Int′l rookie defender wanting to pick brains of veteran teammates

▲ Park Min-gyu, defender for the South Korean men's national football team, speaks to reporters before a training session at the National Football Center in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on March 21, 2022, in preparation for Asian World Cup qualifying matches. (Yonhap)
▲ Park Min-gyu, defender for the South Korean men's national football team, walks toward a podium for a media scrum before a training session at the National Football Center in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on March 21, 2022, in preparation for Asian World Cup qualifying matches. (Yonhap)

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Int'l rookie defender wanting to pick brains of veteran teammates

PAJU, South Korea, March 21 (Yonhap) -- Selected to the senior national football team for the first time, South Korean defender Park Min-gyu wants to prove he belongs in the team's long-term picture.

And to do that, Park, 26, hopes he can pick the brains of more experienced teammates.

Park reported to South Korea's training camp at the National Football Center (NFC) in Paju, north of Seoul in Gyeonggi Province, on Monday, a week after being chosen as one of nine defenders by head coach Paulo Bento. With a World Cup ticket already secured, South Korea will host Iran on Thursday and face the United Arab Emirates in Dubai on March 29 to close out the Asian qualifying round.

Bento had said last week Park is a technically sound player with "good defensive principles." Park himself said Monday he wants to make the coach look smart for picking him.

"If I have an opportunity to play, I want to show people I deserved to be selected," Park said. "I want fans to see me and say, 'That's a really good defender.'"

Park said he has closely followed fellow left fullback Kim Jin-su, who has accumulated 53 caps and will likely get the starting nod this month.

"Jin-su is a smart player, and I want to learn every little thing from him," Park said. "I also want to see how other veterans rest and what they eat to get ready for matches."

Park has previously played for the under-20 national team, and he has a few familiar faces on the current senior squad, including Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Hwang Hee-chan.

As for the rest of the team, Park admitted he is a bit starstruck.

"I haven't seen Son Heung-min in person yet, and I'd love to meet him soon," Park said of the Tottenham Hotspur star and national team captain. Son will report to the NFC Tuesday after playing in a Premier League match on Sunday in London.

"Until I arrived at the NFC today, I still had to pinch myself that I was going to be on the national team," Park added. "Now that I've seen a few players that I'd only watched on TV, it has finally hit me."

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