Park Ji-sung: Ronaldo’s amazing form is a natural outcome

Cristiano Ronaldo

still performing “amazingly” for

at this age does not surprise Park Ji-sung. The duo used to be team-mates at the Reds Devil between 2005 and 2009, even contributing to the

victory in 2008.

The Portuguese talisman made a move back to Old Trafford before the summer transfer window ended and the ex-Juventus player has already met the back of the net 12 times in 17 matches, with six coming in five Champions League matches.

If he finds the target in their battle against

, he would achieve a record he has only managed himself previously, in the 2017-18 season with Real Madrid, finding the back of the net in all six group matches in one season.

Many pundits are shocked that the five-time Ballon d’Or winner is still netting goals at the age of 36, but Park always knew that he would have a long astonishing career.

"

It’s not easy and very rare that a player comes back to United after previously spending his prime years at the club, but I thought if that could happen with a player, it could be Ronaldo,"

Park told 

GOAL

.

"What I remember about him was that he always had the ball next to him, even in the locker room, and right before he went onto the pitch.

"On top of that, as is well known, he was the first player to arrive at the training ground, and the last one to leave, which shows his passion for football.

"Also, I saw on many occasions that he was always trying to make himself better and better, putting pressure on himself.

"This season, I saw him play against Tottenham in London. He scored an amazing goal in that game, but I can’t even say it’s his best goal as he keeps scoring great goals – even since he returned to Man United.

"People say his performances are amazing even now at 36 years of age, but, as a team-mate who saw him doing all these things before, I believe that it's just a natural outcome, nothing surprising."

Park recalled his own Champions League memories and he still thinks about what would have happened in the final of 2011, which the Red Devils lost 3-1 to Barcelona, if Sir Alex Ferguson had gone ahead with his ploy to have him man-mark Barcelona’s Lionel Messi.

"

We didn’t go for it in the end because Barca had so many great players at that time, not only Messi,"

the former attacker reveals.

"It’s not easy to speak about something we didn’t actually do and there was only one player whom I really man-marked during a game: Andrea Pirlo. So, I don’t know what would have happened had I done it to another player.

"Messi was the best player in the world at that time. He was unstoppable, so I’m not saying 100 per cent that I could have shut him down.

"It wouldn’t have been easy to mark him but, sometimes, I think about how much I could have done against him..."

Park departed the club in 2012 and he revealed that he would love to see a South Korean follow what he did at Old Trafford, insisting that Tottenham’s Son Heung-min could thrive at 'The Theatre of Dreams'.

"

He has already proved himself in the Premier League and I believe he’s good enough to do very well at United,"

Park added.

"The only minor issue would be he may not get his favourite No.7 shirt as Ronaldo is already there!

"But if I had to pick someone other than Son, I would say either Hwang Hee-chan from Wolves or Mallorca's Lee Kang-in, who both have good potential as players."

"The only minor issue would be he may not get his favourite No.7 shirt as Ronaldo is already there!

"But if I had to pick someone other than Son, I would say either Hwang Hee-chan from Wolves or Mallorca's Lee Kang-in, who both have good potential as players."

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