Park, Park, he's playing in Gyeonggi: Manchester United OGs lose to Bluewings icons in exhibition
![Park Ji-sung comes on in a match between Only Glory FC and the Suwon Samsung Bluewings at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, Gyeonggi, on April 19. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/04/20/526ccc00-cf86-4261-828f-3fe5afca851a.jpg)
Park Ji-sung comes on in a match between Only Glory FC and the Suwon Samsung Bluewings at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, Gyeonggi, on April 19. [YONHAP]
Park Ji-sung, Patrice Evra, Rio Ferdinand and Ryan Giggs walk onto a pitch in Suwon, Gyeonggi.
No, it's not the start of a joke, but the start of an exhibition match held in front of 38,000 fans at Suwon World Cup Stadium on Sunday.
A stacked Manchester United squad took the field in red, but not the familiar shade with a dancing devil emblazoned on the chest. This time, it was the red of the Only Glory Football Club (OGFC), a special team put together by the YouTube channel and football content company Shoot For Love, taking on Suwon Samsung Bluewings legends, with Dimitar Berbatov leading the attack while Nemanja Vidic joined Ferdinand posted up in front of Edwin van der Sar.
Park, who has battled a knee injury for years, was joined on the bench by Louis Saha, John O'Shea and manager Eric Cantona.
The OGFC project aims to achieve a 73 percent win rate as they take on different legends teams around the world. The percentage was chosen as it was the win rate achieved by United during the 2006-07 season, when the side had the likes of Park, along with Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gary Neville, who didn't make the flight over.
Former Suwon stars, including 2002 World Cup netminder Lee Woon-jae, now the Vietnam national team’s goalkeeping coach, Denis Laktionov, more commonly known as Denis to Korean fans, and Mato Neretljak took the field for the K League side.
![From left, Antonio Valencia, Anderson, Ryan Giggs and Park Ji-sung enter the Only Glory FC match against former Suwon Samsung Bluewings players at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, Gyeonggi, on April 19. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/04/20/e778196a-91c3-42fd-a793-9d3e23d41be1.jpg)
From left, Antonio Valencia, Anderson, Ryan Giggs and Park Ji-sung enter the Only Glory FC match against former Suwon Samsung Bluewings players at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, Gyeonggi, on April 19. [YONHAP]
![Park Ji-sung, left, hugs goalkeeper Lee Woon-jae during a game between Only Glory FC and the Suwon Samsung Bluewings at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, Gyeonggi on April 19. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/04/20/a90f8f58-ad30-4660-ada0-65dfde3df4c9.jpg)
Park Ji-sung, left, hugs goalkeeper Lee Woon-jae during a game between Only Glory FC and the Suwon Samsung Bluewings at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, Gyeonggi on April 19. [YONHAP]
Suwon went ahead in the seventh minute when Santos collected a pass from Denis and beat van der Sar for the opening goal.
Lee then produced a series of saves, while right backs Rafael and Song Chong-gug, who played every single minute of Korea's run to the semifinals in 2002, were involved in a physical clash in the second half.
![Ryan Giggs, left, and Park Ji-sung stand before the start of the Only Glory FC match against former Suwon Samsung Bluewings players at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, Gyeonggi, on April 19. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/04/20/1cfba871-0630-477a-b42b-77820cdb1e4d.jpg)
Ryan Giggs, left, and Park Ji-sung stand before the start of the Only Glory FC match against former Suwon Samsung Bluewings players at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, Gyeonggi, on April 19. [YONHAP]
Park came on as a substitute in the 83rd minute as Evra said he wanted to receive a pass from his close friend before dying.
The fans greeted Park with loud applause as he put on a trademark performance, running into gaps and refusing to give up on plays.
Despite his best efforts, the match finished 1-0 to Suwon.
![Park Ji-sung, right, gets tackled by Lee Byung-keun during a match between Only Glory FC and the Suwon Samsung Bluewings at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, Gyeonggi, on April 19. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/04/20/b9c0a580-0853-45ad-ba0e-c45a0b6c7928.jpg)
Park Ji-sung, right, gets tackled by Lee Byung-keun during a match between Only Glory FC and the Suwon Samsung Bluewings at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, Gyeonggi, on April 19. [NEWS1]
![Dimitar Berbatov shoots during a match between Only Glory FC and Suwon Samsung Bluewings legends at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, Gyeonggi, on April 19. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/04/20/77d4b48e-8c84-4ccd-8280-081d1b2ab389.jpg)
Dimitar Berbatov shoots during a match between Only Glory FC and Suwon Samsung Bluewings legends at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, Gyeonggi, on April 19. [YONHAP]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY PARK LIN [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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