BIOGRAPHY
Park Ji-Sung born 25 February 1981 is a South Korean footballer who currently plays as a midfielder for Manchester United , and was the captain of the South Korean national team. He is the most decorated footballer in Asian history, as the only South Korean player to have won the UEFA Champions League and the first Asian to have played in a final of the tournament.
Park began his football career in his native South Korea and played for the Myongji University team before moving to Japan to play for Kyoto Purple Sanga. After Park's national team manager Guus Hiddink moved back to the Netherlands to manage PSV Eindhoven, Park followed him to the Dutch side a year later. After PSV reached the semi-finals of the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League, Park's talents were recognised by Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson and he signed Park for a fee of around £4 million in July 2005. Since then, Park has played in three consecutive Premier League-winning Manchester United teams and has also won the UEFA Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup. Park is able to play anywhere across the midfield and is noted for his exceptional fitness level, discipline, work ethic, positional awareness and movement.
As a member of the South Korean national team, Park won 100 caps and scored 13 goals, and was a member of the team that finished fourth at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He also represented his nation at the 2006 FIFA World Cup and was captain at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Park scored in all three consecutive tournaments (the first South Korean and only second Asian player to do so) and is currently Asia's joint all-time leading goalscorer at the FIFA World Cup finals with three goals, alongside compatriot Ahn Jung-Hwan, and Saudi Arabia's Sami Al-Jaber. Park retired from international football after the 2011 Asian Cup.
Personal information
Full name: Park Ji-Sung
Date of birth: 25 February 1981 (1981-02-25)
Place of birth: Goheung County, Jeollanam-do,Republic of Korea
Height: 1.77 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Playing position: Midfielder
Club information
Current club: Manchester United
Number: 13
Youth career
1999–2000 Myongji University
Senior career*
2000–2002 Kyoto Purple Sanga 76 (11)
2003–2005 PSV Eindhoven 64 (13)
2005– Manchester United 113 (16)
National team‡
1999–2004 South Korea U-23 20 (3)
2000–2011 South Korea 100 (13)
