U.S. sports network ESPN has named midfielder Park Ji-sung as the best player of the World Cup's group phase.

In a peformance evaluation of 736 players in the first round, Park received the highest score of 8.4, ahead of second-place finisher Agustin Delgado of Ecuador.

Park has emerged as the most internationally recognized player in his country's 100 years of soccer history. Though South Korea failed to make the second round, he led his country's attack.

Teammate and forward Lee Chun-soo and goalie Lee Woon-jae tied for seventh with 8.1 points, followed by veteran striker Ahn Jung-hwan who tied for 16th with eight points.

Defender Lee Young-pyo and midfielder Kim Nam-il were also among the top 100 players on the ESPN list.