Park set to quit international football
Reuters - Friday 17 December 2010, 13:22
SEOUL - Manchester United midfielder Park
Ji-Sung will retire from South Korea's national team after next
month's Asian Cup in Qatar, his father was quoted as saying on
Friday.
"Ji-Sung said before the World Cup in South Africa that the
Asian Cup would be his last national tournament," his father
Park Sung-Jong told the Asian Football Confederation website
on Friday.
"Now, ahead of the Asian Cup, there is no reason for him to
change his mind.
"Ji-Sung said, 'When I give way, players like Lee Chung-yong
will appear. They don't have to think I should be there.'"
Park will join up with his compatriots after United's
Premier League game against Sunderland on December 26 and the
29-year-old could miss six Premier League games and an FA Cup
tie while he is away.
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who signed Park from PSV
Eindhoven in 2005, said after he scored the only goal in
United's 1-0 win over Arsenal on Monday that he would be missed
while in Qatar.
"It is a shame he has to go, but there's nothing we can do
about that," Ferguson said after the game. "He is very important
for us as he proved tonight with his goal."
Park captained South Korea at this year's World Cup finals
in South Africa, helping them reach the last 16.
In 2009 he became the first Asian to play in the Champions
League final but ended on the losing side when Barcelona beat
United 2-0 in Rome.