West Asian clubs have often been in the news for offering a lifeline to many out-of-work players and managers based in England, Europe and even Asia. Saudi Arabian club Al Shabab was the most recent to jump on the bandwagon when they signed South Korea's former Arsenal striker Park Chu-Young on a one-year contract.
Park's move to Al Shabab has been of interest in South Korea and East Asia. New South Korea national team manager Uli Stielike left the former Arsenal striker out of his first squad for the friendlies against Paraguay and Venezuela this weekend. According to Stielike, the reason for leaving out the World Cup striker was that he had been out of a club since leaving the Premier League giants in June. It must be recalled that Park, though registered with Arsenal, had been on loan at English League Championship side Watford since January.
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Park's poor World Cup display coupled with a miserable Korean team effort in Brazil would probably not have helped his chances of being named in Stielike's squad. He was substituted early in the draw with Russia and the loss to Algeria as Korea exited the group stage with a solitary point.
With Al Shabab -- winners of the Saudi Professional League in 2011-12 -- very likely to give first-team starts to Park during the remainder of the season which runs till late December, the striker would be keen to attract Stielike's attention with the AFC Asian Cup looming large in January.
For Asia's elite international tournament hosted by Australia, Park will hope to join up with his countrymen who are plying their trades in West Asian leagues. Centre-back Kwak Tae-Hwi has starred for Saudi Arabian club Al Hilal, the AFC Champions League finalist. Midfielder Lee Myeong-Joo scored for United Arab Emirates (UAE) club Al Ain in the second leg of their AFC Champions League semifinal against Al Hilal last month. Nam Tae-Hee and Han Kook-Young play in Qatar for Lekhwiya and Qatar SC respectively. All four have been named in Stielike's first squad.
Park will also hope to lift his new club with his performances. Al Shabab are currently fourth on the league table with 16 points in six matches but are only two points off league leaders, Al Nasr.
The bar of excellence has been raised for Park, the latest high-profile entrant in the West Asian leagues. 2014 AFC Champions League finalist Al Hilal and losing semifinalist Al Ain have lauded the contributions of their high-performing overseas players during their campaigns.
Ghana's national captain and former Sunderland striker Asamoah Gyan scored 12 goals for Al Ain in the premier continental club competition. Al Hilal's creative midfielder Thiago Neves -- who has represented the Brazilian national team -- has been in impressive form during the tournament and the Saudi Professional League.
Kwak's wonderful show at the heart of the Al Hilal defence has also been a contributing factor for the club making the final against Western Sydney Wanderers.
Park would, therefore, hope to lift his standards thereby helping his new club.
The Saudi Professional League could well get another high-profile overseas professional. Al Ittihad have been recently linked to former Celtic manager Neil Lennon, who has been out of a job since leaving the Scottish giants in May. With Lennon also linked to former English Premier League club, Bolton Wanderers -- now struggling in the Championship -- it remains to be seen if he would join Park in West Asia.