Lu Kun-chi (Chinese: 呂昆錡; pinyin: Lǚ Kūnqí, born 6 February 1985 in Tainan County (now part of Tainan City), Republic of China) is a Taiwanese football goalkeeper. Nicknamed Taiwanese Buffon (台灣布馮), he is the first choice goalkeeper in the Chinese Taipei national football team.
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 6 February 1985 | ||
| Place of birth | Tainan, Taiwan | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1992–1997 | Jia Li Preparatory School | ||
| 1997–2000 | Jia Li Junior Elementary | ||
| 2000–2003 | Pei Men SHS | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2003–2006 | Taiwan PE College | ||
| 2007 | Grulla Morioka | 1 | (0) |
| 2008–2009 | Taiwan PE College | ||
| 2009–2010 | NSTC | ||
| 2010– | Taipower | ||
| International career | |||
| 2003–2007 | Chinese Taipei U-23 | 2 | (0) |
| 2004– | Chinese Taipei | 23 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Biography
editEarly years
editLu was born in Tainan County, Taiwan. He has one brother and one sister, among whom he is the youngest. Lu started to play football at the age of 10 after his family moved to Jiali, another township in Tainan other than which he was born. He has played goalkeeper since age 11 in Jiali Primary School and Jiali Junior High School.
When he was 14, his height reached 180 cm (5 ft 11 in). It was thought he was likely to be included in the Chinese Taipei U-15 squad, but he was not. "At that time, I told myself I should enter the [Chinese Taipei] youth team in three years," he said to the press after years.[1] Under the instruction of Pei Men goalkeeper coach Hung Chin-chang, he spent only two years to make his wish come true. He was called up to the Chinese Taipei U-21 at age 17, the U-23 at age 18, and eventually the senior team in 2004.
Chinese Taipei debut
editLu's Chinese Taipei senior team debut was on October 14, 2004 against Palestine in 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification.[2] His amazing performance soon earned him a regular place in the national team. Since then, he has been the first choice goalkeeper for Chinese Taipei. He also performed well in domestic league. He has been voted as the Best Goalkeeper in the Chinese Taipei National Football League 2005 season at the time he plays for National Taiwan College of Physical Education.[3]
Seeking opportunities in Japan
editIn June, 2005, Masakazu Suzuki, former manager of J. League side Júbilo Iwata, was invited to Taiwan to give lectures and to provide selection tests to Taiwanese talented youngsters.[4] Lu took the test but did not perform himself because he was too nervous to keep his pace. One month later, supported by his professor Chao Jung-jui in Taiwan PE College, he went to Japan for the first time to accept the training tests provided by Yokohama FC and JEF United Ichihara Chiba.[5] However, he failed to earn his position in both clubs.
In October, 2006, with the recommendation of then Chinese Taipei manager Toshiaki Imai, Lu flew to Japan again to join the trainings with Yokohama F. Marinos for 2 weeks along with his teammate Chen Po-liang.[6]
Grulla Morioka
editAfter two months of waiting, although there was no update from Yokohama, Lu received an invitation from Grulla Morioka of the Japanese regional Tohoku League.[7][8] He became the first Taiwanese male footballer to join a Japanese professional football club.[9] On March 4, 2007, a press conference was held, and Grulla Morioka formally announced their signings of Lu and his compatriot Chuang Wei-lun,[10] albeit the latter suddenly returned to Taiwan and failed to contract with the club afterwards.[11] Lu's contract was confirmed on March 9,[11] and he was assigned the number 22 shirt. On June 10, Lu made his debut for Grulla in the game against Furukawa Battery F.C., of which he substituted Kazuya Obara after 83 minutes. However, he was unable to prove himself and sidelined from first-team action. With Grulla Morioka's failure in the year-end JFL promotion tournament, Lu returned to Taiwan in December.[12]
Returning to Taiwan
editAfter returning to Taiwan, Lu was back to the National Taiwan College of Physical Education football team (as Molten Tso I) during the Enterprise Football League 2008 season. Then Lu served military service in National Sports Training Center football team and joined Taiwan Power Company F.C. afterwards.
Career statistics
edit| Club | Season | League | Asia | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
 Taiwan PE College
|
2005 | ? | 0 | - | - | ? | 0 |
| 2006 | ? | 0 | - | - | ? | 0 | |
 Grulla Morioka
|
2007 | 1 | 0 | - | - | 1 | 0 |
| Taiwan PE College
|
2008 | ? | 0 | - | - | ? | 0 |
| Career totals | ? | 0 | 0 | 0 | ? | 0 | |
References
edit- ^ 寶島門神 角足東瀛 (in Chinese). China Times. 24 February 2007. Archived from the original on 20 January 2008.
- ^ 呂昆錡 新一代掌門人 (in Chinese). Liberty Times. 15 October 2004. Archived from the original on 27 January 2013.
- ^ 男足聯賽最佳陣容之1》守門員篇－呂昆錡 (in Chinese). LTSports. 15 November 2005. Archived from the original on 11 June 2007. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
- ^ "前日本冠軍隊教頭來台選才，呂昆錡有望前進J聯盟" (in Chinese). LTSports. 28 May 2005. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007.
- ^ "前進J聯盟，呂昆錡赴日測試" (in Chinese). LTSports. 21 July 2005. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007.
- ^ 戰畢伊朗呂昆錡、陳柏良赴日逐夢 (in Chinese). LTSports. 11 October 2006. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007.
- ^ 台灣第一門將呂昆錡將加盟日本盛岡仙鶴職業隊 (in Chinese). LTSports. 16 December 2006. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 18 May 2007.
- ^ "グルージャに台湾GK 東北社会人サッカー" (in Japanese). Iwate Daily. 28 December 2006. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 23 February 2007.
- ^ 台湾からの海外移籍第１号 ル・クンチ来日 (in Japanese). Grulla Morioka. 27 February 2007.[permanent dead link]
- ^ ３/４（日）台湾からの選手2名の入団記者会見が行われました (in Japanese). Grulla Morioka. 5 March 2007.[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b 台湾選手緊急帰国のお知らせ (in Japanese). Grulla Morioka. 13 March 2007.[permanent dead link]
- ^ 退団選手コメント (in Japanese). 20 December 2007.[permanent dead link]
External links
edit- 台灣第一門神呂昆錡的部落格, Lu Kun-chi's official blog (in Chinese)
- 扭轉乾"昆錡"開得勝, Lu Kun-chi's personal website at Wretch (in Chinese)
- Lu Kun-chi joined Grulla