By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
South Korean international Lee Chun-soo was impressive in his long-awaited but sudden debut Sunday with Feyenoord Rotterdam in the Eredivisie.
In an eighth-round match against Excelsior Rotterdam at home, the 26-year-old forward replaced midfielder Nicky Hofs in the 60th minute and played to his full abilities to help his team achieve a 1-0 win.
It had been 51 days since the former Ulsan Tiger joined the league leader and was benched when manager Bert van Marwijk decided he was far from game fit.
Until the previous day, the manager was skeptical of Lee getting on the pitch.
However, he lived up to his boss' expectation fully. The speedy debutant disturbed the opposing team, breaking to the right and making quick crosses. The Korean attacker, who found an equalizer in a preliminary match against Togo at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, even attacked up the middle of Excelsior's side, which got two defenders to guard him.
Lee, who had a pass from Roy Makaay in the box, was put in a 1-on-1 situation with goalie Ronald Graafland 24 minutes through the second half, but a hard tackle hampered his first chance to score.
Captain and midfielder Giovanni van Bronckhorst put his side ahead when he connected Makaay's right-side cross past Graafland in the 78th.
Lee sent in a left-wing cross to Makaay, whose left-footed blast was slightly away from the post two minutes from time.
With the win, the Rotterdam-based team, which finished seventh last season, leads the Dutch league by one point, ahead of reigning champion PSV Eindhoven in the standings.