Park Tae-soo

South Korean footballer (born 1989)

Park Tae-soo
Personal information
Full name	Park Tae-soo^[1]
Date of birth	(1989-12-01) 1 December 1989 (age 34)
Place of birth	Incheon, South Korea
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder, centre-back
Team information
Current team	Sabah
Number	6
Youth career
2005–2007	Anyang Technical High School
2008–2010	Hongik University
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2011–2012	Incheon United	3	(0)
2013	Daejeon Hana Citizen	14	(0)
2014	Chungju Hummel	25	(1)
2015	FC Anyang	22	(0)
2016	Gyeongju KHNP	10	(0)
2017–2018	Hwaseong FC	0	(0)
2019–	Sabah	71	(19)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17 December 2023

Korean Name
Hangul	박태수
Hanja	朴太洙
Revised Romanization	Bak Taesu
McCune–Reischauer	Pak T'aesu

Park Tae-soo (Korean: 박태수; Hanja: 朴太洙; born 1 December 1989), also known as 'Karim' or 'Karim Park' and the new Likas Village Chief,^[2] is a South Korean professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or centre-back for Malaysia Super League club Sabah.

He became well known when his free-kick goal against Petaling Jaya City went viral on social media. FIFA, the world football governing body, also shared a clip of the goal on its Twitter page.^[3]

Personal life

Park was born in Incheon and spent his adolescence there. He attended Anyang Middle School and Anyang Technical High School. He later attended Hongik University before starting his football senior career with Incheon United in 2011.

According to his social media account in Instagram, Park was married to a Korean woman in 2014 and has two children.^[4]

The family currently lives in Kota Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia.

Club career

Park, a draftee from the 2011 K-League draft intake, was selected by Incheon United for the 2011 season, and his first appearance for his new club was in a K-League Cup match against Daejeon Citizen, playing nearly the entire second half of the match.^[5] His debut in the K-League was as a late substitute in Incheon's match against Gwangju FC on 22 May 2011.^[6]

Sabah

On 29 January 2019, Park was signed by the Malaysian Premier League club Sabah FA as their sole import defender player.^[7] Park scored an equaliser goal during one of the team's early matches against Terengganu F.C. II before the team sealed victory with two more goals scored by his teammates.^[8] During his career with the team, he has shown excellent defensive work to withstand pressure from opponent teams that resulted in Sabah securing top place in the 2019 Malaysia Premier League, thus qualifying for the 2020 Malaysia Super League.^[9]^[10]

Club career statistics

As of 20 November 2022^[11]^[12]

Club Performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Total
Season	Clubs	League	Apps	Goal	Apps	Goal	Apps	Goal	Apps	Goal
South Korea			League		KFA Cup		League Cup		Total
2011	Incheon United	K-League 1	1	0	–		5	0	6	0
2012	Incheon United		2	0	–		–		2	0
2013	Daejeon Citizen		14	0	–		–		14	0
2014	Chungju Hummel	K-League 2	25	1	–		–		25	1
2015	FC Anyang	K-League 2	22	0	–		–		22	0
2016	Gyeongju KHNP	K3 League	10	0	–		–		10	0
2017	Hwaseong FC				–		–
2018	Hwaseong FC				–		–
Total			74	1	0	0	5	0	79	1
Malaysia			League		FA Cup		Piala Malaysia		Total
2019	Sabah	Malaysia Premier League	17	1	1	0	6	0	24	1
2020		Liga Super Malaysia	10	1	–		0	0	10	1
2021			18	2	–		7	0	25	2
2022			19	8	3	0	3	0	25	8
Total			64	12	4	0	16	0	84	12

Honours

Sabah

Malaysia Premier League: 2019^[13]

References

^ "Sabah FC First Team (senior squad)". sabah-fc.com. Sabah FC. 19 February 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
^ Hafizudin Omar (29 September 2021). "sukanz.com". Pandai Berbahasa Melayu, Park Tae-su turut dipanggil 'Karim' dalam kalangan rakan sepasukan. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
^ #LigaMalaysia2022 [@FIFAcom] (September 28, 2021). "Take a bow, Park Tae-su! There's nothing like a 40-yard rocket hitting the crossbar on its way into the net. Malaysia One for the @SabahFCofficial history books" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 20 July 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2022 – via Twitter.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^ "박태수🇰🇷🇲🇾 on Instagram: "5th wedding anniversary🎉 앞으로도 잘 부탁해 민희야😘"". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2022-07-20.
^ "Incheon United vs. Daejeon Citizen 3 - 0". soccerway.com.
^ "Gwangju FC vs. Incheon United 0 - 1". soccerway.com.
^ "Sabah ikat dua import baharu" [Sabah tie two new imports]. Bernama. Sinar Harian. 29 January 2019. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
^ GL Oh (17 February 2019). "Tambadaus win against Terengganu II". Daily Express. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
^ GL Oh (7 July 2019). "Tambadaus promoted to Super League". Daily Express. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
^ GL Oh (10 July 2019). "Sabah crowned champs". Daily Express. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
^ "Park Tae-Su". Soccerway. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
^ "Park Tae-Su". Goal.com. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
^ "Sabah FA's Malaysia Premier League success three years in making, says Jelius Ating | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 2022-07-20.