Park's winning run continues
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Ji-sung Park’s recent form has delighted Sir Alex Ferguson – but the United boss may be unaware of just how big a contribution the Korean has made.
The 1-0 win over Roma in Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final second leg was the livewire winger’s 17th start in the last two seasons – and the Reds have won every one of those games.
His tireless running caused no end of problems for the Roma defence and he narrowly failed to cap an excellent night with a late goal when goalkeeper Doni deflected his effort onto the roof of the net.
It was the latest of several impressive displays that Park has made since returning from a long-term knee injury at Christmas to boost the Reds’ title tilt.
In his nine starts since the turn of the year, United have scored 18 goals and conceded none, a remarkable run which includes the 4-0 FA Cup win over Arsenal as well as the home and away victories over Roma.
“He has shown absolutely the right attitude and risen to the occasion when called upon,” Ferguson told United Review before Wednesday’s game. “This boy is a very good player.
“He is incredible in training with tremendous energy and it might just be worth pointing out that a couple of his recent first-team appearances have seen us beat Arsenal 4-0 and Fulham 3-0 with other wins when he has played like 1-0 at Derby and 2-0 against Portsmouth. He never lets us down!”
Reds legend Paddy Crerand was equally fulsome in his praise of the 27-year-old.
"The team Sir Alex put out against Roma shows that the manager is utilising his squad," Crerand told MUTV. "It demonstrates the strength of the squad that United won 1-0 and made it through to the semi-finals of the Champions League.
"Park is the perfect example. He has done exceptionally well since he came back from injury, and he was excellent again against Roma.
"He is a player that has been out for a long period with injury. And when players are out for a long time, you sometimes forget how good they are until you see them playing again.
"Park has got great energy and his movement really troubles teams. He's a valuable asset to the team."
He should get more games ..i did'nt realise he was 27 ..lol thought he was 24-25 -
well i hope he gets to play against arsenal.. right now, the whole of asia football is forcusing on him.. and you can bet, there'll definitely some green eye monsters...
i say he deserves to be asian footballer of the year...
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Haha..cool!
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his like another rooney...manutd did not lose when ever he played..only at porthsmouth though...never knew he had such an big impact on the squad
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The Pride of Asia!