Triple-scoring Park Monaco’s player of the month

Football

Published: 05 Jan. 2010, 19:47

Triple-scoring Park Monaco’s player of the month

Park Chu-young

Fans of AS Monaco FC have selected Park Chu-young as the team’s player of the month for December. According to an announcement on the team’s Web site yesterday, an overwhelming 77 percent of votes went to Park, with Sebastien Puygrenier receiving 10 percent of and Stephane Ruffier, 7 percent.

“Park Chu-young was selected as the player who made the biggest impact last month,” the announcement read.

In the month of December, Park played in five league matches and scored in three of them consecutively. The team, which plays in the French Ligue 1, got off to a slow start last month with lopsided losses to Valenciennes FC (3-1) on Dec. 5 and Lille OSC (4-0) on Dec. 13. Park failed to make much of an impact in those two matches, but he scored the lone goal in a Dec. 16 game against Stade Rennais to help his club break out of its slump, then repeated the feat in two ties, against Olympique Lyonnais on Dec. 20 and Le Mans UC 72 on Dec. 23.

The 24-year-old has scored six goals this season for AS Monaco, which sits in 11th place with eight wins, three draws and seven losses.

After playing for FC Seoul in the K-League, Park signed with AS Monaco in September 2008. Park went on to receive the team’s player of the month honor in October. Although the forward failed to score a goal that month, he was recognized for his movement up front and his ability to create chances. Park would go on to score five goals in 31 league games in his rookie season.

AS Monaco will play its first league match of the new year against Montpellier on Jan. 13 at Stade Louis II.

As a member of the Korean national team, Park’s strong play as of late is welcome news to manager Huh Jung-moo. Park and Lee Keun-ho have played in the forward position on the team, but failed to capitalize on all their scoring chances. Now veterans like Lee Dong-gook, who won the K-League scoring title in 2009, are being considered, but the national team still lacks a forward with a deft scoring touch.

Since joining the national team in June 2005, Park has notched 13 goals in 39 international matches. Park and other overseas-based Korean players will not participate in January training camps, instead joining the team in March.

By Jason Kim [jason@joongang.co.kr]

Related Korean Article

박주영, AS모나코 12월의 선수

박주영이 AS모나코의 12월 최우수선수(MVP)로 뽑혔다. 모나코는 5일(한국시간) 홈페이지를 통해 "박주영이 지난달 가장 큰 활약을 펼친 선수로 선정됐다"고 전했다.
　
팬들의 지지는 압도적이었다. 77%의 지지를 받은 박주영은 세바스티안 푸에그리니에(10%), 스테판 루피에르(7%)를 여유있게 따돌렸다. 12월 열린 리그 5경기 중 3경기 연속골을 터뜨린 것이 팬들의 눈길을 사로잡았다. 박주영은 리그 14라운드 발랑시엔전과 15라운드 릴전에서는 눈에 띄는 활약을 펼치지 못했지만, 이후 스타드 렌·올림피크 리옹, 르망을 만나 폭발적인 득점력을 과시했다.
　
팀 동료들의 칭찬도 잇달았다. 한 선수는 "박주영은 가장 기초적이면서도 나무랄 데 없는 선수다. 이런 선수가 모나코에 온 게 행운"이라고 엄지손가락을 치켜세웠다. 또 다른 선수는 "실력도 실력이지만 박주영의 노력하는 자세와 적극적인 움직임은 팀 선수들에게 자극제가 된다"고 했다.

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