South Korea’s Park Ji-sung left Premier League giants Manchester United for top-flight minnows Queens Park Rangers on Monday in a bid to get more first-team action.
The industrious 31-year-old midfielder spent seven years at Old Trafford after arriving from Dutch club PSV Eindhoven, scoring 27 goals in 203 appearances for United.
Park — capped more than 100 times and the only Asian to score in three successive World Cup finals tournaments (2002, 2006 and 2010) — helped United win four Premier League titles, three League Cups and the 2008 Champions League, but he could not quite nail down a first-choice spot in the Red Devils’ midfield.
Photo: Reuters
“It was a very difficult decision, it’s hard to leave such a big club, but QPR showed me what they are trying to be,” he said. “It is time for a new challenge.”
Park, who signed for an undisclosed fee believed to be more than ￡2 million (US$3.1 million), reportedly received offers from leading clubs in England, Europe and Asia.
However, he decided to join a QPR side owned by ambitious Malaysian businessman Tony Fernandes and managed by former United striker Mark Hughes.
“QPR want to be a bigger club, they want to improve and it’s a great challenge,” Park said. “It was a difficult decision, but they have great players and they are hungry to get to the next level. It’s not about the money. The manager, Mark Hughes, has a proven track record at Premier League level, and I am looking forward to working with him and the rest of the squad to help take the club to the next level.”
Park is Rangers’ sixth pre-season signing, joining Ryan Nelsen, Andrew Johnson, Robert Green, Samba Diakite and his former United teammate Fabio at Loftus Road.
“On a football level, Ji is someone I have admired from afar for years,” Hughes said. “He wore the red shirt of Manchester United in a distinguished way and he will bring a great deal to the team, I can’t wait to start working with him. Ji is a motivated guy, he feels there is success ahead of him, he ticks every box. It’s a very exciting time for QPR.”
“He’s very adept in a number of positions. What he brings to the team is technical ability, a huge work ethic and a winning mentality,” Hughes said. “He understands what it takes to win trophies and to win matches, and I want to take that from Ji and pass it to the rest of the team. I said at the end of the season we didn’t want to be in the same position next season and I stand by that, we are in a better place now.”
Meanwhile, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was sorry to see Park go.
“He is the ultimate professional and such a nice lad,” Ferguson said. “He never let us down on the big occasions. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t give him the number of games he wanted.”
The New Taipei Kings claimed the inaugural Taiwan Professional Basketball League (TPBL) championship on Sunday, defeating the Kaohsiung FamilyMart Aquas 108-89 in the final. Playing at home, the Kings pulled ahead with Jeremy Lin’s (林書豪) clutch three-pointers, securing their victory over the Aquas in the TPBL final. The Kings came out strong in the first quarter, dominating to build a 35-18 lead. By halftime, they had stretched their advantage to 61-38. In the third quarter, the Aquas narrowed the deficit to 12 points, but Lin stepped up, sinking several tough three- pointers to extend the lead. In the final quarter, the Kings pushed the
In an unlikely Ethiopian outpost of one the most French of pastimes, four men are leaning over their petanque balls, arguing over who is winning. Petanque, the bowling game also known as boules, is more readily associated with French village squares where locals launch metal balls at a jack while enjoying an afternoon drink, but for decades, it has also been a beloved pastime for members of a club near the iconic Meskel Square in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. It was founded in the early 20th century to cater to French railway workers, who built a line connecting Addis Ababa
Taiwanese women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei and Australian teenager Maya Joint on Tuesday eased into the Eastbourne Open quarter-finals in England as Hsieh prepares for the Wimbledon Championships next week. Four-time Wimbledon women’s doubles champion Hsieh and 19-year-old Joint fired two aces and converted five of eight break points to defeat Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Poland’s Katarzyna Piter 6-3, 6-3 in 58 minutes on the grass court. Hsieh and Joint are today to face fourth seeds Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, who advanced on Monday with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Quinn Gleason of the US and
BEAT THE HEAT: A brutal heat wave in the US has made cooling breaks standard. Dortmund’s coach said the weather could shape the destiny of the tournament Chelsea on Tuesday beat Esperance of Tunisia 3-0 to set up a FIFA Club World Cup last-16 tie against SL Benfica, who earlier defeated Bayern Munich 1-0, as furnace-link heat and the threat of thunder and lightning wreak havoc at the tournament. Elsewhere, minnows Auckland City claimed a memorable draw against Boca Juniors, while Los Angeles bowed out of the tournament with a stalemate against Flamengo. In Charlotte, Andreas Schjelderup scored the only goal for Benfica in their Group C clash with Bayern in front of 33,287 fans, finishing first-time from a cutback by his fellow Norwegian Fredrik Aursnes in the 13th
RSS