Known for his vision and technique, as well as the accuracy and range of his set-pieces and passing, he is widely regarded as one of the top young South Korean footballing prospects. His playing style has earned him the title of being the "Korean Gerrard." On 22 September 2009, he received a Sky Sports Scout Rating of 62/80.[2]
Early life
John Paul College
In 2001, Ki was sent to Australia by his father. His father believed that Ki could play football and learn to speak English.[3] He played the bulk of his youth career at John Paul College in Brisbane under the BSP (Brain Soccer Program) overseen by Jeff Hopkins. He was part of the team that won the U-15 Nationals (Bill Turner Cup) for John Paul College in 2004. Ki received offers in 2005 from Korean club FC Seoul and also A-League club Brisbane Roar, but decided to move back to South Korea to continue his career. Since then, Ki has been a fluent English speaker. He went by his English name David in Australia.[4]Club career
FC Seoul
Ki returned to Korea and joined the reserve team of FC Seoul where he played alongside national teammate Lee Chung-Yong. Under Şenol Güneş, he made his senior debut in 2007.During the 2008 season, Ki reinforced his position as a key player of FC Seoul. On 29 October, Ki scored the winning goal against Seoul's biggest rival Suwon Samsung Bluewings in 92nd minute. Ki performed a "Kangaroo Ceremony", which he claims to be imitation of Emmanuel Adebayor's, but Suwon fans argue that this was imitation of 'chicken', which is how many Seoul fans call Suwon. He led the team to an unprecedented K-League runners-up position with 4 goals and 1 assist in 21 appearances.
In FC Seoul's first K-League match of the 2009 season, Ki scored one goal in the 6–1 drubbing of Chunnam Dragons. There was increasing speculation regarding a big move abroad with suitors including PSV Eindhoven, Hamburg SV and Porto among others.[5]
Celtic
On 25 August 2009, it was revealed that contact between Celtic and FC Seoul had occurred regarding the possibility of Ki's transfer to the Parkhead club.[6] However, the player's agent stated that an immediate move would be unlikely given FC Seoul's success in the league and the Asian Champions League.[7] Three days later, Celtic clinched a £2.1m transfer for Ki. He linked up with the Parkhead side in the January transfer window at the end of the K-League season.[8] The signing was confirmed on 13 December 2009 after Ki passed a medical and secured a work permit.[9] He reportedly turned down an offer from English Premier League club Portsmouth.[10] He wears the number 18 with "Ki" on his shirt. He made his debut for Celtic in a 1–1 draw against Falkirk at Celtic Park on 16 January 2010, winning the Man of the Match award from the official Celtic website.[11]He scored his first competitive goal for Celtic with a shot from 25 yards in a 4–0 victory against St. Mirren in the SPL.[12] Ki was voted the SPL Young Player of the Month for October 2010.[13] He became a first team regular[14] and scored his second goal of the season in a 2-2 draw with Inverness Caledonian Thistle at Celtic Park.[15] Ki scored his third goal against St Johnstone in a 2-0 victory in the SPL.[16]
International career
On the international stage, Ki has played in the 2007 U-20 World Cup and for the South Korea national team as well as the South Korea U-23 team.[17]On 7 June 2008, he made his international debut in a 2010 World Cup qualification match against Jordan.[17]
On 1 June 2010 Ki was picked in the 23 man South Korea squad.[18] On 12 June Ki played in South Korea's first game of the 2010 World Cup against Greece.[19] Ki played a part in all 3 group games and assisted twice in 2 different matches against Greece and Nigeria which helped him and his country get through to the knock-out stages of the competition.[19]
On 25 January 2011, during the 2011 AFC Asian Cup semi-final match between Japan and South Korea, Ki scored the opening goal through a penalty kick.[20] Ki created controversy with his goal celebration by pulling a monkey face and scratching his cheek in front of a pitch-side camera in an allegedly racist slur at Japanese people.[21] Ki initially defended his goal celebration through a Twitter post claiming that he was annoyed at having seen a Rising Sun Flag in the stadium.[22] Ki then claimed that the celebration was a reference to alleged racist abuse he had received during Scottish Premier League games from opposition fans, but the chief executive of Show Racism the Red Card expressed scepticism about this.[22] Asian Cup tournament director Tokuaki Suzuki said that no action will be taken on part of the AFC and that FIFA has not contacted the AFC regarding the matter.[21]
