Ri Myong-guk (born 9 September 1986 in

Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populatio ...

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

)Ri Myong-guk
at soccerway.com. Retrieved on 7 December 2015. is a

international International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

. He currently plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for Pyongyang City in the

DPR Korea League The DPR Korea Football League (Chosŏn'gŭl: 조선민주주의인민공화국 축구 리그) is North Korea's association football league. It has a first division DPR Korea Premier Football League, a second division DPR Korea Football League 2, ...

. He played 15 matches in 2010 World Cup qualifying for

Korea DPR North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

, including keeping a clean sheet in the decisive final group game against

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. After the match, he stated "''I felt like I was defending the gateway to my motherland''". His performances also saw him nominated for the 2009

Asian Footballer of the Year The Asian Footballer of the Year is an annual prize awarded to the best Asian player in a calendar year, organized by International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) and Asian Football Confederation (AFC). History The origin of ...

award. Ri was Korea DPR's first choice in goal in FIFA World Cup 2010. He played all Korea DPR's three World Cup matches including 7–0 loss to Portugal. He played more than 100 official matches for his national team since his debut in 2007, making him the most capped player in the history of

. He was named the DPRK's best male footballer for three years running, in 2014, 2015, and 2016. Both his father and uncle were goalkeepers for the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exam ...

References

External links

*
Ri Myong-guk
at Asian Games Incheon 2014
Ri Myong-guk
at DPRKFootball 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from Pyongyang North Korean footballers Association football goalkeepers North Korea international footballers 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2011 AFC Asian Cup players Footballers at the 2014 Asian Games 2015 AFC Asian Cup players 2019 AFC Asian Cup players Asian Games medalists in football Asian Games silver medalists for North Korea Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games FIFA Century Club {{NorthKorea-footy-bio-stub

See also

References

External links