topics_0702.html#rukunchi
publisher=Grulla Morioka
date=2007-02-27
language=Japanese] On March 4, 2007, a press conference was held, and Grulla Morioka formally announced their signings of Lu and his compatriot Chuang Wei-lun, [cite news
title=３/４（日）台湾からの選手2名の入団記者会見が行われました
url=http://www.grulla.jp/topics/topics_2007/topics_0703.html#kaiken2
date=2007-03-05
publisher=Grulla Morioka
language=Japanese] albeit the latter suddenly returned to Taiwan and failed to contract with the club afterwards.cite news
title=台湾選手緊急帰国のお知らせ
url=http://www.grulla.jp/topics/topics_2007/topics_0703.html#kikoku
publisher=Grulla Morioka
date=2007-03-13
language=Japanese] Lu's contract was confirmed on March 9, and he was assigned the number 22 shirt. On June 10, Lu made his debut for Grulla in the game against Furukawa Battery F.C., of which he substituted Kazuya Obara after 83 minutes. However, he was unable to prove himself and sidelined from first-team action. With Grulla Morioka's failure in the year-end JFL promotion tournament, Lu returned to Taiwan in December. [cite news
title=退団選手コメント
url=http://www.grulla.jp/taidannsennshu
date=December 20, 2007
language=Japanese]

Back to Taiwan PE College

Lu is presently representing National Taiwan College of Physical Education football team (as Molten Tso I) in the Enterprise Football League 2008.

Lu will serve military service in September, 2008.

Career statistics

References

External links

* [http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/jw!7qETFuKBHxRZ9uSohjHKZ.k3_yk- 台灣第一門神呂昆錡的部落格] , Lu Kun-chi's official blog zh icon
* [http://www.wretch.cc/user/soccer740206 扭轉乾"昆錡"開得勝] , Lu Kun-chi's personal website at Wretch zh icon
* [http://furtho2.blog32.fc2.com/blog-entry-622.html Lu Kun-chi joined Grulla]