Park Eun-sun (38), one of South Korea’s most prominent women’s soccer strikers, is leaving the field.
Yoo Young-sil, head coach of the Seoul Women’s Unemployment Football Association, announced Park’s retirement on Wednesday at the WK League’s opening media day at the Jongno Football Hall in Jongno-gu, Seoul.
Born in 1986, Park Eun-sun was once an iconic player who represented South Korea’s women’s 카지노사이트 soccer team.
The 5-foot-9, 182-centimeter striker earned her first cap at the 2003 Women’s World Cup in the United States at the age of 16 years and nine months while still in high school. Until Casey Eugene Fair (Angel City) made her debut at the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia-New Zealand last year at the age of 16 years, 1 month, Park held the record for the youngest Korean woman to play in a World Cup.
A frontline striker, Park was touted as the player to lead South Korea’s women’s soccer team.
At the same time, she had her ups and downs, being called the “Pungwoon” of the field. There was a lot of controversy, including human rights violations and sexual harassment from people in the soccer industry.
Six out of seven teams demanded a gender test for Park Eun-sun, who played in the WK League for women’s soccer. The controversy escalated when it was revealed that they demanded a boycott of the 2014 season if the test was not accepted.
After traveling to Russia, Park returned to Korea in 2015. She played in the 2015 World Cup in Canada, where she helped South Korea reach the round of 16 for the first time in women’s soccer history.
She was out of the national team for a while, but was given another chance under Colin Bell.
She returned to the national team in July 2022 and played at the Women’s World Cup in Australia-New Zealand last year.
At the end of her long journey, Park has 20 goals in 48 A-match appearances.
