Ji Sun Park made his debut "home" appearance in Korea wearing the United shirt he's proudly been representing since 2005.As Korea's most revered and high profile sportsman, and captain of their national team, he was naturally given a superstar's welcome. What shocked me, and proably anyone not from Korea, is the extent to which his fans revere him and follow his every move.
United were playing FC Seoul as part of the pre-season Asian tour. The game was played in a packed out national stadium in the capital Seoul.
It was a good game with plenty of goals and entertainment. However the highlight for me was the intensity of the adulation Park received throughout a game in which he hardly played.
Every time Park's face would be shown onto the massive stadium screen as he sat on the subs bench during the match, the whole stadium would forget about the match and erupt in Beatle-esque adulation and noise.
Everytime Evra touched the ball, Park's best friend in the team, the crowd would go mental in associative support.
When Park finally came on 16 minutes from the end, he received a full stadium standing ovation. Every time he touched the ball, the crowd went into meltdown. Had he scored, I reckon they would have gone into delirium and launched an all out war on North Korea.
I agree with the adage that "no player is bigger than the club that employs him", but here in Korea, and on this showing, Ji Sung Park is not only bigger than United, but I would even go as far as saying 'He's even bigger than Jesus".
Ji Sun Park
Superstar
We all agree with what they say you are
