Did Park Ji-sung receive a "murderous tackle" during the exhibition match? All parties involved laughed, saying, "There was absolutely no problem."

*This content was translated by AI.

The controversy over Lee Byung-geun (52) of the Suwon Samsung Legends making a tackle on Park Ji-sung (45) turned out to be a harmless incident. Contrary to fans' concerns, the individuals involved showed mutual consideration and resolved the situation with laughter.

According to a video released on the 21st by the YouTube channel Shoot For Love, Rio Ferdinand, who witnessed Lee Byung-geun's tackle aimed at Park Ji-sung, approached Park after the match and asked, "Why did you make such a tackle on him?" expressing his concern. Ferdinand then added, "I later learned he is truly a good person. (Lee Byung-geun) even came to apologize later," and calmly reflected on the situation, saying, "But everything is fine. This is football, and this is life."

The actual match footage also revealed Lee Byung-geun's consideration. Immediately after attempting the tackle, Lee judged that his timing was late and slowed down. As a result of pulling back to avoid colliding with Park Ji-sung, Lee's own back and the back of his head ended up hitting the ground.

In the mixed zone after the match, Lee Byung-geun said with a smile, "Didn't you notice I intentionally entered late? When Ji-sung grabbed me, I thought I needed to break the flow, so my body went out, but I knew he had undergone surgery, so I entered at a slow tempo to protect him."

Lee Byung-geun continued, "It was a somewhat playful tackle," but added, "I'm grateful that Ji-sung generously embraced me right after the incident."

Park Ji-sung also understood the intention of "Byung-geun-hyung." Park said, "From my perspective, I immediately realized there was no intention to hurt anyone. It seems he tried the tackle as a joke," and then laughed, adding, "Since Byung-geun-hyung also apologized with a smile, there was absolutely no problem."

Meanwhile, the biggest concern of the day was Park Ji-sung's knee condition. Park stated, "Patrice Evra kept persuading me to keep running even after the cameras were turned off, which led me to decide to return. My condition was so poor that it would have hindered me from playing with the children, so I decided on surgery and treatment. If my recovery had been just a bit faster, I could have shown a better performance, which is a pity," and added, "Immediately after the match, my knee condition was not overly strained. I expect my knee will be fine in the future."

This matchup concluded with a 1-0 victory for the Suwon Samsung Legends, with 38,027 spectators in attendance. Despite being an exhibition match, the players displayed concentration comparable to their active playing days.

Dimitar Berbatov of OGFC remarked after the match, "Compared to other exhibition matches, this was truly a high-level game," while San Toss, the Suwon Legend who scored the winning goal, said, "I was surprised to feel more passion than in the past in the eyes of the opposing players."

<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>

*This content was translated by AI.