Hand signed football trading card of PARK JI-SUNG, MAN UTD FC autograph

Description: Hand signed trading card of PARK JI-SUNG Item comes with a COA Park Ji-sung (Korean: 박지성; Hanja: 朴智星; Korean pronunciation: [pak̚.t͈ɕi.sʌŋ]; born 30 March 1981)[note 1] is a South Korean former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Born in the South Korean capital Seoul,[10] Park is one of the most successful Asian players in football history, having won 19 trophies in his career.[11] He is the first Asian footballer to have won the UEFA Champions League, to play in a UEFA Champions League final, as well as the first Asian to have won the FIFA Club World Cup.[12] Park was able to play anywhere across the midfield and was noted for his exceptional fitness level, discipline, work ethic and off-the-ball movement.[13] His remarkable endurance levels earned him the nickname "Three-Lung" Park.[14] 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 Sir Alex Ferguson and he signed Park for a fee of around £4 million in July 2005. In his time at United, his honours included four Premier League titles, the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League, and the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup. He moved to Queens Park Rangers in July 2012 after suffering a reduction in his number of appearances for Manchester United the previous season. However, an injury-interrupted season with QPR, combined with the club's relegation, led to Park rejoining PSV on loan for the 2013–14 season. As a member of the South Korea national team, Park won 100 caps and scored 13 goals.[15] He was a member of the team that finished fourth at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and also represented his nation at the 2006 FIFA World Cup and the 2010 FIFA World Cup. At the World Cup, he was named man of the match four times, the most of any Asian player,[16][17][18][19] and is currently South Korea's joint all-time leading World Cup goalscorer with three goals alongside Ahn Jung-hwan and Son Heung-min, having scored in three consecutive tournaments. Early life Park was born in Seoul,[20][21] but his family registered his birth in Goheung, Jeonnam, which is his father's hometown.[22] He then left for Suwon,[23] a satellite city of Seoul, and spent his adolescence there. He began playing football during his fourth year of elementary school. He attended Anyong Middle School and Suwon Technical High School.[24] While at school, Park attracted attention as one of the most promising young talents in South Korea and was scouted by a number of clubs. He was well known for his excellent work rate, mesmerising dribbling and accurate passes. However, his small physique became a weak point after he entered middle school. His father, Park Sung-jong, quit his job and started a butcher shop for his son's dream. Sung-jong not only fed Park different meats but also frogs, antlers and deer blood, in the belief that it would increase his physical abilities.[14][25] While in high school, Park helped his high school team's win at high school competition of the Korean National Sports Festival in 1998,[26] 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 Lee Hak-jong, his high school coach, strongly recommended him to Kim Hee-tae, the university coach. Park was attached to the university's tennis club at that time, because the football club was full, so Kim asked the tennis coach for help.[25] From the winter holiday of his secondary school year, Park began to train with his university team as a prospective member. A few weeks later, in January 1999, his university team was given the chance to train with the South Korea Olympic team. After a splendid performance, he attracted the attention of Huh Jung-moo, the coach of the South Korea national team and Olympic team. Thereafter he became a preliminary member of the Olympic team, and finally a formal member of its squad. At 18 years old, it was believed that if Park had not been selected for the Olympic team, he would have been selected for the under-20 team instead. This selection was so unexpected for Park and others that it was rumoured that Huh selected Park to fulfil a bet after losing to Kim Hee-tae in a game of Go.[25] On 5 April 2000, in a 2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification match against Laos, Park made his debut as a member of the national team, along with Lee Chun-soo. In June 2000, while he was a national team member and a second year student at Myongji University, Kyoto Purple Sanga of Japan offered Park a contract and he took the offer though he was still a relative unknown. Park was the first instance of a relatively unknown Korean player being offered a contract by a Japanese club.[27] In September 2000, at the 2000 Summer Olympics, his Olympic team failed to advance to the knockout stage, and the South Korea national football team replaced head coach Huh Jung-moo with Guus Hiddink. Club careerKyoto Purple Sanga In June 2000, Park signed with the Kyoto-based then J1 League side Kyoto Purple Sanga. In the spring of 2000, hearing that there was a rising star in Korea, Bunji Kimura, Sanga's coach at the time, visited Korea along with other scouts. In a practice game, the rising star did not attract their attention, whereas Park did. In an interview, Kimura said: In a practice match, a player arrested our eyes. Despite his injuries, Park's performance was outstanding. Park played only about 20 minutes, however we could see his sense, physical strength, and his potential, so we accepted Park instead of the player we thought. This scout aroused a lot of criticism in Sanga because Park was unknown, to the point that I should resign.[28] In 2001, the club won the J2 League title and were promoted to the J1 League. In 2002, Park led the team to the final of the Emperor's Cup, and in the final on 1 January 2003, he scored the equaliser with a header. The team went on to win the match 2–1 to become the Emperor's Cup champions for the first time in Sanga's history. This was Park's last game for Sanga.[29] In January 2003, he left Sanga as Guus Hiddink invited him to play for PSV Eindhoven. PSV Eindhoven After the World Cup, Hiddink was appointed as manager of Dutch club PSV Eindhoven. In 2003, Park and South Korean teammate Lee Young-pyo moved to PSV in order to play under their mentor and former national team coach. While Lee quickly became a fixture in PSV's starting line-up, Park struggled due to injuries. He had an operation to remove his meniscus after the injury and this affected his ability.[30] He felt fear when the ball came to him because he was jeered at by PSV fans disappointed at his performance.[31] By the end of 2003–04 season, however, Park had begun to adapt to the Netherlands, both on and off the field. In the 2004–05 season, the departure of Arjen Robben to Chelsea afforded Park more starting opportunities and he quickly proved his worth to the team. Along with Johann Vogel, DaMarcus Beasley and Dutchmen Mark van Bommel and Philip Cocu, Park formed the backbone of PSV's midfield play with his pace and passing.[32] Having been a top contributor of goals and assists that season, the highlight of Park's PSV career came when he scored the first goal against Italian team Milan in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals. PSV went on to win the home leg 3–1, but their 2–0 loss during the away leg meant Milan advanced to the final.[33] Nevertheless, thanks to these strong performances, Park was chosen, along with Andriy Shevchenko, Adriano, Samuel Eto'o and Ronaldinho, as one of the nominees for the 2005 UEFA Best Forward award.[34][35] PSV fans were so enamoured with Park that they wrote a song about him entitled "Song for Park", which was included on the official PSV album PSV Kampioen.[36] Manchester United2005–06 season In July 2005, Park chose to join Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United. Park signed for the Premier League side for £4 million,[37] subject to a medical and work permit. He became the second East Asian player to sign for Manchester United, after Dong Fangzhuo.[38][39] On 1 October 2005, Park largely contributed to a 3–2 victory against Fulham by assisting two goals and winning a penalty kick.[40] On 18 October 2005, Park became the first Asian to ever captain Manchester United when he took the armband from Ryan Giggs as he replaced him during a Champions League home group match against Lille.[41][42] Park's first goal for Manchester United came on 20 December 2005, during a 3–1 win over Birmingham City in the League Cup fifth round.[43] On 5 February 2006, Park appeared to have scored his first Premier League goal, against Fulham in United's 4–2 victory at Old Trafford.[44] The Premier League's Dubious Goals Panel, however, later ruled that this was an own goal due to a deflection off the Fulham defender Carlos Bocanegra. On 9 April 2006, Park scored his first official league goal, netting the second of a 2–0 home win over Arsenal.[45] 2006–07 season Park injured his ankle during the match against Tottenham Hotspur on 9 September 2006 and returned to the field after three months.[46] On 17 March 2007, he scored two goals against Bolton Wanderers, the first time he had scored more than once in a Premier League match.[47] In April 2007, Park was sent to America for surgery on a recurring knee injury, putting an end to his season.[48] Although sidelined by injury for most of the season, he recorded five goals and two assists in 14 appearances, and satisfied enough matches for a Premier League medal.[49] However, Park started suffering chronic knee problems which eventually accelerated his retirement.[50] 2007–08 season On 1 March 2008, Park scored his first league goal of the 2007–08 season after returning from his long-term injury against Fulham. His lack of appearances had caused much controversy in South Korea,[51] but he proved his worth when he delivered an assist to Wayne Rooney in the Champions League quarter-final match against Roma. On 29 April 2008, Manchester United advanced to the Champions League Final after beating Barcelona. Park, however, was excluded from the squad to face Chelsea in the final despite starting both legs of the semi-final; manager Sir Alex Ferguson later stated that leaving him out was one of the hardest decisions he had had to make throughout his managerial career.[52] 2008–09 seasonPark during the 2009 UEFA Champions League Final against Barcelona on 27 May 2009 Early in the 2008–09 Premier League season, in an away match versus Chelsea, Park scored the only goal for United in a 1–1 draw on 21 September 2008, in a game which he also won the man of the match award.[53] On 13 December 2008, he made his 100th appearance for Manchester United, starting in the match against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane, the game ended 0–0.[54] Park was included in the 23-man squad for the FIFA Club World Cup held at the end of 2008. He missed the semi-final but played the full 90 minutes in the final which they won 1–0 becoming the first English side to win the competition. On 7 March 2009, Park scored his first FA Cup goal in the 4–0 quarter-final win over Fulham at Craven Cottage, he latched onto a misplaced pass by Zoltán Gera eventually slotting it into the far corner for the fourth and final goal.[55] On 15 April 2009, Manchester United advanced to semi-finals of the Champions League by defeating Porto 3–2 on aggregate. This made Park the only Asian player to be part of Champions League semi-finals on four occasions. On 2 May 2009, Park verbally agreed to a new four-year £50,000-a-week deal at Manchester United, stating, "I have no reason to move. I play at the best club in the world."[56] Following this announcement, Park scored his second league goal of the season – and third overall – in a 2–0 away win against Middlesbrough.[57] On 5 May 2009, Park scored his first Champions League goal for Manchester United in the second leg of the semi-final against Arsenal at the Emirates. He pounced on a slip by Kieran Gibbs and placed the ball over Manuel Almunia in the eighth minute, with the game ending 3–1 (4–1 on aggregate), advancing United to the Champions League final for the second year running.[58] Park became the first Asian player in history to play in a Champions League final, although his team lost 0–2 to Barcelona.[59]

Price: 80 GBP

Location: Stansted

End Time: 2024-02-18T05:58:13.000Z

Shipping Cost: 35.46 GBP