Seoul, May 26:

When Park Ji-sung was at school he used to sleep with a soccer ball. His father would trawl frog farms each fall to make a medicine thought to boost young boys’ growth.

Now, the South Korea midfielder towers over soccer in his homeland, carrying the dreams of a nation on his shoulders ahead of his second World Cup.

The 25-year-old Park has already made 58 international appearances in seven years. He played in all of South Korea’s seven games at the 2002 World Cup as the co-hosts surprisingly advanced to the semi-finals.

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson was so impressed with Park’s fitness and ability to weave in from the left wing that he signed him last July — making him the first South Korean to play in the English Premier League.

Park has come a long way since his early days at PSV Eindhoven, where he transferred after the World Cup, and expects to showcase his newly honed skills in Germany. “When I was in the Netherlands, I was ignored by fans and humiliated, and people forgot I existed,” Park told a South Korean newspaper last month. “I think I’ve become more accurate, and calm. I’m less excited in front of the ball. And I have more confidence on the field.” With South Korea earning eight wins and three losses in 14 games under coach Dick Adovcaat, confidence in the team has surged and Park has become the epicenter of the nation’s soccer hopes.

Dubbed “50 percent of the World Cup team” by local media, Park said the pressure doesn’t get to him. “I don’t think about it, I just try and concentrate on training,” he said.

Park said the squad is better-equipped now than it was in 2002, with five Europe-based players and 10 veterans from the last tournament, but that it lacks cohesion. Before the last tournament, the players were subject to a military style training regime from March.

“In 2002, we were more systematic, but we still have a few days left to train so I think we have enough time to improve our team. We have more experienced players now,” Park said.

Park scored the winner against Portugal last time and contributed to South Korea’s penalty shootout win over Spain. He scored twice in warmup matches against England and France the same year.

Former South Korea coach Guus Hiddink took Park to PSV in December 2002 along with teammate Lee Young-pyo. After a disappointing first season, Park won over skeptical fans and later scored in the Champions League semi-finals against AC Milan in 2005. The Dutch side went on to collect the league and cup double.

Never a particularly prolific goal-scorer, Park has only found the back of the net once since the last World Cup for a total of five international goals. He has scored twice for Manchester United, including one against Arsenal. He also scored 13 in 76 appearances for Japan league team Kyoto from 2000-02 and 13 in 64 showings for PSV.

What he does bring to his team is experience, speed and dogged perseverance. Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has admired Park’s pace and Ferguson has given him increasing play in a variety of midfield roles. Nonetheless, his lack of confidence in front of the goal and tendency to pass to teammates Wayne Rooney, Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Louis Saha rather than take the initiative has some critics claiming he’s not up to Premier League class.