Son Min-chol ( ko, 손민철/孫民哲; born 27 October 1986) is a former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

er. Born in Japan, he represented

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 ...

at the youth level internationally.

Career

Japan

He played for F.C. Ryūkyū in the

Japan Football League The also known as simply the JFL is the 4th tier of the Japanese association football league system, positioned beneath the three divisions of the J.League. The league features fully professional teams that hold J.League associate membership am ...

, and later the

Japanese Regional Leagues are a group of parallel association football leagues in Japan that are organized on the regional basis. They form the fifth tier of the Japanese association football league system below the nationwide Japan Football League. Overview Japan is ...

side

FC Korea is a Japanese football club playing in the Kanto Soccer League, one of the Japanese Regional Leagues. History The club was founded in 1961 as ''Zainichi Chosen Football Club''. Initially it maintained links with Chongryon, the pro-North Korea or ...

India

On 9 June it was announced that he had signed a contract with

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the w ...

side Shillong Laong. On 6 October he made his

debut against

Mohun Bagan Mohun Bagan Athletic Club is an Indian professional sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, its football section is one of the oldest in India and Asia. The club is most notable for its victory over East Yorkshire Regiment ...

. On 17 April 2013, his header gave his side a lead against

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, to help his side register a 2–0 win. Minchol was also captain of the Shillong Lajong squad for the 2013–14 season where the club finished at its highest ever standing. In 2015, he moved to another I-League club

Hong Kong

On 4 August 2017, Son was announced as a player for

Hong Kong Premier League The Hong Kong Premier League () is a Hong Kong professional football league organised by the Hong Kong Football Association. It is currently sponsored by BOC Life and officially known as BOC Life Hong Kong Premier League (). The inaugural seaso ...

club Lee Man.

International career

Son was called up to the North Korean squad in June 2014. In 2018, Son received a call-up from the United Koreans in Japan squad ahead of the 2018 ConIFA World Football Cup.

Personal life

Minchol is a North Korean born in Japan. He studied at

Korea University Korea University (KU, ) is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea, established in 1905. The university is included as one of the SKY universities, a popular acronym referring to Korea's three most prestigious universities. The ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Son, Minchol 1986 births Living people North Korean men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in India North Korean expatriate sportspeople in India Shillong Lajong FC players I-League players Expatriate men's footballers in Japan Association football people from Kyoto North Korean expatriates in Japan Expatriate men's footballers in Hong Kong Lee Man FC players Hong Kong Premier League players Zainichi Korean men's footballers Men's association football defenders