"Three-Lunged Park" coming on leaps and bounds

By Peter Rutherford

SEOUL (Reuters) - For a boy who used to drink frog juice to help him grow, Park Ji-sung has come a long way.

The shaggy-haired South Korean, once judged too frail to make the grade at college level, has muscled his way into the mix at Manchester United and punches above his weight in England's ultra-competitive Premier League.

While his father was so worried about his lack of size he made him drink boiled frog extract, Park's high school coach was never in doubt the scrawny youngster had the desire and attitude to make an impact at the highest level.

Lee Hak-jong, who still coaches at Suwon Technical High School on the outskirts of Seoul, remembers Park as a quiet boy with outstanding work ethic and discipline.

"I didn't push Park Ji-sung too hard with the tough, physical exercises because I was worried if he wasted too much physical energy he wouldn't grow," Lee told Reuters.

"He wasn't big enough to compete with the other players but had tremendous endurance. So I let him learn more about the basic skills, controlling the ball etc."

Park, who now has a street named after him in Suwon, was not the most skilful player in the side, but his was the first name down on Lee's team sheet thanks to his dynamism and drive.

Those same qualities have earned him nicknames such as "The Oxygen Tank" and "Three-Lunged Park" in Korea and Europe.