North Korea played all three of their group games at Middlesbrough's Ayresome Park ground and when they travelled to Liverpool to take on Portugal, thousands of Teessiders followed.
In 2002, Pak and the other six surviving members of the squad returned to parade around Middlesbrough's new Riverside home ahead of a match against Leeds while Boro's ladies team are planning to tour North Korea in the autumn.
"They came up to Middlesbrough and because of their attitude were embraced by the local population," said Bonner.
Teesiders and North Koreans, that must have been a real culture shock, one the one hand there were people who lived in a socialist fortress where every activity was dictated to by an all powerful state who controlled the entire economy and on the other hand the North Koreans.
4 comments:
I like the concept of 'the other six surviving members', presumably the rest all died in the gulags, or something.
They were sent to the gulags, because the regime blamed their quarter final defeat to them having succumbed to bourgois temptations and been out partying the night before the game.
The book, "The Aquariums of Pyongyang" mentions one of the players being at the same camp as the author.
ammendment?
"...controlled the entire wrecked economy".
Teesiders and North Koreans, that must have been a real culture shock, one the one hand there were people who lived in a socialist fortress where every activity was dictated to by an all powerful state who controlled the entire economy and on the other hand the North Koreans.
:)
Post a Comment