N. Korea shows off Pyongyang school to train elite soccer players

North Korea has shown to Japanese news organizations a school to train elite soccer players newly built in a Pyongyang park in line with the country’s policy of promoting sports.

The Pyongyang International Football School, which opened in May, is equipped with dormitories and provides soccer training as well as basic education to primary and secondary school students, according to students.

A 13-year-old boy from Sinuiju, which borders with China, said he dreams about becoming a national soccer player.

“My goal is to become a soccer player like (Argentina’s Diego) Maradona,” he told Japanese reporters who visited the park in late June. The boy said he does not know any Japanese soccer player.

The North Korea’s Central News Agency reported in early June that the country’s leader Kim Jong Un has visited the school and instructed officials to “bring up more promising reserve footballers.”

The school is built on an area of 12,200 square meters and has an enrollment of nearly 90 at present, the agency said, adding that foreign coaches will be invited to teach the students and its students will be sent abroad for training in the future.

The North Korean men’s soccer team is 112th in the world rankings published by soccer governing body FIFA.

==Kyodo

Copyright 2013 Kyodo News International.