Lee Keun-ho 5th in Goal Race
By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
A recent charge by striker Lee Keun-ho of Jubilo Iwata has pushed him into contention for the top scorer in the J-League.
By scoring his 11th goal of the season against FC Tokyo on Saturday, Lee extended his goal streak to four games and is now tied for fifth.
Although the South Korean international is three goals behind league leader and Iwata teammate Ryoichi Maeda, Lee, who has scored in consecutive games three times this season, is in the race for top goal-getter despite missing several games this season.
The 24-year-old, who joined the Japanese outfit in April on a nine-month deal after scoring a total of 23 goals in 2007 and 2008 with Daegu FC in the K-League, has continued his robust scoring touch in Japan, which he first showed in the season opener.
Facing Shimizu S-Pulse on April 19, he found the target twice and in his next game, against Kyoto Purple Sanga six days later, he also fired home a goal while setting up two others.
He also netted three goals in a two-game span in May.
Although Lee was not fully game-fit following a series of setbacks in his bid to transfer to the European leagues, he returned to form with six goals and four assists in eight appearances after returning to the Japanese league.
In June, he was poised to join Paris Saint-Germain in the French League and he left Iwata even before his deal with the French side was completed. When the deal fell apart, he then returned to Iwata in July on a new one-year contract.
He scored his seventh of the year in his first game back against Yokohama Marinos. His current goal streak began on Aug. 29.
Lee's total of 11 goals is especially impressive given that he has racked them up in just 17 games ― Maeda needed 27 games to notch his 14 ― and that none have come from penalty or free kicks.
Lee, apparently, does not covet the honor of top goal scorer.
"I am not mindful of the scoring title but rather, my team's victory,'' Lee said.
"If I focus on it, it will distract me in action. So I am trying not to think about it.''