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Tumen Update May 2002 Issue 5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Game of Their Lives With the Word Cup kicking off in Japan and Korea in May, it is time
to recount the story of the greatest sensation in world cup history: the defeat
in 1966 of Italy -the world's most illustrious football team -by DPRK, the first
Asian team ever to qualify for the World Cup finals. In October last year Daniel
Gordon, Director of Very Much So Productions, and Nick Bonner, a Beijing-based
bringing people together will premiere at the beginning of the World Cup this
year. By
Nicholas Bonner Founder, Koryo Tours, and Associate Producer, VeryMuchSo
Productions The DPRK team arrived in Middles borough, England, as the underdogs
of the World Cup finals. Short in stature, inexperienced and timid before the
public they were "so little known they might be flying in from outer
space" according to a BBC announcer. Nothing was expected of them, but on
19 July they defeated the mighty Italians and a legend was born. Humiliated, the
Italian team took the first plane home and into a hail of rotten tomatoes from
angry supporters at Genoa airport. To qualify, the Korean team had beaten Australia 9-2 in a match
that had to be played on neutral soil since the two countries did not have
diplomatic relations. King Sihanouk of Cambodia offered the venue and divided
the Phnom Penh stadium in half, giving each team the boisterous backing of 30000
Cambodians. While the Asian players were little known, the residents of the
northern industrial town of Middlesbrough, whose own local team also played in
red, took them to their hearts. Chants of "Korea, Korea" were heard
throughout their games. When Pak Sung Jin equalized three minutes from the end
of their second game, against Chile, the roars and stamps of feet were so great
that a light in the press box crashed to the floor. Such was the support of the locals for their new-found heroes that
after the defeat of Italy over 3000 Middlesbrough fans traveled across the
country to Liverpool for DPRK's next game, the quarter final against Portugal.
Again, the crowd was solidly behind the Koreans, remarkable considering that
just thirteen this day, the Korean player find it incredible that they were
treated with such affection center half Rim Jung Son commented that before they
arrived, they were not sure how the people of Britain would treat them. "We
thought we would be shunned. But the Mayor of Middlesbrough and all the people
went out of their way to make us feel at home", he told us. Before the World Cup, the Korean team members had trained for two
years with military discipline. They had been told by the Great Leader, Kim II
Sung, to play Chollima football, fast and strong as the Korean mythical horse.
After Pak Do lk scored the only goal in the match against ltaly, the ltalians
desperately attempted to make a comeback, committing 'professional 'fouls every
three minutes. "We did't even know what a professional foul was, but we
just played on," Pak Do lk told us when we visited his home in Pyongyang.
Their perseverance broke the morale of the Italian players. Many Korean recall staying up all night glued to their radios; the
time difference meant they heard the broadcast at around four o'clock in the
morning. A worker we interviewed on the street in Pyongyang remembers breaking
down in tears when the announcer said "Korea can you hear us: Korea has
won!" Three decades later the excitement of that game lingers on. We
delivered a letter to the Korean team from retired Italian player Rivera who
expressed his hope that the two sides could meet again in a World Cup to see
"if the ltalians have managed to close the gap". The white-haired
Koreans also hope that their country can again meet the challenge. The game against Portugal was equally dramatic. Whiel the Koreans
took the lead int eh first 24 minutes with three goals, the formidable
Portuguese, with their star player Eusebio, made a victorious comeback. For years after the Korean team left England, rum ours circulated
that they had been punished for the defeat. The players, however, told us that
they returned home as heroes. While four members of the 1966 team have passed
away, the other seven remain involved with football. They took us to watch local
games around Pyongyang where fans still seek their autographs When asked if he wished Eusebio had never played in that match,
Yang Sung Guk replied: "I do not regret one moment of that match. I would
not change a thing. On the pitch we were enemies. But after the game finished we
were all friends. I would like to pass on my best wishes to the ltalians and the
Portuguese players, of whom I have only good memories". ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
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