By Kim Tong-hyung
Park Ji-sung, widely considered as the best Korean footballer of the past decade, announced his retirement at a news conference in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday.
Park recently finished his season with Dutch club PSV Eindhoven where he arrived on loan from English club Queens Park Rangers (QRP).
Park was under contract with QPR until June next year, but had been opinionated about finishing his career with PSV Eindhoven, where he made his European football debut in 2003. However, QPR, the Championship club fighting return to the Premier League, had insisted on having Park back for next season.
Park has enjoyed an illustrious career that saw him emerge as an elite player in top-flight European football and appear in three World Cups, where he scored in each of them. However, it was clear that, at the age of 33, Park was no longer the industrious midfielder who shined for Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United teams.