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.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Park Tae-soo[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 1 December 1989 | ||
| 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 |
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
| 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 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 2 | 0 | ||||
| 2013 | Daejeon Citizen | 14 | 0 | – | – | 14 | 0 | |||
| 2014 | Chungju Hummel | K-League 2 | 25 | 1 | – | – | 25 | 1 | ||
| 2015 | FC Anyang | 22 | 0 | – | – | 22 | 0 | |||
| 2016 | Gyeongju KHNP | K3 League | 10 | 0 | – | – | 10 | 0 | ||
| 2017 | Hwaseong FC | – | – | |||||||
| 2018 | – | – | ||||||||
| 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
References
External links
- Park Tae-soo – K League stats at kleague.com (in Korean)
- Park Tae-soo at Soccerway
