Jung Sung ryong

Club career

Jung Sung-ryong, who was born in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, started playing football in Gwangju Elementary School and graduated Seogwipo Middle School and Seogwipo High School.

In 2003, he signed his first professional contract with Pohang Steelers. Having failed to make any appearances for the club in the first three years, he finally started to become the first choice goalkeeper, playing 15 games in 2006 and helping the club to win 2007 K League championship and be Korean FA Cup Runners up.

In February 2008, with Kim Yong-dae joining the Korean military team Jung was transferred to Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma as a replacement. and contributed to the team's 2009 K League runners-up campaign. Ahead of the 2010 season Kim Yong-dae moved to FC Seoul and so Jung was able to keep his starting role.

On 28 January 2011, it was announced that Jung had joined Suwon Samsung Bluewings on a five-year deal for undisclosed fee. His first game was on 2 March 2011 when Jung played against Australian side Sydney FC in the AFC Champions League.

International career

Jung made his national team debut on 30 January 2008 in a friendly match against Chile, conceding one goal in a 0–1 defeat. On 27 July 2008, he scored a goal from 85 m (93 yd) in the U-23 friendly match against Ivory Coast, setting a Guinness record, which was not broken until Everton keeper Tim Howard scored from 93 m (102 yd) in 2012. In the national team, Jung used to be the understudy to South Korean Lee Woon-jae, but Lee's retirement made Jung South Korea's first-choice goalkeeper.

In the 2010 FIFA World Cup, he played in all four of South Korea's games. After keeping a clean sheet against Greece in the opening game he conceded eight goals in the following matches, half of them in a 4–1 defeat against Argentina. After the tournament he was criticized for not communicating with his defenders well and for his inability to save a penalty against Nigeria. However Jung was able to improve his goalkeeping skills and remained the top choice goalkeeper for the national team.

In the 2011 AFC Asian Cup, Jung played in all six of South Korea's games. In the semi-final against Japan he saved a penalty against Keisuke Honda but lost in the penalty shootout after the game ended in a 2-2 draw. South Korea earned third place after defeating Uzbekistan. Jung conceded five goals in open play as well as two penalties in six matches and was named to the team of the tournament.

In the 2012 Summer Olympics Jung played a vital role in South Korea's historic third-place finish. He conceded just one goal in three matches in the group stage and saved a penalty kick in the quarterfinal against Great Britain. He became injured during the second half and had to come off the pitch. Jung did not play in South Korea's semifinal match against Brazil due to his injury and South Korea lost 3–0. He returned for the third-place match against Japan and kept a clean sheet as South Korea won 2–0. Jung conceded 2 goals in five matches in total.

Jung Sung-Ryong played all the matches for the qualification matches and helped them qualify to the final round.

Despite poor performance in K League Jung Sung-Ryong was selected as the first-choice goalkeeper for South Korea in the 2014 World Cup. However following a performance against Algeria where he conceded four goals, he was replaced by Kim Seung-gyu for the final game against Belgium.

After the World Cup, Jung Sung Ryong wasn't selected for any international friendly games until 14 November, when he was selected to play against Jordan, and kept a clean sheet.

Club

Club career statistics

Updated to 23 February 2017.

International clean sheets