On This Day – 19th July
One of the greatest shocks in World Cup history took place on this day back in 1966, with the name of Pak Doo-ik going down in football folklore in the process.
Pa Doo-ik fired in a 42nd minute winner for North Korea over one of the pre-tournament favourites Italy, to send the Koreans through to the Quarter Finals at the expense of their Italian opponents.
The town of Middlesbrough took North Korea on as their adopted team during the 1966 World Cup as the Koreans played all three of their group games at Ayresome Park. The other venue to be used in Group 4 was Sunderland’s Roker Park.
The ground was given a bit of a makeover for the tournament, with extra seating put into the East terrace, taking the capacity down to 42,000.
Their first game against the Soviet Union ended in a 3-0 defeat in front of 23,006 fans. This was to be the highest crowd that North Korea wold play in front of in Middlesbrough.
Chile were up next and this fixture drew the lowest crowd of the tournament, as 13,792 clicked through the Ayresome Park turnstiles.
The South Americans lead for most of the match courtesy of a 26th minute penalty from Ruben Marcos. Pak Seung-zin scored with two minutes remaining to keep the Koreans in the tournament, but only just.
A defeat to the Soviet Union the day after the Chile vs North Korea match meant that Italy had two points and sat in second place. The Soviets had already qualified having won both of their matches and Chile and North Korea were level on one point. Nothing but a win for the Koreans would do. This was considered a near-impossible task and everyone wrote the World Cup debutants off.
Pak Doo-ik’s 42nd minute winner took the North Korean side through to the Quarter Finals where they faced another country making their first appearance in a World Cup.
That team was Portugal and they had Eusebio, one of the greatest players in the world in their ranks. The world watched on, fully expecting Eusebio to tear the Koreans apart at Goodison Park, home of Everton.
Incredidbly, North Korea raced into a three-goal lead midway through the first half. But it was Eusebio who would have the last laugh, single-handedly taking the Koreans apart by scoring four goals before Jose Augusto added a fifth for Portugal with ten minutes to go.
North Korea wouldn’t reach another World Cup until 2010 but their run in the 1966 World Cup against all the odds lives long in the memory.
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