Park Ji-sung

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Park Ji-sung
Park Ji-sung G20 Seoul Summit Ambassador.jpg
Park Ji-sung (2010)
Personnel
birthday February 25, 1981
place of birth Seoul ,  South Korea
size 175 cm
position midfield player
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
2000-2003 Kyoto Purple Sanga 76 (11)
2003-2005 PSV Eindhoven 64 (13)
2005–2012 Manchester United 134 (19)
2012-2014 Queens Park Rangers 20 0(0)
2013-2014 → PSV Eindhoven (loan) 23 0(2)
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
2001-2011 South Korea 100 (13)
1 Only league games are given.
As of May 3, 2014
Korean spelling
Hangeul 박지성
Hanja 朴智星
Revised
Romanization 		Bak Ji-seong
McCune-
Reischauer 		Pak Chisŏng

Park Ji-sung (born February 25, 1981 in Seoul ) is a former South Korean soccer player .

Club career

Kyoto Purple Sanga

Park Ji-sung was born in Seoul and grew up in the South Korean industrial city of Suwon , where he started playing soccer at elementary school age. His football career began in 2000 when he signed his first professional contract with Japanese second division club Kyoto Purple Sanga at the age of 18 . He was the first South Korean to switch straight from school to the Japanese professional league without having played on a South Korean professional team. In this team Park advanced to an outstanding player and rose with Kyoto in 2001 in the 1st division of the J-League . In the same year, Park also won the Japanese Cup ( Imperial Cup ) with Kyoto .

PSV Eindhoven

At the end of 2002, Park Ji-sung followed the call of his former national coach Guus Hiddink , who had meanwhile taken over as coach at the Dutch honorary division PSV Eindhoven . But in contrast to his South Korean teammate Lee Young-pyo , Park had to struggle with start-up problems in Eindhoven and initially had too little playing time. It took Park until the end of the 2002/2003 season to get used to it.

During the season he got more and more playing time with the departure of Arjen Robben to Chelsea London and pushed into the starting XI with good performances. Together with Johann Vogel , Phillip Cocu and Mark van Bommel , Park formed the midfield axis of PSV. He was best known for his energetic, fast-paced advances.

During his time at PSV, he won the Dutch championship title in the 2003 season and the double (championship title and cup victory) in the 2004/2005 season. Park caused a stir internationally when he scored the 1-0 lead in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final against AC Milan with a left volley shot, which was not enough to advance (final score 3: 1, first leg 0: 2)

Manchester United

For a transfer fee of four million pounds sterling , Park Ji-sung moved from PSV to the traditional English club Manchester United in the summer of 2005 , where he signed a four-year contract. Thus he was the first South Korean who received an engagement in the English FA Premier League . The British scouting system had noticed him since his arrival in Europe. Allegedly Sir Alex Ferguson is said to have watched him over 20 times before Manchester successfully handled the transfer in front of all other potential buyers.

With the signing of Parks Sir Alex Ferguson managed to strengthen his midfield on the outside positions well. On the one hand, the competitive pressure on the aging Ryan Giggs was increased, and on the other hand, the talented Cristiano Ronaldo was given an internationally experienced teammate.

Park Ji-sung quickly gained a foothold at Manchester United. Due to his running-intensive style of play, he immediately fought for a regular place. He scored his first goal for United on December 20, 2005 in a 3-1 win over Birmingham in the FA Cup quarter-finals. However, his great weakness subsequently remained his relative lack of danger. In April 2007, he suffered a serious knee injury that put him out of action for almost a year. He celebrated his comeback in March 2008. In the final of the Champions League final of the 2007/08 season against Chelsea , Park was not in the squad, although in the semifinals against FC Barcelona he had made a significant contribution to the final of Manchester United through a strong defensive game. After winning the title, coach Ferguson later admitted in a press conference that this was one of the toughest decisions he had ever had to make before a game regarding the line-up.

In the following season, Park again earned a regular place and this time also played the Champions League final against FC Barcelona , which was lost 2-0. His contract was extended for three years in 2009. Park expressed his intention to play for Manchester until the end of his career in 2010.

Queens Park Rangers

During the summer break of 2012, Park moved to league rivals Queens Park Rangers for the equivalent of around 6.5 million euros . He received a two-year contract there and was captain of the team until he was replaced by Clint Hill .

Return to Eindhoven

After relegation with QPR, Park returned to PSV Eindhoven on loan for the 2013-14 season. After his loan contract ended on May 30, 2014, Park returned to QPR and has subsequently retired from his active career.

National team

Park Ji-sung made his debut as an 18-year-old defensive midfielder in April 2000 for the South Korean national team . Under Guus Hiddink , his game became more varied and he was increasingly used on the flanks, so that he can now be used in almost all positions in midfield.

During the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, he played all seven games for the co-host, with whom he reached the semifinals and finally came fourth. His volley goal after a corner with his left foot to the 1-0 winner against Portugal in the last preliminary round, with which he also sealed the Portuguese tournament , caused a stir in this World Cup finals .

In June 2005 he also scored in the 4-0 win against Kuwait and helped South Korea to reach the 2006 World Cup in Germany. He also caused a sensation at the 2006 World Cup in Germany when he scored the late equalizer against France. Nevertheless, he was eliminated with South Korea after the preliminary round after the South Koreans lost the last preliminary round match against Switzerland 2-0.

After the 2011 Asian Cup , Park ended his career in the South Korean national team.

End of career

In the summer of 2014, Park Ji-sung retired because of persistent knee problems.

successes

Honor

In Park's hometown of Suwon , a street ("Park Ji-sung Street") was named after him on June 27, 2005, in recognition of his service to the South Korean national team during the 2002 World Cup. No such honor has ever been achieved South Korean soccer player. However, the naming has since been reversed, since such dedications are reserved exclusively for the deceased.

Web links

Commons : Park Ji-sung  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_6132716,00.html
  2. ^ Ji-sung Park signs for QPR
  3. ↑ HUGHES ON CAPTAIN CALL
  4. ↑ Clint Hill named QPR captain as Ryan Nelsen exit looms . The Independent of January 23, 2013 (English).
  5. ↑ Park Agrees PSV Loan
  6. ↑ Reuters : South Korea's Park Ji-sung retires
  7. ↑ International: Park ends national team career. sid , January 31, 2011, accessed February 19, 2011 .
  8. ↑ Ji-Sung Park ends career ; Sport1.de, May 14, 2014.
  9. ↑ Kicker-Sportmagazin , No. 26, March 29, 2010, p. 11
Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Korean. Park is the family name here, Ji-sung is the first name.
personal data
SURNAME Park, Ji-sung
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 박지성 (Korean, Hangeul); 朴智星 (Korean, Hanja); Bak, Ji-seong (Revised Romanization); Pak, Chisŏng (McCune-Reischauer)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South Korean soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH February 25, 1981
PLACE OF BIRTH Seoul