Park Chu-Young
One thing that every team no matter what the sport is always looking for is the next great thing. If they are lucky enough to find one then they are guaranteed to be at least a contender in whatever game they are playing.
For the Korean National team that guy is Park Chu-Young. Not many players have such recognizable talent that they are snatched up by the national team shortly after breaking onto their local soccer scene. With all the right attributes going for him, Park has the chance to be a truly great player for his country and possibly on an international level as well.
In the beginning
Like most players, Park started playing at a young age. After playing at Cheonggu High School in 2001 and 2003 (with a year at the Zico Football Centre sandwiched in between the two) he went onto to play at Korea University in 2004.
Before attending the university he was a part of the Korean U-20 team that won the FIFA World Youth Championship in 2003. His notoriety really did not take off until 2004 though. That year he was a part of the U-20 team that won the Asian Football Confederation Youth Championship. His play was pivotal to the team winning an 11th championship, and earned him the Golden Ball Award and tournament MVP honours as well.
If his performance in the AFC Youth Championship was not enough for him to gain national notoriety, his play during the Qatar Invitational (in January of 2005) insured that he would be. Park was an absolute scoring machine as he scored two goals against China, three more against Ukraine, another two against Algeria, and another two against Japan as the Korean U-20 team won the tournament. After that performance he was a shoe-in for the Asian Young Footballer of the Year by the AFC.
Korea Republic national football team and more
With such an impressive year as part of the U-20 team it would have been surprising had Park not been called up by the senior national team soon. That distinction came in June of the following year in 2005. He scored his first goal in his début match against Uzbekistan. Park would go onto score three goals and four assists in his time with the national team that year.
In 2005 he also joined the only professional football league in Korea, the K-League, where he played for FC Seoul. His play that year would end up establishing him as an icon by the end of the year. In 30 matches he would score 18 goals and four assists, a performance that would not only endear him to his team and its fans but earn him the title of Best Young Player for the K-League.
As much talent as he had shown over the last couple years, soccer fans in Korea hoped that Park would be able to shine in the 2006 World Cup in Germany. However, those aspirations were not realized. Park would only play in the third and final game against Switzerland. His play would be uninspiring and poor as he would play 63 minutes and get a yellow-card in the match.
The rest of 2006 was not too good for Park either as he only managed to score eight goals and one assist in 30 matches for the K-League that year. When he played in the Asian Games he seemed to start out strong by scoring two goals against Bangladesh. Sadly, he would virtually disappear for the remainder of the tournament.
He would appear to be back on track in 2007 by scoring 10 goals in 11 matches, but would end up missing most of the remainder of the season due to injury. The injury would get Park dismissed from the national team in 2007, but he would later be back on the team in 2008 when he became healthy.
Park is undoubtedly the best goal-getter that Korea has seen in years, a fact that he has proven time and time again. However, in the 2010 World Cup he scored an own goal in a 4-1 loss to Argentina. He would go onto redeem himself when he made a free kick against Nigeria to allow the team to move onto the second round.
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