Kim Dong Jin is a Korean footballer who is currently playing for a football club in Hong Kong called Kitschi. Very soon he will turn 35 years old, so expect that in the near future he will complete his professional career. Kim Dong Jin plays in the left-back position, but can also play in the center of defense.
Carier start
Kim Dong-jin was born on January 29, 1982 in South Korea in the city of Dongducheon. He began to get involved in football as a child, and seriously began to engage in it already at Anyang Higher Technical School, where he played for the school team. As a result, he was included in the football academy of the club “Anyan Al-Chitas”, with which he concluded in 2000, when he was 18 years old, a professional contract. Already in that very first year, he entered the field as part of the club eleven times and even marked a debut goal. However, the young player was not easy to win a place in the starting lineup. In the second season, he played only six matches, and in the third - ten. However, in 2003 they nevertheless decided to give him a full-fledged chance, which Kim Dong Jin managed to take advantage of: he proved himself to be the best and played 36 matches, scoring five goals in them. However, as soon as he got into the foundation, reforms began in the club, he was renamed FC Seoul, and in 2004 the defender again had to prove his worth. He spent only twenty matches, scoring three goals, but gradually began to regain confidence. Therefore, in 2005, he played 34 matches, marking three goals. As for the next year, he was able to enter the field in 14 matches and score his last goal for Seoul. The fact is that with his speeches he attracted the attention of St. Petersburg Zenit, who laid out 2 million euros for a 24-year-old Korean defender.
Relocation to Russia
Kim Dong Jin is a football player who showed great promise when moving to Russia. And in the first season, more precisely, in its second half, the Korean entered the field 17 times. In the 2007 season, he already took a place in the starting lineup, noting 28 matches and two goals, but next year he began to decline again - he was released on the field in only 13 matches. 2009 was the last year that Kim Dong Jin spent at Zenit. The biography of the football player was such that he could not play in Russia - even in his last season, he entered the field only 18 times, scoring one last goal. And in the winter of 2010, when his contract with Zenit came to an end, the defender returned to his homeland.
Return to Korea
In Korea, he signed a short-term contract with the Ulsan club, for which he played only one season. However, he managed to show that he was still able to show good football - for the year he spent 23 games, which attracted the attention of his native club Seoul. It was there that the 28-year-old football player went in the winter of 2011.
Return to Seoul
However, it turned out that in Seoul there was essentially no place for the pupil - he had been away from his club for too long. During the season, Kim Dong Jin, whose photographs were on the front pages of all local sports publications ten years ago, was able to play only 14 times. He scored another goal for Seoul, which was the last for him in this club. And in the winter of 2012, Kim Dong Jin, whose sports career was gradually dying away, moved to China, where the Hangzhou Greentown club signed a contract with him.
Going to Hangzhou
This new contract was designed for two years, and the Korean football player fulfilled its conditions completely. He spent both seasons at the base of the Chinese club, having played a total of 57 matches and scoring one goal in each of the two seasons. Unfortunately, all the trophies for the football player were left behind - he won the Korean League at the very beginning of his career, in 2000. Also, just before leaving Seoul, he won the League Cup, and then, together with Zenit, won the Russian Championship in 2007, and in 2008 managed to win the UEFA Cup. That trophy was the last of his career. In China, he also could not win anything, and in the winter of 2014 he moved to the Thai club Muantong United.
Last years
At that time, when the Korean football player signed a contract with a Thai club, he was already 32 years old, so his career was gradually moving to its logical conclusion. For two years at Muantong United, he played another 60 matches, scoring two goals in them, and in the winter of 2016 decided to return to his homeland in Korea after a four-year absence. Kim Dong Jin signed a one-year contract with the new club and, despite his age, spent this year very productively. He played 34 matches, scoring another goal, and in the winter of 2017, when everyone already thought that he would finish his professional career, he signed another one-year contract - this time with the Kitschi club from Hong Kong. He had already managed to hold his first match in the club, having played 71 minutes, until he was replaced. This suggests that during the year the player will receive constant playing practice, although in a couple of weeks he will turn 35 years old. It is possible he will end his career in the winter of 2018, or maybe he will continue to play further. Everything will depend on his physical condition, as well as on his desire to continue speaking at a professional level.
Team appearances
In the South Korean national team, the defender made his debut in 2003, when he was only 21 years old. Then he played in the East Asian championship against the national team of Japan. Since then, Kim Dong Jin has spent 62 matches in the national team shirt, scoring two goals. The first major tournament a football player went to was the 2006 World Cup, where he spent the first match on the bench, and played the second two from bell to bell to the left-back position. When he was on the field, the Koreans tied with the French, and then lost to the Swiss. At the 2007 Asian Cup, he was in the application, but only entered the field in a match with Bahrain.
In 2010, the defender was again included in the application for the World Cup, however, he spent all of it on the bench, leaving for a few seconds in the group stage match against the Nigeria national team. It was this match that was the last for an experienced football player - since then he has not been called up to the national team. If we talk about full-fledged matches, then the last for him was a friendly match with the Belarus national team in May 2010 - this was one of the preparatory matches for the World Cup. It is also worth noting that Kim Dong Jin has long played for the South Korean youth team in the age category up to 23 years. He spent 39 matches there, marking six goals.
Personal life
As for the personal life of this football player, not much is known about her. The football player is a believer and professes Christianity, refers to the Korean Protestant church. He lives in a family without a mother - with his father and older sister. In matters of love relationships, Kim Dong Jin, whose personal life is practically not covered, is rather secretive - it is only known that he is still not married.