Jo Jae Jin is a South Korean retired footballer. He graduated from Daeshin High School in 1999 and the following year made his professional debut for the Suwon Samsung Bluewings of the K-League. Due to his inexperience and having to fulfill his mandatory military service between 2002 and 2003 with the Army team, Gwangju Sangmu, he only participated in 16 games during his 4 years with Suwon. In 2004, he transferred to the Japanese league and played for Shimizu S-Pulse and combined with a call to represent South Korea during the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, he emerged as a national star. In 3 years with S-Pulse, he played in 101 games and scored 45 goals which triggered rumors of his eventual move to Europe. But, unhappy with the offers to play in the Netherlands, he returned to South Korea and played one season for Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors before moving back to Japan to spend 2 years at Gamba Osaka.
On March 2011, he announced his retirement after recurring problems with congenital dysplasia of the hip.
(Source: Wikipedia)
