North and South Korea united on Russian football pitch
Published 01 April, 2008, 16:50
The re-unification of the two Koreas is now a reality. The Russian Premier League's Krylia Sovietov are the first team in the world to have signed players from both North and South Korea at the same time.
Twenty-three-year-old South Korean international O Bom Sok signed a four-year deal with the team from Samara in January, while 19-year-old North Korean midfielder Tsoi Min Ho has already been with the squad for almost two years.
Although Min Ho rarely makes appearances in the starting line up he has already been called up to his country’s national youth team.
“I’ve been training with the first team since I arrived here a year and a half ago. My goal is to become a regular in the starting line-up, there’s no question about it,” he said.
Tsoi has made a lot of progress while playing in Russia. He is a regular in Krylia Sovietov’s second team.
Head coach Leonid Slutsky considers him as a prime candidate for the first team.
“Tsoi Min Ho put up a great performance at the latest youth world championship. I know that many European scouts have taken notice of him. Unfortunately the rules of the North Korean Olympic Committee are different from those of FIFA and he arrived late at our training camp. But he is a very young player with great potential and I think you’ll see him on the pitch very soon,” he said.
The recent tensions between the two countries seem to have absolutely no effect on the relationship between the two footballers.
“I don’t think about politics. We are football players and friends both on and off the field,” O Bom Sok explained.
Min Ho’s translator stressed that Koreans are one nation sharing the same territory, language and ancestors.
There are quite a few Koreans in Russia but the two footballers rarely get a chance to mingle due to a tough schedule.
So naturally they feel a bit homesick.
“It used to be all work and I missed my family a lot. It’s very difficult without knowing the language. Bom Sok’s arrival has definitely made my stay here a bit easier,” Min Ho said.
“Like Min Ho, I miss my family very much, but the thing that I miss the most is Korean food!” Bom Sok added.
So what attracts Korean players to Russia?
The South Korean international defender O Bom Sok is a regular in his country’s national team. But his desire is to play for a strong club in Europe.
“I gained a lot of experience playing in Asia. I’m also very fond of European football and I’m developing a lot of new skills in Russia,” he said.
Min Ho wants to become a great footballer and knows exactly what he needs to achieve his goal.
“I know that to become a famous player you must learn European training techniques. In order to learn the methodology, I must live and train here,” he said.
Although the two players come from different sides of the border they share a common goal.
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