Son Min-chol (; born 27 October 1986) is a former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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 borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

at the youth level internationally.

Career

Japan

He played for

F.C. Ryūkyū is a Japanese professional football club based in Okinawa. The club plays in the J3 League, Japanese third tier of professional football. The team's home stadium is Okinawa Athletic Park Stadium, in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The team derive ...

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 100 Year Plan club sta ...

, 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 and sixth tier of the Japanese association football league system below the nationwide Japan Football League. Overview ...

side

FC Korea is a Japanese football club playing in the Tokyo League Division 2, the eighth tier of Japanese football. History The club was founded in 1961 as ''Zainichi Chosen Football Club''. Initially it maintained links with Chongryon, the pro-North Kore ...

India

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

I-League The I-League is the men's second professional football division of the Indian football league system behind the Indian Super League. Administered by the All India Football Federation, it is currently contested by 13 clubs. It operates as a s ...

side Shillong Laong. On 6 October he made his

debut against

Mohun Bagan Mohun Bagan Super Giant, commonly referred to as Mohun Bagan, is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, it is one of the oldest football clubs in Asia. The club competes in the Indian Super League, ...

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

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

, 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 Football Association of Hong Kong, China. It is currently sponsored by BOC Life and officially known as BOC Life Hong Kong Premier League (). The inau ...

club

Lee Man Lee Man Football Club () is a Hong Kong professional football club based in Tseung Kwan O, which currently competes in the Hong Kong Premier League. Lee & Man Chemical Limited is the major sponsor of the club. The club won their first league ti ...

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 university, private research university in Seoul, South Korea. Established in 1905 by Yi Yong-ik, Lee Yong-Ik, a prominent official of the Korean Empire, Korea University is among South Korea's oldest List of ...

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 21st-century South Korean sportsmen