Sun: Park's top Asian player; no comparison with S.Koreans
By Fang Xuan (Chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2005-07-08 12:06

Manchester City's Chinese defender Sun Jihai rates South Korean Park Ji-sung as top Asian player, but also tells fellow Chinese players to hold confidence.

"He's undoubtedly among the top Asian players, but Chinese players should not therefore belittle themselves." Thursday's Sports Weekly quoted Sun as saying, "there's no comparison between Chinese and S.Korean players. They are in two different environments"

"I know he's a S.Korean, but don't mention to me China's 20-year-long losing record against S.Korea", Sun said. "There's no need that we beat them. What the Chinese need to conquer are themselves."

"A Vietnamese table tennis player, whatever technical level he is able to reach, could not be a world class player." Sun adopted an analogy to make his point clear, " If Chinese players could grow in conditions the S.Koreans have, they can do equally well."

When talking about the probable confront with Park in Premiership games, Sun said he's "very confident".

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