Korean national team’s central defender Park Ji-soo (29) advanced to Portimonense in Portugal and joined the ranks of European players. This is the result of Park Ji-soo’s efforts and passion, who poured everything into his personal trainer even to his honeymoon destination.
Portimonense announced the signing of Park Ji-soo on the 26th (Korean time). According to Portuguese local media, Park Ji-soo signed a contract for 1 year and 6 months until June 2024.
Although it was a short contract period, Park Ji-soo took on a challenge that could be his last.
Park Ji-soo, who obtained the status of a free agent (FA) due to financial difficulties of her original team Guangzhou FC (China) after being discharged from the military in December of last year, thought that this winter was the time to move to Europe.
For this, Park Ji-soo made his body strong. Park Ji-soo, who suffered an ankle ligament rupture injury in the final evaluation match against Iceland ahead of the Qatar World Cup in November last year, focused on treatment and rehabilitation.
After recovering from his ankle ligament injury, he improved his physical condition through individual exercises. According to Park Ji-soo’s side, Park Ji-soo took a vacation with a trainer on his honeymoon, which he left after his marriage last December, while doing personal exercise.
Even after his honeymoon, Park Ji-soo worked harder to get his body in shape before his injury by exercising more thoroughly.
Park Ji-soo, who had the will to perform on a bigger stage, rejected the lure of huge annual salaries offered in China and the Middle East and took on a new challenge.
According to football officials, Park Ji-soo signed a huge annual salary contract when heading to Guangzhou in 2019, and this time, some teams in China and the Middle East made similar offers.
But Park Ji-soo was cautious. As some teams from Turkey and Germany showed interest in Ji-soo Park, they took their time and waited for a recruitment offer from a European team. And the result was to advance to Portugal, the upper middle league in Europe. 먹튀검증
Looking back on Park Ji-soo’s career, going to Europe was a dramatic outcome.
Park Ji-soo took his first step on the professional stage by joining Incheon United in 2013. However, he suffered the pain of being released without playing a single game. Then, he joined Uijeongbu FC of the K3 League, a lower league, and was able to continue his career as a player.
Park Ji-soo, who did his best at Uijeongbu FC without getting frustrated, was able to transfer to K-League 2 Gyeongnam FC using this as a stepping stone. There, he shed a lot of sweat again, and was chosen by coach Paulo Bento and also wore the Taegeuk mark. Subsequently, he became the protagonist of the story of transferring to Guangzhou, China, while generating a transfer fee of about 2 billion won.
Park Ji-soo, who raised his value by taking his step-by-step steps, created another exemplary story through his entry into Portugal. Basically, it is very applauded for a Korean and Asian soccer player to advance to the mainland Europe, but Park Ji-soo’s achievement is even more valuable.