Park Ji-Sung Calls it Quits: A Look Back in His Career

PSV Eindhoven midfielder Park Ji-Sung has called it career despite being only 33 years old. The former Manchester United midfielder cited lingering knee problems factored in his decision to retire from the game.

“I’ve been considering retirement since February and I figure my knee won’t last another season,” Park said in a press conference near Seoul, sitting behind a row of replica shirts of the teams he has represented in a 14 year professional career.

Park Ji-Sung’s career has been defined by his hustle and tireless energy. Though he never played the most attractive brand of football, Park had a reputation for putting on solid performances in crucial matches as seen in his match against AC Milan during the 2005 UEFA Champions League semi-final. Italian superstar Andrea Pirlo couldn’t shake off Park’s fastidious defense in that match and went to describe his displeasure in facing the Korean international in his auto-biography, “I Think Therefore I Play.”

"“Even [Sir Alex] Ferguson, the purple-nosed manager who turned Manchester United into a fearsome battleship, couldn’t resist the temptation. He’s essentially a man without blemish, but he ruined that purity just for a moment when it came to me. A fleeting shabbiness came over the legend that night. On one of the many occasions when our paths crossed during my time at Milan, he unleashed Park Ji-sung to shadow me. The midfielder must have been the first nuclear-powered South Korean in history, in the sense that he rushed about the pitch at the speed of an electron.”"

The 2005 Ballon d’Or nominee didn’t have an easy path to stardom. Even though he was lauded as one of the top talents in youth football back in Korea, having led his high school team to the national championship in 1998, Park was not offered a contract by any K-league club due to his small stature and flatfeet. He opted to go to Myongi University to further his education and play for the university team. While he was second year student, Park attracted the attention of a scout from the second division J-League club Kyoto Purple Sanga thanks to his physical play and energy and was signed to the club as a defensive midfield on June 2000.

However, Park was a relatively unknown commodity in his homeland, having failed to make a lasting impression for the national team during the 2000 Asian Cup qualifiers and 2000 Summer Olympics. Despite his shortcomings in the international stage, he thrived in his career at Kyoto Sanga and led them to promotion to the first division in 2001.

As South Korea prepared to host the 2002 FIFA World Cup, South Korea head coach Guus Hiddink called up Park Ji-Sung and switched him to the right wing, believing that his skillset was better suited for the offensive end. Despite the unconventional decision, Guus Hiddink’s move paid off after this happened.

After South Korea’s miraculous (and referee-aided) run to the World Cup semi-finals, Guus Hiddink was hired to coach PSV Eindhoven. Hiddink brought Park Ji-Sung on board with the club and exposed him to top-European level football. Unfortunately, Park struggled with injuries in his first season with the club and played only nine matches, but he began to feature more prominently the next two seasons. He made his mark in European football when he scored the first goal against AC Milan in the first leg of the 2005 UEFA Champions League semi-final.

Following the 2005 season, Park became the first Korean footballer to get signed by Manchester United. Although most critics felt the move was just a marketing ploy for the club to earn fans from the Asian market, Sir Alex Ferguson proved that Park Ji-Sung was a valued commodity. From 2005 to 2012, Park went on to feature in 134 matches and scoring 19 goals for the Red Devils. During his duration with the club, Manchester United won four Premier League titles, three League Cups, two FA Community Shields, and one UEFA Champions League title. He was also featured in the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cup, scoring a goal in both tournaments.

In 2011, Park announced his retirement from the national team after finishing in third place in the 2011 Asian Cup, citing that the travel back and forth from Korea to Europe was taking a toll on his knees. By 2012, Park looked like he was in the twilight of his career and moved to Queens Park Rangers in search of more playing time. The move to QPR turned out to be a disaster as the club was relegated that same season, leading Park to asked to be loaned out to his former club PSV Eindhoven where he played his last season of his career.

There are few words to describe how much Park Ji-Sung meant to South Korea. “Perseverance” isn’t enough of a word to describe what he had to put up with. This isn’t in regards to his youth and European club career, but rather the misfortune he had of having terrible teammates in his national career.

Despite being one of the most talented players in South Korean history, he didn’t have the benefit of playing alongside a golden generation of players who played at the same level as he did. He literally held the fort for his country to maintain it’s dominance in Asia as Korea found itself in a long gap year, searching for (and disposing) a new generation of talent. Back in 2002, Park found himself playing alongside Korea’s first true golden generation (Hong Myung-Bo, Hwang Sun-Hong, Yoo Sang-Chul, and Kim Tae-Young) at the twilight of their careers and took their burden of carrying the national team. However, while he was in his prime he played alongside colleagues who failed to play up to his standard (Lee Chun-Soo, Seol Ki-Hyeon, and Lee Dong-Gook). It was painful to see Korea rely too much on Park while the other players underperformed out of sheer laziness and poor composure. 2010 World Cup may have been the glimpse of a promising future after solid showings from young players Ki Sung-Yeung and Lee Chung-yong. The two youngsters combined well with Park in the midfield and led the team to their second appearance in the knockout stage. It was only befitting that in 2011 Park passed the torch to Korea’s true second golden generation featuring Koo Ja-Cheol, Ki Sung-Yeung, Lee Chung-yong, and Ji Dong-Won. He was the nation’s pride like what Samuel Eto’o was to Cameroon or Landon Donavan to USA.

While Park’s presence is needed at the defensive midfield role for the Korea national team, Park and the rest of Korea have already decided that Korean football will still thrive without him. Most of the current players on the Korean national team who watched Park score the game-winning goal against Portugal in 2002 were 10 or 11 years-old at that time and have strived to follow his example. Even though 2014 Korean squad will not feature any player from the 2002 World Cup, there’s no doubt that Park’s influence remains prevalent in these players’ hearts.