“Thank you to the players.”
Park Chu-young (39, Ulsan HD), who returned to the ground from his home turf of FC Seoul after deciding to retire, thanked his teammate.
Park joined the 37th round of the “Hana Bank K League 1 2024” at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on Tuesday as a surprise entry for the away game against Seoul. He was substituted for Kang in the 32nd minute of the first half and played until the end of the first half.
As a playing coach, Park left Seoul ahead of the 2022 season and was invited by then-coach Hong Myung-bo to wear the Ulsan uniform. He played six league games that year. Since then, he focused on coaching rather than players. He did not participate in official matches last year.
He returned to the team as a surprise player after deciding to retire. “Park Joo-young officially expressed his desire to retire (at the end of this season),” Ulsan coach Kim Pan-gon said. “We were going to prepare for the home game (with Suwon FC), which is the last game of this season, but veterans and captains came late two days ago and suggested that Park should give him time to say hello since he played for a long time in Seoul.”
Park declined. “Park declined due to concern about causing inconvenience to the team. He said he did not want to harm the team,” Kim said. “I think my teammates had a different idea. I checked once more before yesterday’s training, and I heard that all the players thought well of Park’s participation.”
It is the first time in more than two years that Park Chu-young has been included in the official entry for the match since the final match of the year against Jeju United on October 23, 2022, when Ulsan had its first championship coronation in 17 years. At that time, he was put in as a substitute in the second half and played 17 minutes.
Park made his professional debut in Seoul in 2005 and received the Rookie of the Year award. Having entered the European leagues in 2008 and played as big leaguers such as AS Monaco (France) and Arsenal (England), Park made a comeback to Seoul in 2015. The following year, he gave Seoul the trophy as the winning goal in the final league match against Jeonbuk Hyundai. He spent 11 seasons in Seoul, playing in 314 matches and recording 90 goals and 32 assists. 메이저사이트
“Honestly, I didn’t want (to play in the game). All the players want to play in the game. I felt sorry that I took that position,” Park said after the game. “I was grateful and touched that the players told the coach first.” On the day, he showed stable linkage as if he had played a real match with a teammate. When Ko Seung-bum scored the first goal in the extra time of the first half, he hugged and shared his joy. “We trained together and had no problem in our physical condition,” Park said. “I am grateful to all the players, the coaches and the members.”
The two teams tied the game 1-1. Ulsan, which secured an early victory in the previous round, marked 69 points, while Seoul maintained its fourth position with 55 points. The second and third places have changed. While Gangwon FC (61st and 3rd place with points) lost to Suwon FC (53 points and 52 goals, 6th place), Gimcheon Sangmu defeated Pohang Steelers (53 points and 53 goals, 5th place) 3-0 on the day and moved up to the second place (63 points).