Athletistic / Football. Alexey Vezerov, long-time translator for Wings of the Soviets, spoke about his collaboration with North Korean footballer Choi Min Ho. Vezerov has worked at the Samara club for more than 23 years.

“I didn’t communicate with Min Ho at all, because he had his own translator and at the same time a secret agent. At that time, they simply couldn’t do it any other way. We spoke with his translator, but he didn’t let anyone near the footballer. This translator even received a salary for a football player! I think he didn’t give him all the money, because North Korea has an interesting system: if they work abroad, they are obliged to give a certain amount to the state. It seems to me that the translator has not forgotten himself either.

A little later, a South Korean player appeared in “Wings”. He is also with his translator, but he is forbidden from communicating with Choi Min Ho. Even in the dining room, they were seated in different corners. I remember how the North Korean and the translator locked themselves in the theory room and he spent two hours telling him something. And so on every day! When Choi Min Ho scored the goal, he was called to the embassy and given a party card,” Vezerov was quoted as saying by “Championship”.

In 2006, Choi Min Ho, at the age of 18, moved to Krylia Sovetov. On June 27, 2007, he made his debut for the main team of Krylia in the 1/16 match of the Russian Cup with KAMAZ. On May 2, 2008, he made his debut in the Russian Championship in the 8th round match with Amkar, which ended in a victory for the Samara team with a score of 2:0. After Tsoi entered the field in the final minutes of the match, soccer players from North and South Korea (Oh Beom Seok) played simultaneously for the Wings. As a result, these two matches of the main team of the “Wings” were the only ones left for Tsoi. He played 39 matches for Samara’s reserve team and scored 7 goals.


@sportru