Lee Myung-Hee
Ji-Sung Park was born on February 25, 1981 in Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea. He is a professional football player who plays for the English club Manchester United in the Premier League, as well as the South Korean national football team.
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 won the Premier League four times 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 and off-the-ball 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.
Although he was born in South Korean capital, Seoul, Park grew up in Suwon a satellite city 30 kilometres (19 mi) south of Seoul. He began playing football during his fourth year of elementary school. During this time, Park was known as one of the greatest young talents in South Korea and was being looked at by a number of different clubs. He was well known for his excellent work rate, mesmerizing dribbling and pinpoint passes.
While in high school (March 1996 - February 1999), he helped his high school team win the national championship in 1998, though he was at that point rejected by a number of professional clubs and universities, due to his small stature. He ended up playing for Myongji University after his high school coach strongly recommended him to the university coach.
Park began his international career for South Korea as a 19-year-old defensive midfielder and made his first appearance selection during 2000 Sydney Olympics U-23 regional qualifier. Selected by then manager, Huh Jung-Moo, for the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Park was unable to improve or show potential. However, when Guus Hiddink became the head coach of South Korea, Park's position was shifted to that of a winger; since then, he has become a versatile player able to play in a variety of positions: central, right and left midfield, as well as wing-forward.