VANCOUVER - South Korean soccer legend Young-Pyo Lee wants to end his playing career in Vancouver.

That's the encouraging news for Vancouver Whitecaps fans who voted the gifted 35-year-old defender as the Caps' 2012 Player of the Year.

The not-so-encouraging news is Lee's playing career might be over at the end of this season.

“I have two options – retire now or play one more year in Vancouver,” Lee said Tuesday after the Whitecaps trained at Burnaby Lake. “I want to retire from this club. I don't want to go to any other team. But it's a very difficult decision for me and I need to decide in the next four or five weeks. It's 50/50 right now.”

His post-soccer career plans including studying sports business and marketing at university, either in Vancouver or Los Angeles.

Whitecaps head coach Martin Rennie hopes club officials can convince Lee to delay those plans a year and keep playing until the ripe old age of 36.

“Hopefully we can make that work,” he said.

Lee signed with Vancouver for the 2012 season after playing in Saudi Arabia for two years following stints with top-flight European clubs PSV Eindhoven, Tottenham Hotspur and Borussia Dortmund.

The 5-9, 146-pound right back with 127 caps for his country positively oozes class in Major League Soccer and commands hero-worship status among Korean fans wherever he goes.

His well-timed runs and passing and dribbling skills have clearly strengthened what used to be a weak spot on the Caps' back line and his one goal and four assists this year are a welcome contribution to a club looking for attacking play from all over the field.

Lee said the physical play in MLS hasn't been an issue for him this year as his playing style doesn't require him to be overly physical.

“I'm used to tough leagues,” he said, noting he was introduced to high-level physical soccer after signing with PSV in 2003. “Everyone was much bigger than me, with big bodies and lots of power. I know how to play against strong players.”

Lee said the most difficult part of playing in MLS has been the gruelling travel schedule, with seven-hour-plus trips to get from Vancouver to the east coast.

He has missed just one game this season and that was because Rennie made him take a 10-day break from soccer in late August, feeling he looked tired on the field and needed rest.

Lee disagreed at the time but knows it was the right move.

“I want to play every single game but we needed to be clever and manage my time properly and do what was best for the team,” he said. “It was very good for me. I recharged my power and energy.”

Lee, a 17-handicap golfer, used the break to play a few rounds in Vancouver and Whistler and try out some tips passed along from his friend, South Korean pro golfer K.J. Choi.

“He taught me how to make a proper grip,” he said, showing off the interlocking grip made famous by Jack Nicklaus. “He said it's a million-dollar grip. I still remember that.”