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AFC - Korea Republic skipper Park Ji-sung expects to be in peak form for the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011™ as he looks to lead his country to continental glory.

Manchester United’s Park, who will lead the Koreans in a friendly against Iran in Seoul on Tuesday, is focused on winning the Asian title in Doha in January.

“I will join the Asian Cup in mid-season, so I should be in top condition for the tournament,” Park told journalists during training ahead of the Iran match.

“I played in the 2000 and 2004 Asian Cups but we could not do that well,” he added. “The AFC Asian Cup is the most important and biggest competition in Asia and we should do our best to win it.”

Park will be given permission to excuse himself from the Manchester United squad during January so he can play in Doha.

The Koreans are pooled with India, Australia and Bahrain in Group C of the AFC Asian Cup.

At the 2007 tournament, Korea Republic, minus European-based players such as Park, finished third after losing to champions Iraq on penalties in the semi-finals.

The match against Iran is the first meeting between the two teams since their home-and-away qualifiers for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Both matches finished 1-1 with Park scoring the equaliser each time.

“We don’t always perform that well against Iran,” said Park. “We have to find their weak points, as we should do against all teams we play.

“But playing Iran is a good opportunity for us to assess ourselves before the Asian Cup. We can gain a lot of confidence from this match.”
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