Is Park Chu-young Headed for Bayern Munich?

When teammates were singing and jumping with joy with arms around each other after the match was won, Park, who had made one of the greatest contributions to the game, was elsewhere. He was chosen as the MVP of the match and had to go get the award. Prize in hand, he trudges along with his usual expressionless face. “I feel good. More than about having landed a goal, I’m most happy that we can play at the World Cup,” he says flatly.

It is only when he is running across the field with the ball that Park brightens up. Football is what he loves, and fate has thrown the opportunity his way to play it virtually nonstop. He is to take part in the FIFA World Youth Championship in the Netherlands starting Friday. Right after the match with Kuwait, Park joined the Korean Youth soccer team. “I don’t think we’re going to have any problem playing, as we all work very well together. I just have to keep on doing what I did with the national team,” he says confidently.

He is only 20. Yet Park Chu-young has become a symbol of the future of Korean soccer. People feel a sense of assurance and relief when the ball is passed on to him. An intelligent play developed with an IQ of 150, the ability to seize opportunities as a leopard strikes at its prey, fast shots, diligence in training: Park easily gets the better of his opponents. At 1.82 m tall he weighs only 71 kg, which makes him look almost slight. Manager Jo Bonfrere was at first reluctant to include Park in the national team, commenting that he “looks like he will be blown off.” But Park shrugged off such concerns by playing two games in succession. The secret to his stamina lies in smart play that minimizes unnecessary energy use.

Born: July 10, 1985, football shoe size: 265-270, sleeps: six hours a night, place frequently visited: PC Bang (internet café), ideal woman: “looks pretty when she prays,” bad characteristics: “sulky,” dislikes comment: “What do you go to church for?” Such facts are not hard for his fans to find out, because Park personally answered 100 questions posted by his online fan community. He is known to have a girlfriend one year older than him, whom he met at church in Daegu.

Chu-young started his life in football when he was in fourth grade in Banyawol Elementary School in Daegu. Since then he has developed his own way of learning the necessary skills. Barefoot soccer is one. “One day I had to play soccer barefoot because I had lost my soccer shoes. Thanks to the experience I was able to learn about the sensitive touch of the ball,” says Park. Another method is “market football.” “To practice breaking through the defense I practiced dribbling in the outdoor market where it is most crowded,” he says.

The final method is making football practice into a game. Park never goes anywhere without the ball, and he would make up games such as hitting a designated target like a poster on the wall, which helped him improve the precision of his shots. In high school he swept the honor of becoming the top scorer in four competitions, and in 2001 Pohang Steelers sent him to train in Brazil for a year as a means to draw him into the team. “It was there that I learned how to kick the ball lightly.”

At the International Youth Football Competition in Doha, Qatar in January that Park Chu-young emerged as Korea’s star of the next generation. Fans were in a frenzy as they watched him gain both the top scorer and MVP awards. After joining FC Seoul, Park has had crowds of fans following him everywhere and has caused something of a revival for professional football.

Thursday’s victory over Kuwait won Korea its sixth consecutive ticket to the World Cup, this time in Germany. The final groups will be announced when lots are drawn in Leipzig, Germany on Dec. 10. Korea is to appear alongside 32 national teams in the championship starting on June 10 next year.

(englishnews@chosun.com )