Reporter Han Bing reported that Che Fangen, Park Ji-sung and Son Heung-min represented the international influence of Korean football in three years, especially Park Ji-sung's joining premier league giants Manchester United after the World Cup in South Korea and Japan, which completely opened the door for Korean players to the top five league clubs. So much so that Son Heung-min, who is already the most expensive Asian player, said very modestly a few days ago: "Even if I shoot as many goals as I shoot, I can't compare with Che Fangen and Park Ji-sung's predecessors." ”
After retiring from the army 7 years ago, Park Ji-sung almost disappeared, he did not pick up the coaching whip like the "02 generation" colleagues Hong Myung-fu, Hwang Sun-hung, Yoon Kyung-hwan, and Choi Long-so, nor was he still active on the court like Che Du-ri, but somewhat unexpectedly entered the management. Returned to Jeonbuk Hyundai as a club "consultant", responsible for echelon and scouting work, and to some extent "technical supervisor". For Jeonbuk Hyundai, which lost Sun Joon-ho, Park Ji-sung is the club's biggest surprise in the 2021 season. With his influence in the history of Korean football, Jeonbuk Hyundai is afraid that it will continue to monopolize the K-league in recent years.
As early as after retiring from Eindhoven in 2014, Park Ji-sung chose the path of "management" for his future. He hopes to help Korean football on a higher level, not just being a coach or a guest commentator on a football match. After retiring from the united army, he trained in FIFA football administration, where he studied at de Montfort University in Leicester, England, Bocconi Business School in Italy and Neuchâtel University in Switzerland, graduating in July 2017. Park Ji-sung said as early as 2016 that he would return to the K-League in the future to help Korean football achieve greater success.
Previously, Park Ji-sung served as an advisory member of the International Football Council (IFAB) and as head of the Youth Strategy Department of the Korean Football Association. This time as a consultant at Jeonbuk Hyundai, the K-League overlord hopes that Park Ji-sung can use the advanced knowledge learned in many years of studying in the West to help the club make greater breakthroughs and continue to move forward in the direction of a modern club in Europe. "Consultant" Park Ji-sung has also been given considerable powers, in addition to participating in the jeonbuk hyundai echelon youth selection, training and competition, but also has a voice in the first team to attract reinforcements.
Park Ji-sung himself is very excited about what he has learned in the K-League: "I am very grateful to the club for providing me with such an opportunity, and I will work very hard with Jeonbuk Hyundai to achieve better results." I will do my best to make Jeonbuk Hyundai stronger and healthier. On January 19, As soon as Jeonbuk Hyundai officially announced the appointment of Park Ji-sung, he then left for Namhae-gun, the base of Jeonbuk Hyundai's winter training, Gyeongsangnam-do, to participate in the winter training that Jeonbuk Hyundai began on January 22. Of course, this is also the first step for him to take a closer look at the players and officially start working.
As a player, Park Ji-sung played in Europe for 12 seasons, played 350 games, scored 46 goals and won a total of 17 trophies, including the Club World Cup, Champions League, Premier League, Community Shield, League Cup, Dutch League Championship, and is the most successful Korean player overseas. He was shortlisted for the Golden Globes in 2005 and is the winner of the 2007 FIFA Best Asian Player Award and the 2010 Korean Footballer of the Year Award. In addition, he is also the spokesperson of Nike, LG, Gillette, Samsung, fifa video games and other brands, and has participated in many popular Korean variety shows, and his influence is very huge.
As the behind-the-scenes financial owner of Jeonbuk Hyundai, Hyundai Group agreed to Park Ji-sung's entry into the team management, hoping to rely on his international influence to create greater value for his football team and even the company's march into Europe. Usually Jeonbuk Hyundai's press conferences are held in Jeonju Stadium, but Park Ji-sung's press conference was deliberately arranged at The Hyundai Motor Studio in Goyang, which is evident in its intentions.
It is worth mentioning that in Jeonbuk, modern Park Ji-sung can also reunite with the former "02 generation" door god Li Yun. Lee Yun worked as a goalkeeper coach after retiring from the military and now works for the South Korean Olympic team and national team, and now serves as a first-team goalkeeper coach at Jeonbuk Hyundai. In addition, Park Ji-sung will continue to compete against his old friend and opponent Lee Young-woo in the new season. Both are representatives of the "Generation 02", playing for Eindhoven together and then becoming rivals in the Premier League.
South Korean media specifically mentioned that in the 35th round of the 2005/06 Premier League, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur were Park Ji-sung stealing Lee Young-woo and assisting Rooney's score. Subsequently, Park Ji-sung took the initiative to approach Lee Young-woo and comfort his compatriot opponents, and the picture of the two holding hands to turn gan into a jade curtain touched the fans at the scene and in front of the TV, becoming a good story of "friendship first, game second". After retiring, the two became competitors on the commentary table, and in the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Park Ji-sung served as a commentator for SBS TV, and Lee Young-woo was a commentator for KBS. As a football commentator, Lee Young-woo's analysis and judgment of the game defeated Park Ji-sung, which was a revenge on the court.
In the 2021 season, Park Ji-sung will participate in the K-League as a consultant to Jeonbuk Hyundai, which is reported to be the result of a strong recommendation to the club management by The new coach of Jeonbuk Hyundai, Kim Sang-sik. Kim Sang-sik and Park Ji-sung, who already had a close personal relationship, developed a deep friendship during their time with the South Korean national team, believing that Park Ji-sung could be the spiritual leader of the team's dressing room and a bridge between himself and the club's management. At the same time, it can bring more advanced European football training methods to the team.
Almost at the same time, Lee Young-woo also hung up his boots to "enter politics" and was just appointed CEO of Gangwon FC on December 22 last year. Under the operation of the new CEO, Gangwon FC has completed 4 transactions in Winter Market. In addition, the "02 generation" also has Hong Myung-fu (Ulsan Hyundai), Kim Nam-il (Seongnam FC), K2 League and Xue Ki-hyun (Gyeongnam FC), Hwang Sun-hong (Daejeon citizen, left at the end of last year, Lee Min-sung succeeded), Kim Tae-young (Cheonanseong of the K3 League) is the head coach, and Che Duri has also begun to coach the u18 echelon of FC Seoul. Substitute goalkeeper Choi Yin-cheng and defender Choi Sung-yong follow coach Choi Kang-hee to work at Shanghai Shenhua. Yoon Kyung-hwan now coaches chiba Ichihara in the J2 League, where Hwang Sun-hung, Lee Yi-yong, Lee Chun-so, Choi Jin-cheol and Choi Long-so have all been coaches but are now at home.
The marriage between Park Ji-sung and his wife Kim Min-ji has entered its 8th year, and she has a pair of children and lives a happy and satisfying life. The wife often shares beautiful moments of family life through Instagram, and in addition to Seoul, they also have a holiday home in Jeju Island. For this happy family, this year will be a completely different start from the previous 7 years.