Football Player's Biography 7: Park Ji-Sung

Full name	Park Ji-Sung
Date of birth	25 February 1981 (age 30)
Place of birth	Goheung County,^[1] Jeollanam-do, Republic of Korea
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 9¹⁄₂ in)^[2]^[3]
Playing position	Midfielder

Park Ji-Sung (Hangul: 박지성; Hanja: 朴智星; Korean pronunciation: [pak̚t͈ɕisʌŋ]; born 25 February 1981) is a South Korean footballer who currently plays as a midfielder for Manchester United , and is the captain of the South Korean national team. He is the most decorated footballer in Asian history, as the only South Korean player to have won the UEFA Champions League and the first Asian to have played in a final of the tournament.^[4]

Career

Early career

Park grew up in Suwon, a satellite city 30 kilometres (19 mi) south of Seoul. He began playing football during his fourth year of elementary school. During this time, Park was known as one the greatest young talents in South Korea and was being looked at by a number of different clubs. He was well known for his excellent work rate, mesmerizing dribbling and pinpoint passes.
While in high school (1996 Mar-1999 Feb), he helped his high school team win the national championship in 1998, though he was at that point rejected by a number of professional clubs and universities, due to his small stature. He ended up playing for Myongji University after his high school coach strongly recommended him to the university coach.
From the winter vacation of his third high school year, he began to train with his university team as a soon to be member. A few weeks later, in January 1999, his university team was given the chance to train with the South Korean Olympics Team. After a splendid performance, he attracted the attention of Huh Jung-Moo, the coach of the Olympic Team and South Korean national team (Oct 1998 - Nov 2000). Thereafter he became a preliminary member of the Olympics Team, and finally a formal member of its squad. At 18 years old, if Park was selected, it was believed that he would have been selected for under-20 team instead of Huh's Olympics team, the under-23 team. This selection was so unexpected for Park and others that it was rumoured that Huh selected Park in response for Huh's defeat at a go game between Huh and the university coach. ^[6]
On April 5, 2000, in a 2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification match against Laos, Park made his debut as a member of the national team, along with Lee Chun-Soo. ^[7]
In June 2000, while he was a national team member and a second year student at Myongji University, Kyoto Purple Sanga of Japan offered Park a contract and he took the offer though he was still a relative unknown. Park was the first instance of a relatively unknown Korean player being offered a contract by a Japanese club.
In September 2000, at the 2000 Summer Olympics, his Olympics team failed to advance to the knockout stage, and the Korea national football team replaced head coach Huh Jung-Moo with Guus Hiddink.

Kyoto Purple Sanga

In June 2000, Park signed with Japanese club named Kyoto Purple Sanga. In the spring of 2000, hearing that there was a rising star in Korea, Bunji Kimura, Sanga's coach at the time, visited Korea with other scoute. In a practice game, the rising star did not attract their attention, whereas Park did. In an interview, Kimura said
In 2001, the club won the Division 2 championships and were promoted to the first division. In 2002, Park led the team to the final of the Emperor's Cup, and in the final on January 1, 2003, he scored the equaliser with a header and assisted on Teruaki Kurobe's winning goal.^[9] The team went on to win the match 2–1 to become the Emperor's Cup champions for the first time in Sanga's history. This was Park's last game for Sanga.
In 2003 January, he left Sanga as Guus Hiddink invited him to play for PSV Eindhoven.

PSV Eindhoven

After the World Cup, Guus Hiddink was appointed as manager of Dutch club PSV Eindhoven. In 2003, Park and South Korean teammate Lee Young-Pyo moved to PSV Eindhoven in order to play under their mentor and former national team coach. While Lee quickly became a fixture in PSV Eindhoven's starting lineup, Park struggled due to injuries.^[10]
However, by the end of 2003–04 season, Park had begun to adapt to the Netherlands, both on and off the field. In the 2004–05 season, the departure of Arjen Robben to Chelsea afforded Park more starting opportunities and he quickly proved his worth to the team. Along with Johann Vogel, DaMarcus Beasley and Dutchmen Mark van Bommel and Philip Cocu, Park formed the backbone of PSV Eindhoven's midfield play with his pace and passing.^[11] Having been a top contributor of goals and assists that season, the highlight of Park's PSV career came when he scored the first goal against Italian team A.C. Milan in the Champions League semi-finals. PSV went on to win the home leg 3–1, but their 2–0 loss during the away leg meant Milan advanced to the Champion's League Final.^[12] However, thanks to these successful performances, Park was chosen, along with Adriano Leite Ribeiro, Samuel Eto'o, and Ronaldinho as one of the UEFA MVPs in FW section in 2005. PSV fans were so enamoured with Park that they wrote a song about him entitled "Song for Park", it was included in the PSV official album "PSV Kampioen" and repeats "Ji-Sung Park" with Dutch pronunciation the whole time.^[13]

Manchester United

In the closing months of the 2004–05 season, Park chose to join Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United. Park signed for the Premier League side for £4 million,^[14] subject to a medical and work permit.^[15]^[16]
Park became the first Asian to ever captain Manchester United when he took the armband from Ryan Giggs as he replaced him during a home Champions League game against Lille on 18 October 2005.^[17]^[18] His first goal for Manchester United came on 20 December 2005, during a 3–1 win over Birmingham City in the League Cup fifth round.^[19] On 5 February 2006, Park appeared to have scored his first Premier League goal, coming against Fulham in United's 4–2 victory at Old Trafford.^[20] However the Premier League's Dubious Goals Panel later ruled that this was an "own-goal" due to a deflection off the Fulham defender Carlos Bocanegra. On 9 April 2006, Park scored his first official league goal, netting the second of a 2–0 home win over Arsenal.^[21]
In April 2007, Park was sent to America for surgery on a recurring knee injury, putting an end to his season.^[22] Although sidelined by injury for most of the season, he still played in enough matches to become the first South Korean player to win the Premier League.
Park began his football career in his native South Korea and played for the Myongji University team before moving to Japan to play for Kyoto Purple Sanga. After Park's national team manager Guus Hiddink moved back to the Netherlands to manage PSV Eindhoven, Park followed him to the Dutch side a year later. After PSV reached the semi-finals of the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League, Park's talents were recognised by Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson and he signed Park for a fee of around £4 million in July 2005. Since then, Park has played in three consecutive Premier League-winning Manchester United teams and has also won the UEFA Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup. Park is able to play anywhere across the midfield and is noted for his exceptional fitness level, discipline, work ethic, positional awareness and movement.

As a member of the South Korean national team, Park won 100 caps and scored 13 goals,^[5] and was a member of the team that finished fourth at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He also represented his nation at the 2006 FIFA World Cup and was captain at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Park scored in all three consecutive tournaments (the first South Korean and only second Asian player to do so) and is currently Asia's joint all-time leading goalscorer at the FIFA World Cup finals with three goals, alongside compatriot Ahn Jung-Hwan, and Saudi Arabia's Sami Al-Jaber. Park retired from international football after the 2011 Asian Cup.
On 1 March 2008, Park scored his first league goal of the 2007–08 season after returning from his long-term injury against Fulham. His lack of appearances had caused much controversy in South Korea,^[23] but he proved his worth when he delivered an assist to Wayne Rooney in the Champions League quarter-final match against Roma. On 29 April 2008, Manchester United advanced to the Champions League Final after beating Barcelona, a game in which Park was voted Man of the Match. On 21 May, it came as a huge surprise to many that Park was excluded completely from the squad to face Chelsea in the Final. Many believed that Park's performances against Roma and Barcelona had earned him a place in the starting line-up for the game. With that omission, Park failed to become the first footballer from Asia to play in a Champions League final, as had widely been anticipated in South Korea. Later, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson stated that leaving the South Korean winger out from the 18-man squad for the Champions League final was one of the hardest decisions he had to make all throughout his managerial career.

Early in the 2008–09 Premier League season, in an away match versus Chelsea, Park scored the only goal for United in a 1–1 draw on 21 September 2008, in a game which he also won the Man of the Match award.^[24] On 13 December 2008, he made his 100th appearance for Manchester United, starting in the match against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane, the game ended 0–0.^[25] Park was included in the 23-man squad for the FIFA Club World Cup held at the end of 2008. He missed the semi-final but played the full 90 minutes in the final which they won 1–0 becoming the first English side to win the competition. On 7 March 2009, Park scored his first FA Cup goal in the 4–0 quarter-final win over Fulham at Craven Cottage, he latched onto a miss placed pass by Zoltán Gera eventually slotting it into the far corner for the fourth and final goal.^[26] On 15 April 2009, Manchester United advanced to semi-finals of the Champions League by defeating Porto 3–2 on aggregate. This made Park the only Asian player to be part of UEFA Champions League semi-finals on four different occasions.
On 2 May 2009, Park verbally agreed to a new four year £50,000 a week deal at Manchester United, he stated “I have no reason to move. I play at the best club in the world.”^[27] Following this announcement Park scored his second league goal of the season, and third overall, in a 2–0 away win against Middlesbrough.^[28] On 5 May 2009, Park scored his first Champions League goal for Manchester United in the second leg of the Semi-final against Arsenal at the Emirates. He pounced on a slip by Kieran Gibbs and placed the ball over Manuel Almunia in the 8th minute, with the game ending 3–1 (4–1 on aggregate), advancing United to the Champions League Final for the second year running.^[29] Park became the first Asian player in history to play in a Champions League Final.
On 14 September 2009, Park signed a three-year contract extension with United, keeping him at the club until 2012. Ferguson said during the summer that he was always confident a deal would be done with Park, whose wages are estimated to be about £65,000 a week.^[31] On 31 January 2010, Park scored his first goal of the season, hitting United's third in a 3–1 win against Arsenal. His last goal also came against Arsenal at the Emirates in the same scoreline, coming in the 2008–09 UEFA Champions League, this was also the first time United had beaten Arsenal at the Emirates in the Premier League.^[32] On 10 March 2010, Park scored his first European goal of the season which was also his first for United in Europe at Old Trafford, hitting the third in a 4–0 win over A.C. Milan. This was also his second goal against A.C. Milan in the Champions League.^[33] On 21 March 2010, Park scored a crucial winner in the derby against Liverpool, turning in Darren Fletcher's right-wing cross with a diving header.^[34] On 4 May 2010, Park committed himself to United by openly claiming he would like to spend the rest of career with them, saying "There is no reason to move to any other team."^[35] On 9 May 2010, Park netted on the final day of the season, scoring a close-range diving header against Stoke City to wrap up a 4–0 win.

Park returned to the United team for the first time following the World Cup as he started against a League of Ireland XI in their final pre-season game on 4 August 2010. He marked this game with the first ever goal scored at the newly built Aviva Stadium, he then scored a second later on as United ended the game 7–1 winners.^[36] On 22 September 2010, Park netted his first goal of the 2010–11 season as he scored United's fourth of a 5–2 away win against Scunthorpe United in the 3rd round of the League Cup.^[37] He then netted in the next round of the League Cup, scoring United's second goal in a 3–2 home win over Wolves on 26 October 2010.^[38] Park scored his first two league goals of the season in a 2–1 home win over Wolves on 6 November, the second a late winner in the 93rd minute.^[39] On 27 November, Park scored United's second goal in a 7–1 home victory over Blackburn Rovers.^[40] Park's performance's during November 2010 helped him gain the Player of the Month award from the club's website.^[41] Park was then voted as United Player of the Month for December 2010, grabbing the award for the second month in a row.^[42] On 13 December, Park netted the only goal of the match against Arsenal,^[43] a looping header, his fourth goal in seven starts against them.^[44] Park jets off to captain South Korea in the 2011 Asian Cup and will miss up to seven games for United after the turn of the year.^[45] On 15 February 2011 he was ruled out for one month due to an hamstring injury which was occurred during training, this meant he was missing important games.

International career

Park began his international career as a 19-year-old defensive midfielder. Park made his first appearance selection during 2000 Sydney Olympics U-23 regional qualifier. Park was on 2000 Sydney Olympic roster along with Lee Chun-Soo, and Lee Dong-Gook. Selected by then manager, Huh Jung-Moo, he was unable to improve or show potential as a future regular for South Korean national team. However, when Guus Hiddink became the head coach of South Korea, Park's position was shifted to that of a winger. Since then, Park has become a versatile player able to play in a variety of positions: central, right and left midfield, as well as wing-forward.

2002 FIFA World Cup

Park scored a memorable goal during the 2002 World Cup. During the group stages South Korea had won their first game against Poland^[46] and drew against USA. In order to advance, they had to manage a draw at the least against favoured Portugal side. The game was 0–0 until the 70th minute following two red cards against Portugal, when Park scored the match winner, controlling the ball with his chest and beating Sérgio Conceição before volleying it through the legs of Portugal goalkeeper Vitor Baia and into the net with his left foot. His goal eliminated Portugal and advanced South Korea into the knockout stages of the tournament for the first time.^[47]

2006 FIFA World Cup

Park's success in the World Cup continued into the 2006 tournament. He scored the equalising goal in the second Group G Match against eventual finalists France in the 2006 FIFA World Cup^[48] and was voted Man of the match.^[48] Between these two World Cup Finals, his shirt number shifted from 21 to 7, and he played in every match for South Korea.

2010 World Cup Qualification

On 11 October 2008, he captained South Korea for the first time in a friendly against Uzbekistan. Korea won 3–0. He has been the skipper for the remainder of the qualification campaign for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and was top scorer, with 5 goals. One of his goals was against Iran in Seoul, beating 2 defenders then scored with his left foot. South Korea advanced to the finals without a single defeat.

2010 FIFA World Cup

On 12 June 2010, Park netted in his third consecutive World Cup, scoring the second goal in South Korea's 2–0 win over Greece in their first group match.^[49] By scoring he created history in becoming the first Asian to score in three consecutive World Cup finals and became Asia's joint all-time leading scoring in the FIFA World Cup with three goals, alongside compatriot Ahn Jung-Hwan and Sami Al-Jaber of Saudi Arabia.^[50]

2011 Asian Cup

Park's father, Park Sung-jong, said his son has planned to end his national team career after the 2011 Asian Cup tournament in Qatar.^[51] Park traveled to the tournament on 26 December 2010 as squad captain.^[45] Park started South Korea's first group match, a 2–1 victory over Bahrain on 10 January 2011.^[52] Four days later Park again started for South Korea, this time in a 1–1 draw with Australia.^[53] South Korea's final group match was on 18 January, a 4–1 victory over India, Park played 76 minutes before being substituted by Yoon Bit-Garam on 76 minutes.^[54] Park played 117 minutes of the 1–0 quarter-final victory over Iran,^[55] which was his 99th cap.^[56] Park made his 100th international cap in the semi-final match against Japan on 25 January 2011.^[57] However, it wouldn't end in victory as they lost 3-0 during the Penalty shootout following 2-2 after extra time.^[58] South Korea coach Cho Kwang-Rae confirmed on 28 January that Park had retired from international duty as he was left out of their 3–2 third place play-off victory over Uzbekistan.^[59] Park was nominated as the tournament's MVP alongside Mark Schwarzer, Keisuke Honda and Server Djeparov.^[60] The award was eventually won by Japan midfielder Keisuke Honda.^[61] On 31 January, Park confirmed his retirement from international football to make way for younger players with "enormous potential