Courtesy of David Tizzard

There’s a place in Korea where politics doesn’t matter. Where no-one cares about K-pop. North Korea is largely inconsequential. And the economy recedes to the background. All that matters is your teammates. Whether you turn up or not. Do you duck out of challenges or do you remain committed? Can you take being abused when you mess up? Are you comfortable around other people?

When I first arrived in Korea, it was in the wake of the 2002 World Cup. The Dutch master Guus Hiddink had come and transformed the national team by ditching the concepts of seniority and rank that ran through Korean society. Instead, he played those with the talent and fitness, irrespective of age. This, alongside some "lucky" referee decisions, some excellent performances, and the support of the nation, resulted in Korea shocking the world by reaching the semifinals of a tournament they had no right to win.

Far from the World Cup Stadium, however, I was playing on mud pitches by the Han River and Cheongnyangni. I began playing when foreigners weren’t as commonplace as they are today and social media was just the pub. A Scotsman approached me in a bar, said I looked like George Best (really!), and that there was a game tomorrow. “Can you play centre midfield?” The beer said yes, even if I didn’t. A few hours later, I was sat on the back of his motorbike careening through the early morning traffic questioning my life choices and wondering whether the kebab would stay in my stomach or decorate the back of the Scotsman’s leather jacket.

Before we kicked off, people had to run round kicking stones off the pitch and sometimes even pouring flour on the ground to make sure we could see the lines. Having grown up playing in the fields of England and private schools of Australia, it was something else to be clattered into by people stinking of soju every Saturday morning and going home with your knees ripped to shreds by the dirt. A few weeks later our goalkeeper was deported for smoking weed. Our Irish centrehalf rarely turned up, and when he did he hadn’t washed his kit in........

© The Korea Times