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| Former South Korean international Park Ji-sung speaks during a press conference at the Hyundai Motor Studio in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. / Courtesy of Jeonbuk Hyundai |
By John Duerden
You wait years for a legend of Korean soccer to come to the K League and then two come in the space of a few weeks. Legendary Hong Myung-bo, captain of South Korea at the 2002 World Cup and veteran of no less than four World Cups, became head coach of Ulsan Horang-I recently and hot on his heels comes Park Ji-sung.
Son Heung-min has made such an impact in these past few years and has become one of the most-feared and talked-about forwards in Europe that it is easy to forget that he is not the first South Korean to make waves in the English Premier League. Park may not have had the talent and explosiveness of the Tottenham Hotspur star but Son would love to have just a fraction of the medals that Park won.
Now Park is back on the Korean soccer scene, becoming an adviser for Jeonbuk Motors, the K League champion for the past four years. He brings a wealth of experience despite never playing in Korea's domestic league. The Suwon native started his professional career in Japan with Kyoto Purple Sanga, starred at the 2002 World Cup and then moved to Dutch giant PSV Eindhoven.
It wasn't all plain sailing but Park became a star in the Netherlands and earned a move to one of the biggest clubs in the world in 2005. At Manchester United, Park became the first Asian to win the English Premier League ― and did it no less than four times ― and then also picked up the UEFA Champions League, the biggest club prize in the world.
In his seven successful years at Old Trafford, Park became a favorite among fans at the club who valued an intelligent and talented player who gave everything for the team. To put it simply, Park is the most successful Asian player of all time, winning big prizes in Europe and reaching the semifinals of the World Cup.
Since retiring as a player after short and forgettable spells in London with Queen's Park Rangers and then a return to PSV Eindhoven, Park has been quiet in terms of soccer. He has popped up here and there as an ambassador for Manchester United in Asia and has also been involved in raising money to help underprivileged children in Southeast Asia to have access to soccer and education through his JS Foundation. He has also been working with the Korea Football Association on youth development.
I sat down with Park in 2010 just days before the national team left for South Africa and a World Cup where he showed all the qualities that had made him a star in Europe. Talk turned to whether he would end his career by making a first appearance in the K League and while he did not rule it out, his body language and expression spoke loudly enough: he wasn't interested. He openly ruled out being a coach. The tactical side of things would be fine, he said, but management and keeping all the players happy was a different matter entirely.
Well, he is in the K League but is not coaching. His passion is youth soccer and he is to help Jeonbuk recruit and produce better players.
"If we don't establish a youth development system like in Europe, then the gap between us and them will grow even larger," Park said. "I'd like to play a role in narrowing that gulf ... I think we need to adopt a lot of the European ways."
The hope is that other clubs can learn from Jeonbuk, the most successful club in Korean history. "Now it's time for Jeonbuk to establish a system that other clubs could emulate and follow," Park said. "I hope Jeonbuk will be the leader in that aspect, too."
Park has a habit of being successful. Jeonbuk may have just made one of its best-ever signings.
