Park – South Korea Football Fans

PARK RETURN?

Former South Korean international Park Ji sung has said that he has no chance of being in the World Cup 2014 despite rumours that he could be persuaded by the South Korean manager to come out of retirement.

Park Ji sung has been one of the best players for the national team for the last decade, but he has recently been on the decline. After leaving Manchester United a few years ago, he has now returned to Dutch football after a poor spell at QPR. He is now back at club PSV Eindhoven where he made his name.

South Korea have qualified for the World Cup and will be hoping to do well at this tournament. Their national team manager, Hong Myung-Bo has been saying that he will try and persuade Park out of retirement since he will be a major addition to the squad in terms of experience. Myung-Bo said that the national team was devoid of experienced players and it is time to introduce some of them to balance the team. Park, though, has confirmed that there is a 0% chance of featuring for the national team again.

South Korea have a good chance of reaching the knockout stages since they face a relatively easy group that is devoid of the big teams like Spain and Italy. Only Belgium are regarded as the favourites to win the group

“There has been no possibility for me to come back to the national team. I can definitely say it’s 0%. I’m glad and thankful that the national team coach wants me back three years after retirement. But I cannot even imagine taking a place instead of a player who did his best for World Cup qualification. I want the [South] Korea national team to focus on the World Cup and I don’t want to have any influence on that,” said Park.

PARK SHOULD MOVE

South Korean national team manager Myung-Bo Hong has said that Arsenal player Park Chu-young should decide to move away from the club and find a new club immediately if he is to feature for the national team in the World Cup.

Park Chu-young was a high-profile signing for Arsenal in 2011, but many predicted that he was brought into the club only to sell more shirts in Asia. It has proven to be right because he has rarely featured for the Arsenal first team. He is regarded as the country’s number one striker, which has put Hong in a difficult position.

He stated recently that Park Chu-young must find a new club immediately where he can play regular football. This is unlikely to be a problem for new Borussia Dortmund signing Son Heung-min. The 21-year-old moved to the German club for $ 15 million and he is expected to play a key role for the former champions. They had a lot of success with another Asian in the form of Shinji Kagawa a few years ago. Now, he will be hoping to replicate the success. Son Heung-min has said that he is already looking forward to playing in the Bundesliga, which he regards as one of the best leagues in the world.

Son Heung-min is also looking to make his impact in the Champions league as well. “I wanted to stay in the Bundesliga and Leverkusen and Dortmund wanted me. Both teams play in the Champions League but I thought Dortmund would use rotation more than Leverkusen. That’s why I chose Leverkusen. It’s really important to play regularly at my age,” said the 21-year-old attacking midfielder ahead of the new season. Korea are currently second in their World Cup qualifying group, but they are only two points behind the leaders Iran.

COOK BACKS PARK

The former Hoops midfielder Lee Cook has suggested that the QPR midfielder Park Ji sung has not been performing well for the London club since moving from Manchester United in the summer. He has also criticised the South Korean midfielder for moving to the capital for one final payday more than anything else.

The 31-year-old has played very little football for Manchester United over the last two seasons, but was an extremely integral part of the club prior to that. The South Korean was finally sold to the London club QPR for around £ 2 million in the summer. He has been made captain of the QPR team by the manager Mark Hughes.

However, the club has had a lot of problems in the first few matches of the campaign. Despite spending a lot of money on high profile players over the summer, they have certainly not improved are currently bottom of the Premier league table with only two points. A lot of fingers have been pointing to the manager Mark Hughes for the poor results, but the former Hoops midfielder Lee Cook believes that players like Park Ji sung should take more responsibility and not just concentrate on picking up the wages.

“Every time I saw Park at United, he was a workhorse. For me, he doesn’t seem to be working as hard as he did there. People I know think a few of them are there for a pay-day. At halfway through the season, you will be able to tell whether this is true or not. ‘I don’t think Tony Fernandes will muck about. When it was Neil Warnock’s time to go it was “see you later” – he didn’t hold back. Just because it’s Mark Hughes and a big name it means nothing,” said Lee Cook in a recent interview.

CHU-YOUNG LEFT OUT

The South Korean national football team will not be featuring Arsenal striker Park Chu-Young for the next three matches against Spain, Lebanon, and Qatar.

The striker has been left in limbo over the military service issue, which continues to rumble on. The 26 man for the South Korean national football team that will face the aforementioned three national teams was announced recently with the biggest omission come in the form of Arsenal striker Park Chu-Young. It was initially thought that he would play a major role in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, but it now seems unlikely that he will be taking part in it.

South Koreans are expected to serve the military irrespective of their position, but Arsenal striker Park Chu-Young decided to get a 10 year residency visa at Monaco, which will now not require him the need to serve the military. The 26-year-old was not seen anywhere near the announcement area and his current status is unknown.

Choi Kang-Hee has said that focus should be not on the players who will not be involved in the matches, but on those who will be playing against Spain and Lebanon. He also said that a number of European based players will be participating in the qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
“I think he should publicise his thoughts clearly. A national team must take into account not only an individual player’s capability but the atmosphere of the whole team.

What is important is whether a player is willing to sacrifice for the team and whether he has pride in his team,” said Choi Kang-Hee after the announcement of the 26 man squad that did not feature the Arsenal striker. Celtic’s Ki Sung-Yueng is one of the big names being included in the squad that will take on Spain in the first of the three friendlies.