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INTERVIEW: PARK JI-SUNG
AIMING
HIGH
FOLLOWING A TROPHY-
LADEN SEVEN-YEAR STINT
WITH MANCHESTER UNITED,
PARK JI-SUNG IS ONE OF
THE MOST RECOGNISABLE
FACES IN ASIAN FOOTBALL.
AND NOW KOREA REPUBLIC’S
HUMBLE HERO IS HOPING
TO USE HIS PROFILE AND
EXPERIENCE TO FURTHER
ENHANCE THE GAME ACROSS
THE CONTINENT.
By: Michael Church Photos: World Sport Group/Getty Images
With a UEFA
Champions
League winner’s
medal, four
English Premier
League titles, two
Dutch Eredivisie
crowns and
numerous personal and team accolades,
Park Ji-sung stands alone as one of
Asia’s most successful export to European
football.
And yet, for all his immense success in
far-flung lands, it is a feat achieved on home
soil that the former Kyoto Purple Sanga,
PSV Eindhoven and Manchester United
midfielder lauds as his greatest endeavour.
There was no trophy raised high into the
sky, but rather a coming of age – for both
a nation and a group of players – as Korea
Republic not only successfully co-hosted
the 2002 FIFA World Cup with Japan, but
broke new ground for Asian football.
“For me the best moment was the 2002
World Cup, we had great success,” says
Park almost 13 years after helping Guus
Hiddink and his squad advance to the semifinals
of the FIFA World Cup.
AFC QUARTERLY 35