Hong confirms Park will not play in Brazil
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Park Ji-sung hasn’t played for the Korean national team since the 2011 Asian Cup. / Korea Times file
By Kim Tong-hyung
After failing to lure Park Ji-sung out of retirement in international football, Korea coach Hong Myung-bo told reporters he was ready to move on.
Hong had hoped for the former Manchester Untied midfielder to provide a veteran presence in his otherwise young squad as they prepare for the Brazil World Cup opener in June. But after meeting with Park in the Netherlands last week, Hong decided to accept that the player, now in a limited role for Dutch club PSV Eindhoven, has already played his last match for Korea.
Park retired from the national team after the 2011 Asian Cup and has repeatedly rejected calls for a return. But Hong, who was Park’s teammate during Korea’s surprising semifinal run in the 2002 World Cup held at home, had struggled to take Park’s “no’’ as an answer.
"Park Ji-sung will not play in the World Cup,’’ Hong told the media herd at Incheon International Airport on Friday.
"I met him in the Netherlands and we had a long, heart-to-heart talk. I gave it some hard thought and came to this conclusion.’’
Although Park’s minutes with PSV Eindhoven are beginning to increase, Hong said it was unclear whether the player was in physical shape where he could handle the club-country double duty. Park has suffered from a myriad of problems on his right knee in the last few years, which compromised some of his athleticism.
“The condition of Park’s knee was worse than feared. I respect his opinion that it will be impossible for him to return to the national team,’’ Hong said.
During his visit to Europe, Hong also spent time in Europe watching the plays of Europe-based players such as Son Heung-min, Koo Ja-cheol and Ji Dong-won, who are now critical pieces for the World Cup squad.
Park has played in the three previous World Cups and scored in each of them, cementing his reputation as a big-game player.
While it’s clear that, at the age of 33, Park is no longer the industrious midfielder he was for Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United team, Hong had valued his veteran presence and versatility, which allows him to digest both the attacking and defensive midfield roles.
Hong’s persistence about having Park on his squad had doubled as a confession about the national team’s lack of depth in talent. Since Hong took the management helm in June last year after the final round of the World Cup qualifiers, the Taeguk Warriors scored 13 goals and conceded 17 in 13 matches.
His attempts to discover new talent during a training camp in the United States in January were an exercise in futility as his squad full of fringe players struggled in lopsided losses to under-strength Mexican and American squads.
The consecutive losses pushed Korea down to 61st in the FIFA world rankings, its lowest mark in nearly two decades. Hong plans to have his core of Europe-based players for the friendly against Greece in March. He plans to announce the roster for the Greece match next week.