Park Ji-sung Returns to Pitch
By Yoon Chul
Staff Reporter
Park Ji-sung made his long awaited return to the lineup for Manchester United, as the South Korean midfielder was one of manager Alex Ferguson's starters in the Red Devils' UEFA Champions League 1-0 loss to Besiktas, Wednesday.
Park played well for 67 minutes in front of the home fans at Old Trafford in Manchester ― his first match since missing 13 games for United with a knee injury.
"The team lost so that is not good, but for me it is satisfying because I haven't played in such a long time," Park said.
With Man U's place in the round of 16 already assured, Ferguson used several of his young footballers and rested his regulars.
The 28-year-old made the best of his chances with the squad's young guns and played an attacking style, not hesitating to rifle shots from mid-distance.
Park typically plays a very unselfish style, trying to set up his teammates rather than creating opportunities for himself but on Wednesday he aggressively penetrated into the 18-yard box several times
Sky Sports, an English sports television network, gave Park a score of 7/10 for the match, the best score of any United player.
"I wasn't able to score on any of the chances that I had, so that's too bad. But considering my long absence, it was a pretty good game for me," Park said.
"We still haven't locked up the top spot in our group, so I will keep focused."