Put it in Park: Knee surgery sidelines Korean soccer star
Manchester United reported the news of Park Ji-sung’s surgery on its homepage last week.[YONHAP]
Park hasn’t played since he scored his fifth goal of the season in the team’s win over the Blackburn Rovers on March 31. The Premier League season wraps up in May.
Park flew to the United States to meet knee specialist Dr. Richard Steadman, whose past patients include soccer stars Ronaldo, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Michael Owen, and Alan Shearer.
After the operation Saturday, Manchester United released a statement on Sunday saying Park “has had a complicated cartilage operation that required an expert in the field. He will be out for the rest of the season and we will assess the situation in August.”
Park has not spoken with media since he arrived in the United States. But his agent, Chiel Dekker, told the British sports Web site Sky Sports that his client is “disappointed to be out injured and it has come as something of a shock to him as he didn’t think it was serious” when he sustained it.
The injury is a blow to Park’s fans in Korea who had hoped to see their native son on home soil in the Manchester United’s red uniform for the first time. The team is scheduled to play an exhibition game against K-League’s FC Seoul on July 20 in Seoul. The match is part of the Premier League club’s Asian barnstorming tour.
“When I first heard the news, I was crushed,” said Jin Hye-yun, a museum educator in Seoul and an avid fan of Manchester United. “He had just come back from an ankle injury and had been riding some momentum. And now this.”
Jin, who watches almost all Manchester United games, sometimes in the wee hours of the morning, said Park’s absence won’t change her plan to attend the July exhibition match.
“I wouldn’t want to miss the opportunity to see the team’s top players [such as Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo],” she said. Park joins Lee Young-pyo, fellow Premier leaguer with the Tottenham Hotspur, on the injuried list. Lee may also be out for the season with knee ailments.
By Yoo Jee-ho Staff Writer [jeeho@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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