South Korean soccer players Park Ji-sung and Cha Du-ri have been ruled out for about a month with injuries, their respective European clubs said Tuesday.
Park, a midfielder for Manchester United in the English Premier League, will miss about four weeks of action with a hamstring injury, the team announced on its website.
Celtic’s Cha Du-ri
“We got a blow on Saturday morning with the news that Park Ji-sung did his hamstring on Friday afternoon in training,” Man United manager Alex Ferguson said on the website. “It was very unfortunate because it was his last kick of the ball in training as well. We were really looking forward to having him back after being away for a month at the Asian Cup (in January in Qatar). He’ll be out for up to a month, which is a blow to us.”
Cha, a defender for Celtic FC in the Scottish Premier League, will also miss about a month. Celtic said on its Web site that Cha sustained an ankle injury while training after the Asian Cup.
Earlier, Celtic had feared Cha would be lost for the rest of the season, but after receiving a further opinion on his conditions, the club said he will be back in action next month.
Both Park and Cha represented Korea at the Asian Cup, where the country finished in third place. Afterward, Park announced his retirement from international play.
(Yonhap News)