Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Park Ji-Sung Earns Korea A Point In Iran
In an intense and entertaining match, Javad Nekounam looked to have done enough to put Iran on top of Group Two at the halfway stage only for the Manchester United man to earn a deserved draw for the Taeguk Warriors.
The point keeps South Korea on top of Group Two with eight points. North Korea, who defeated Saudi Arabia earlier in the day, are second with seven while Iran now have six points and are third.
Iran started brightly and Nekounam should perhaps have given the hosts an early lead in the seventh minute but the Osasuna midfielder headed a left-sided corner over the bar.
Jung Sung-hoon returned the favour ten minutes later, failing to take the opportunity to open his account for the Korean national team.
Team Melli had a big penalty shout turned down in the 25th minute.
Vahid Hashemian worked hard in the right corner to send a ball into the box. nipped in front of Hossein Kazemi Cho Yong Hyong and looked to have been brought down by the Jeju defender but the Australian referee waved play on, much to the displeasure of the home fans.
After creating next to nothing in the early exchanges, Korea controlled the last 15 minutes of the first period and had a great chance to take the lead even minutes before the break.
Ki Sung-yung’s set pieces were causing problems and a left-sided corner kick found its way to Kang Min-soo at the far post but the lanky defender skied his shot over the bar.
The impressive Ki was in the thick of the action. His decision to go for goal from a free-kick 40 yards out surprised Seyed Rahmati and the Iranian goalkeeper could only parry a fierce shot out for a corner.
Rahmati was becoming busy and had to be alert and agile to block a fierce shot from Yeom Ki-hoon, introduced to replace the injured Jung, that looked destined for the far corner.
After a quite start to the second half, Iran broke the deadlock in fine style just before the hour. Nekounam curled a perfect free-kick over the Korean wall and into the top corner of the net to give Lee Woon-jae no chance.
The fans were still celebrating as Korea missed a glorious opportunity to go level. Oh Beom-seok got behind the Iranian backline to float over a perfect cross from the right only for Lee Keun-ho to send his powerful header onto the crossbar.
The equalizer came with nine minutes remaining. Ki tried to emulate Nekounam’s free-kick accuracy only for Mahmati to block the shot.
Fortunately for the visitors, Park was on hand to head the rebound home from close range to silence over 70,000 fans at the Azadi Stadium.
source : Goal.com
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Park Ji Sung Seen as Well-rested for Iran Qualifier
Did Manchester United coach Alex Ferguson care for his midfielder Park Ji-sung, who will play in Korea’s World Cup qualifier against Iran tomorrow?
United played at West Ham yesterday, and Park played just four minutes late in the game that his team won 1-0.
This could be good news for the Korean soccer team, however, ahead of the qualifier.
Park left London immediately after the game for Heathrow Airport, and arrived in Teheran via Dubai. It took him 12 hours to get there, including almost seven hours in flight.
Had Park played for 90 minutes as usual, he would have been exhausted given the time difference of three and a half hours between Britain and Iran.
Park is considered Korea’s best player and the playmaker to lead younger players. To inject energy into the team, Korea coach Huh Jung-moo has designated Park captain since the second match of the qualifying round against the United Arab Emirates in Oct. 15 last year.
As captain, Park led Korea to two consecutive victories, including a 2-0 win over Saudi Arabia, the team’s first in 19 years against the Arab country.
Huh says he is glad Park joined the team without being exhausted.
Iran plans to make full use of its home-field advantage. If Park overcomes the time difference quickly and regains his condition, he could raise confidence among his teammates.
“The match against Iran in the qualifying round will be the most challenging and most important game. We always need three points, but no team can easily beat Iran in Iran. But I don’t want to lose,” he said.
Source : http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?biid=2009021004478
Monday, February 2, 2009
Park praises squad
02/02/2009 09:04, Report by Nick Coppack
Ji-sung Park says United’s strength in depth has been the key to the side’s record-breaking run of clean sheets.
The Reds have now gone 12 games without conceding a goal in the league, a feat made all the more impressive when you consider the injuries that have plagued Sir Alex’s regular back four.
“We’ve had a few injuries in the defence so it’s a great achievement,” Park told ManUtd.kr.
“Everybody played their part and the young players who were called on [Rafael, Richard Eckersley] showed great ability on the pitch.
“We started the season with a strong squad and that’s how we’ve been able to set this record. When someone is injured we have another player who can fill the gaps.”
Park also reserved special praise for goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, who now holds the English league record for most minutes without conceding.
“Playing for one of the greatest teams in the world at his age [38] is really difficult. He’s a great player, one of the best on the pitch. It’s a great record for him to have. He deserves it.”
Source
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Park Ji-sung Proves Skeptics Wrong at United
“Is he here to sell Manchester United uniforms in Korea?”
This was the question British soccer fans asked when Park Ji-sung joined United in 2005. Former Korea coach Guus Hiddink even expressed concern that Park’s move to England might have been premature, despite having deep respect for the midfielder.
Four years later, fans and pundits have a drastically changed view of Park. The Dong-A Ilbo’s analysis of his average playing time per game from his first year with United to the past few weeks has found that Park is a major player in the world’s top-ranked soccer league.
○ Rise to starter in big games
In his first season at United in 2005-06, Park made the roster in 40 games of the Premier League, FA Cup and Carling Cup but was left out of Champions League action.
He started six of 14 games against the top seven clubs (based on final season rankings), playing 39.8 minutes on average per match.
In comparison, he made the roster in 13 matches versus five low-ranking clubs, starting 10 and averaging 68.2 minutes per game.
Thus, Park played mostly in matches versus low ranking clubs rather than the league’s Big Three of Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool early in his United career.
He played in 24 games in 2006-07 and 17 last season due to a number of injuries big and small. He did appear more against strong teams in those seasons, however.
Park made the roster in six matches versus the top seven clubs in the 2006-07 season, and started four of them. He also started four of the seven matches he played in against the top clubs last season.
This season, however, Park has fully arrived as a key United player. He has played in all seven matches versus the top seven clubs (based on rankings as of Jan. 20) this season, starting five of them and averaging 58.6 minutes per match.
Park also played in all three matches against the Big Three, averaging 84.7 minutes per game. In comparison, he played in four of seven matches versus low-ranking teams, averaging 46.3 minutes per game.
○ Still evolving
The midfielder is consolidating his status as a big-game player in performance as well.
Early after his Premiership debut, he was oftentimes less than impressive.
In the 2005-06 season, Park received the lowest player rating of four from Sky Sports in a 3-0 loss to Chelsea that secured the league title for the Blues.
This season, however, Park scored his team’s only goal in the 1-1 draw against Chelsea in their first meeting. In the second, he earned a rating of eight, the second highest among his teammates, as United cruised to victory, 3-0.
Park’s upgraded status in his club is also demonstrated by his play in the Champions League. He made the roster for all eight matches in the 2005-06 season but did not start in any of the games.
Last season, however, he played the full 90 minutes in four Champions League matches, including the quarterfinal versus AS Roma and the semifinal versus FC Barcelona.
Park, however, has plenty of competition for his position of attacking midfielder, namely from Darren Fletcher, Ryan Giggs, Luis Nani and Zoran Tosic. He also must score more goals, hitting the back of the net just once this season.
Nonetheless, Park has proven wrong the naysayers who originally brushed him off as a marketing ploy to sell more United shirts in Korea and Asia.
source
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