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YAHOO! SPORT
'Bald Beckenbauer' relishing Korean challenge
21-04-04
Chris Marsden Football Genius v Ipswich, Mar 02
PUSAN, South Korea (Reuters) - Chris Marsden may lack David Beckham's sex appeal but the 35-year-old has vowed to win over South Korean fans with his brand of sleeves-up, no-nonsense football.
"I'm not bringing my sex appeal," joked the former Southampton midfielder, whose nickname "the bald Beckenbauer" has been lost in translation at his new club Pusan I-cons.
"(I'm) probably (bringing) a healthy dose of reality more than anything else. Everybody thinks back in England everybody's a millionaire, don't they?" Marsden told Reuters in an interview.
"It's only the two or three top percent that are. The rest are just honest, hard-working boys that have been lucky enough to make a career in football."
Marsden, whose list of former clubs reads like an A to Z of the English lower divisions, certainly fits that mould.
He joined Pusan, his ninth club, on a two-year contract in January after five years at Southampton, despite offers from other English clubs and from the United States.
"Southampton said they were going to offer me another contract but don't believe everything you hear in football," shrugged Marsden.
"I could have gone to a couple of the premiership clubs. America really did appeal but we decided to come here and I've got no regrets."
Marsden, who lives in a luxurious beachside apartment in South Korea's second largest city, was lured by the opportunity to be reunited with I-cons manager Ian Porterfield, his first manager, at Sheffield United.
He made a dream start in Korea, scoring the first goal of the 2004 K-League season, after just five minutes in a 1-1 draw at FC Seoul on April 3 in front of a record crowd of 48,000.
"It was a dream. But my mistake led to them scoring as well, so it was a bit double-edged actually."
CHALLENGE
Already, Marsden has brought more solidity to I-cons, who finished ninth in the K-League last year in former Chelsea boss Porterfield's first season in charge. Pusan are unbeaten after three matches in the 2004 campaign.
"I took on hopefully the challenge of helping, in a small part, making the club improve on last year. I think that's what you do every year, no matter where you are," said the effervescent Marsden.
Described by former Southampton manager Gordon Strachan as a "grumpy old man," Marsden said he wants to play until his late 30s and has no immediate plans of switching to coaching.
"I think the day when you stop will be the day when your body says no more. But I can run with the best of them still thankfully, so I've got no qualms on that," he said.
"But if somebody had said four months ago I'd be coming to Korea, I would have thought they were being silly, so you never know what's going to happen, do you?"
For now, he is relishing the challenge at Pusan.
"(Former Stoke City striker) Andy Cooke is here too. We're the first few lads who have come from England," said Marsden.
"If we can show that there's a bit more to English football than the glamour...then I think it will go a long way and obviously help us be appreciated as well.
"I think a lot of English players don't come abroad because they have a problem adjusting their mindset to how people's cultures and countries operate differently.
"It's all about us adapting to the Korean way and not Korea adapting to the British way - and I'm happy with that."
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