Park ready for 'aggressive' clash

Ji-Sung Park
12 April 2012

Park Ji-sung does not need to be British to know Manchester United are in a big game on Wednesday, but at least he knows there is no danger of being thrown overboard if they lose.

United head to Ibrox knowing a point against Rangers will be enough to secure a place in the Champions League knockout phase with a game to spare. Ibrox will be packed to the rafters and the atmosphere intense, but Park does not feel it quite matches the games he plays for South Korea against Japan.

"We have a long history with Japan," he said. "When South Korea play against Japan the fans tell us that if we lose they are going to throw the players into the sea. Without doubt, they are the biggest thing for us."

However, Park is acutely aware of the cross-border tensions which surround English meetings with Scotland.

His own experiences involve Celtic, but he knows he should expect something similarly special.

"The atmosphere in the stadium is totally different," he said. "You cannot compare it to a league game or others in the Champions League.

"It's more aggressive on the pitch and the atmosphere in the stadium is really high. There is a lot more media attention as well.

"Nobody has to say anything, it is just a natural feeling that this is a different game.

"And it doesn't only apply to the British players. It is equally special for the foreign ones as well."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in