Monday Times (Maldives)

March 18th 2002

Whatever happened to the Korean heroes of 1966?

They arrived in England as unknown representatives of a shadowy communist regime, one which Britain, America and the United Nations had been fighting against just 13 years before. They left as the darlings of every neutral football fan after beating mighty Italy and becoming the first, and still the only Asian side to reach the World Cup quarter-finals.

But since 1966, when Sir Alf Ramsey’s England side emerged victorious, nothing had been heard of Pak Do Ik and his North Korean team-mates except dark rumours of imprisonment, the alleged punishment for not winning or for drunken debauchery.

Nothing, that is, until a British film crew, the first Western media allowed into the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, found the coach and seven of the team which humbled Italy, alive and well. The resulting documentary ‘The Game Of Their Lives’, is a reminder of the power of sport to unite. Which is ironic when, in fewer than three months, North Korea, accused by President Bush of being part of an ‘axis of evil’, will only be spectators of the first Asian World Cup, jointly hosted by its enemy south of the 38th Parallel.

The North Koreans’ progress to the 1966 finals had been like a military operation. In 1965, the squad moved to a barracks for training and booked their finals place in November by beating Australia 6-1 and 3-1. The Koreans lost their opening game 3-0 to the Soviet Union team. A late equaliser earned a 1-1 draw with Chile, but noone expected the match against Italy to end in anything other than defeat. Especially not the Italians, who made seven changes. Pak Do Ik scored the only goal and keeper Ri Chan Myong kept the Italians at bay.