Ji-sung Park deserving of Man Utd acclaim 20 years on from signing
It would be wrong to think Park just accepted this gut-wrenching moment and took it in his stride.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he later told UTD Podcast. “I realised, when I got to the stadium, into the dressing room, I saw that there wasn’t my shirt. Then I just go ‘oh, I’m not in the squad today’. I don’t know how I can say it, I was very, very disappointed. All my family was there, my whole country was looking for that because I played the semi-final. They were expecting that I would play the final, even probably on the bench. But I wasn’t in the squad.
“There is no choice as a player if you’re not involved in the squad. It’s the manager’s decision and you have to follow it. He explained he was going to play Owen Hargreaves because he had the experience of the final of the Champions League. I was thinking ‘I won’t have it, if I don’t get it’ But it’s his decision. I can’t complain about that and then, actually, we won the Champions League. So his decision is right.”
Despite his hurt, Park never let it affect his relationship with the manager as he continued to be a key figure for the Reds. There was inevitable sadness when he was transferred to QPR in 2012 but the South Korean has remained hugely popular with our fans.
When it comes down to selfless character and unsung heroes, there are few ahead of Ji in the club’s history.
