So… listen to this… If, from the perspective of a forward, I asked who was the hardest player to go up against in the late 2000s, who would you pick? Nesta? Materazzi?
Vidic? Terry? Vieira?
Well… Surely it’s gotta be a beast of a man, but what if I told you that it was a 5 foot 8 skinny guy from South Korea… Ji Sung Park was out of this world, he was easily one of the most hard working players in history, his ego was virtually non-existent and he had the stamina of a horse… It could be the last game of the season, going into extra time and he would still be hounding his player, sprint after sprint… he never got tired… Anyone who watched him had the feeling that he simply couldn't be human… The fans joked that he had 3 lungs, Pirlo said that he moved “at the speed of an electron” and called him “the first nuclear powered footballer”. . .
Sir Alex even claimed that out of all the players he coached, Park was the only one he believed was truly capable of stopping Lionel Messi… And you know, if you’re capable of stopping an alien like Messi, you gotta be as superhuman as him… But you know what's really shocking? At 18 he was literally told to give up on football… In Korea, there’s a draft kind of like in the NBA and not a single club in the entire country picked him… Even though he had repeatedly led his high school team to success after success… They all saw him as a joke, just because of his size… and he ended up just joining University to get a degree in economics… We were “this” close to knowing him as Ji Sung Park, the accountant… But then Park decided to take matters into his own hands and what happened next was just straight out of a fantasy movie… You see, his dad was a butcher and so the two began conjuring up ways to force Park’s body to grow bigger and taller… It started with a meat only diet but then… well… Let me quote Park himself: “Some of the things my dad would give me tasted horrible… Some of it smelled deadly, undrinkable… At times, I didn’t know what it was… but I know I ate frogs, antlers, even deer’s blood… If he said it was good for my body, I would eat it… Sometimes I’d throw up, but I kept eating, my desire to play football was bigger than my distaste for the food”. .
. I’m not even gonna lie to you, the first time I read this, I thought it was fake news, but then I found actual interviews of him talking about it on Korean websites and well… I don’t even know what to say, but supposedly Park claims he grew an extra 7 centimeters over that period and… That’s no joke… Regardless, what was the point of all of this, if no club had picked him in the draft? Well… Park got really lucky….
You see, the Olympic games were coming up and with the under 23s needing to get some practice, a friendly match was set up precisely between them and Park's university team… And in one of the most unbelievable turns of events I’ve ever seen, the national team coach was so impressed that not only did he call him up for the olympics… But after they were knocked out despite winning 2 out of their 3 group stage games… He called him up for the actual Asian Cup Qualifiers… Park debuted for the actual national team before he even signed his first professional contract… As you might imagine after this, he had no problem finding a team… He even got interest from across the sea, becoming one of the first Koreans to play in Japan, joining the legendary Kazu Miura at Kyoto Sanga… But really, it wasn’t all good news… Not only did Kyoto Sanga get relegated in his first season there… But the manager that had called him up for the national team got sacked and suddenly it seemed like his 15 minutes of fame were over… But really that sacking was a blessing in disguise… Because the manager that took over was Gus Hiddink and with Park knowing not only that he had to impress him in order to keep his place on the national team but also that he could one day be his ticket to europe, once he called him up for a couple of friendlies against England and France, Park left everything on the pitch, scoring in both matches and quickly earning Hiddink’s respect… Suddenly, despite his age, despite playing in the second tier, there was no problem anymore… Park was the first name on the team sheet every time… And after that his timing was just excellent… You see, as 2002 arrived, he got the opportunity of a lifetime… The world cup would be set in Japan and South Korea… The entire world would have their eyes on the hosts… And to make it all better the two domestic league’s would stop for 3 months, so that the national teams could have more time to prepare for the world cup… Look obviously, the 2002 world cup was notoriously the most corrupt in history… And many believe that South Korea’s success was in great part due to all of that corruption… But leaving that aside for a moment, their run was absurd… A 2 nil win against Poland in the opening match was already more than anyone was expecting from them… Add to that a draw against the United States and a win against Portugal’s golden generation, with Park not only scoring the only goal of the game but making it an absolute beauty of a half volley… and it was already absolute insanity that South Korea would make it to the knockout stage… I mean, no East Asian side had ever made it that far, so when they made it all the way to the semi finals, beating Italy and Spain and eventually settling for the 4th place, well first of all there was obviously suspicions of corruption and second there were a lot and I mean a lot of reasons to be impressed… And with Park right in the middle of it all, his stock just kept rising… And if anyone knew his worth, it was Gus Hiddink, so once he left to PSV, he kept an eye on him and after watching as he led Kyoto Sanga, a team who barely managed to avoid relegation, to win the Emperor’s cup even scoring the decisive goal… He realized that he simply had to bring him to Europe… And out of nowhere, only 4 years after being rejected by every team in Korea, Park was moving to the Eredivisie for 5 million euros, to play alongside the likes of Robben, Huntellaar, Van Bommel and Mateja Kezman… But there was one slight problem, the fans were very skeptical about spending so much money on some korean guy mid way through the season so when 4 matches after his arrival he needed surgery, things got ugly… By the time he came back, he wasn’t fully fit… But not knowing any better, the fans assumed he was just… well… a bad player… so he started getting heavily criticized with even his teammate Van Bommel speaking publicly against his signing, even bringing up the fact that he didn’t speak Dutch, as if that wasn’t extremely common… I mean I’m sure PSV had no problem with the fact that Ronaldo didn’t speak dutch… Regardless, this media chaos led the fans to start booing him and look… at its peak, it got so bad, that Hiddink began only calling him up for the away games, because there he wouldn’t get booed as much… Park even considered going back to Korea, as his father said “When Ji-sung didn’t do well, people threw drinks at him, insulted him… He was very confused, that never happened here”. . .
But well… Thank god he didn’t leave, because by the time his third season came around, Robben left to Chelsea and with Hiddink unsure of what to do about that, he simply stuck Park in his place and hoped for the best… But really, Park took it all further than anyone he could imagine… Not only did he score in the playoffs to put PSV in the Champions League, but he completely changed the route of their league season, taking PSV to the title, despite the fact that at the beginning of the season the bookmaker’s odds pointed towards a 3rd place finish at best… But honestly, none of that compares to what happened after those playoffs I just mentioned, because once the actual tournament started, PSV managed to beat Rosenborg, Panathinaikos and draw against Arsenal to make it out of the group stage, then beating Monaco 3 nil in the last 16, despite the fact that just the year before they had made it to the Champions League final… Then taking down Lyon as well… A team that had everyone from Juninho, Essien, Malouda, Abidal and Ben Arfa… Finally meeting the great AC Milan in the semi finals, with Park scoring the opening goal in the second leg, ending a streak that saw Dida go over 10 hours of playing time without conceding a goal, as the match ended in a 3 goal draw on aggregate which unfortunately saw AC Milan make it to the final on away goals… Still, Park’s performances were so exceptional that year, that not only did the fans stop booing him, but they completely forgot about Robben… After the match, Gatusso even made a statement to a Japanese magazine, praising Park for how tough he was to face and Van Bommel, who had damn near set the fans against Park with his statement 2 years before, made sure to give an interview publicly apologizing for his actions… Though I’m sure Park was well over it by then, as not only did he get nominated for UEFA forward of the year alongside Ronaldinho, Shevchenko, Eto’o and Adriano, despite the fact he wasn’t even really a forward but well… Back in the match against Lyon, a Man United scout was on the stands to watch Essien, but in his own words “I could not focus on the player at hand, because my attention kept being pulled towards this never ending bundle of energy buzzing across the pitch like a cocker spaniel”. . .
And so, once the season was over, his agent went up to him and told him Sir Alex was waiting on the phone… At first he didn’t believe him, I mean only one East Asian player had ever been at United, but then he picked up the phone, heard the Scottish accent and knew it was real… Hiddink tried to convince Park to stay at the club, promising him a move to Chelsea, but Park had made up his mind and a month later he had signed for United for only 7 million euros… It was one of the greatest bargains in the history of the sport… Regardless, at the time, as per usual, all pundits made sure to disregard the move as only a marketing stunt… But his new teammates, well they quickly realized Park wasn’t just being signed to sell some shirts in Korea, as Scholes said “Park was the toughest player I ever faced, just unbelievable… I would dread the thought of going to training, it was a nightmare… He would come to me, stare me in the face and tell me “You won’t even get a shot off today”. . .
And he was right every time”. . .
. Before you knew it, the media’s perception had changed… Now in a more defensive role, everyone was mind blown by his tirelessness and determination… He was no longer Ji Sung Park, he was Three Lung Park, because, according to the fans, with stamina like that, he surely had to have an extra lung… In fact, at United, the admiration for this man was such that only 3 months into his time there, he was handed the captain’s armband for the first time… It was unbelievable. But unfortunately, no matter how well that first season went, the following season the injuries began haunting him once more and by March he was forced into the sidelines… Surgery was required once again and Park would only make it back to the pitch 9 months later… At first, most feared a second surgery would have completely wrecked his knee, that at most it would be a long time before he was back to his best… But once United made it to the Champions League quarter finals, Sir Alex just knew he couldn’t do it without Park, so he got called up and man… It was unbelievable, after going through so much he still excelled in both legs against Roma and once Barcelona came in their way, no matter what they threw at him, no matter if it was Messi, Eto’o, Xavi or Deco… Ji Sung Park was arguably the man of the match both home and away… He was maybe the biggest reason why United had managed to make it to the final… which is why it hurt 10 times more when Sir Alex Ferguson left him not on the bench, but completely out of the team sheet… watching from the stands as United became champions of europe… Once asked about, Park, as always, kept his composure… saying only “The team won, so I’m happy, it’s frustrating not to play but there will be other opportunities”.
. . Honestly I doubt he ever even confronted Sir Alex about his choice to leave him out, but there was no need… Once he wrote his autobiography, it was there for everyone to see… “The one thing about the 2008 final that I regret to this day, was leaving Park completely out of the squad after he had played such a great role in getting us there”.
. . But in reality, Park was right, there would be other opportunities… In fact, just a year later, he was getting his chance… After an incredible performance in the semi finals against Arsenal that saw him not only opening the scoring but being involved in what many call the greatest counter attack of all time… He was on the starting eleven for the final against Barcelona, but unfortunately that time around it was simply not meant to be… United lost and we can only hope the 4 trophies he won that season were enough to ease Park’s pain… Regardless, despite the fact that next season Park struggled for gametime, he would still be the first name on the list for every big game… Sir Alex was still well aware of how important he could be against the best of the best… And once they met AC Milan, Park played maybe the greatest game of his career… Fergie doesn’t often fear players enough to assign them a bodyguard… But that day, it was different… Pirlo was at the peak of his powers and before the match, Fergie looked at Park and told him “Your job today is Pirlo.
That’s all. Pirlo”. .
. As Rooney said “Back then Pirlo was averaging 110 passes per game, 60 to 70 of them were forward passes… the type that can really hurt you… So Fergie told him: “He cannot be allowed that pass… You cannot be one yard or one second late”. .
. . I think Pirlo might have made 40 passes at most that game and 95 percent of them were backwards… Park won the duel”.
. . And you know what’s funny?
Even Rooney underestimated just how great Park was that night… Pirlo didn’t even get close to 40 passes… Not only did Park force him to settle for a mere 21, he even made sure to score one of the goals… Pirlo was so impressed with him that day that even years later he made sure to mention it in his autobiography, saying: “They unleashed Park to shadow me…They programmed him to stop me. His devotion to the task was almost touching. Even though he was a famous player, he had no issue consenting to be used as a guard dog”.
. . As Ferdinand would say: “I’m sure Pirlo expected to wake up the next day and see Park in his bed beside him”.
. . Still, despite the fact that at that point Park was only 29… The end was near, the next season, the injuries hit for a third time… Park struggled all year, but worked as hard as he could for one final chance at a Champions League final… 2 assists in the group stage helped them make it through… After missing the last 16 through injury, he even scored against Chelsea to put United in the semis and once they beat Ralf Rangnick’s Schalke… Park was in the final once more….
But unfortunately, Barcelona would once again be there waiting to snatch any silverware in reach… Years later, however, when asked about the final, Sir Alex would say “Ji Sung Park… That’s where I lost that final at Wembley… At half time, I should’ve put Park man marking Messi… That was a mistake. We had just equalized going into half time, we were playing well… I got over confident…. But if I Had put Park on Messi, I think we would have beat them.
I really do.
