Former Manchester United star, Wayne Rooney says former team mate, Park Ji-Sung was 'just as important' as Cristiano Ronaldo to the Red Devils under Sir Alex Ferguson's era.
The South Korean midfielder spent seven seasons with United between 2005 and 2012. Park who joined from PSV won four Premier League titles, three League Cups and the Champions League.
Writing in The Sunday Times, Rooney said: 'It's crazy but if you mentioned Cristiano Ronaldo to a 12-year-old, they would immediately say, "Yeah, he was a brilliant player for Manchester United", but if you said 'Park Ji-Sung' they may not know who he was.
'Yet all of us who played with Park know he was almost as important to our success. That's because of what Park gave to the collective and I want to talk about teams. They - not stars - are the most important thing in sport.'
Recollect that Park joined the Old Trafford outfit for £4million from PSV Eindhoven in 2005
Rooney says Park and fellow midfielder Darren Fletcher were 'vital' to United's subsequent success both in the Premier League and Europe
'Players like me, Ronaldo, Tevez got the headlines but they were as important as us if not more, because of what they did for the team,' Rooney said.
'We knew that inside the dressing room - and also that because they were so good at sacrificing themselves, their actual individual quality was often overlooked.'
Rooney recalls United's last-16 encounter with AC Milan in 2010 as an example, with Park's dogged man marking of dangerman Pirlo a key reason why they won the tie 7-2 on aggregate.
'I remember Fergie's team talk before playing AC Milan. He literally said to Park: "Your job today is not about touching the ball, it's not about making passes, your job is Pirlo. That's all: Pirlo,"' Rooney said.
'I think Pirlo barely had 40 passes in that game, and 95 per cent were backwards because Park was so unbelievable at carrying out his orders.'
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