Bright Stars Martin & Pal speak out about South Korean league experiences
Both Martin Pal features for the U-21 South Sudan national team. They are playing in the South Korean Yangju National Football Team in the K3 League.
South Sudan football is still in its infancy. It has been less than 10 years since it officially formed a national team and played. The young nation has not even entered the finals of major international competitions such as the World Cup, the Olympics and the African Cup of Nations. In the nation’s cups, the Bright Stars have only managed to qualify to the qualifications group stage.
However, there are dreams of growing into the future of South Sudan football from the K3 league, which is a Korean semi-professional football league.
Martin Dominic Martin Hassen, 20 and Pal Paul Puck Koon, 19 are the beneficiaries of Coach Lim Heung-Se’s youth development project where he takes two players to South Korea every year, to train and participate in the Korean leagues.
“It is my dream to advance to the first division of the K-League and lead my country to the World Cup.” Said the 20-year-old playmaker.
Coach Lim Heung-se, who has been in charge of the South African youth soccer team since 2007, came to South Sudan in 2014 to take the lead in the world’s youngest nation to help develop grassroots football.
Martin is one of the hundred prospects Lim founded and he was among the Young star academy Lim is helping to raise it higher in Juba, South Sudan.
“Thanks to coach Lim Heung-se, I learned football and now I can play in the semi-professional level in Korea,” Martin said. “With that bond, I was selected for the ‘South Sudan Prospect Project’ in a joint venture with a Korean company and the South Sudan government. Since then, I was able to play in the K4 now K3 league and hopefully K1 soon.”
Martin added with a laughter saying he still keep in touch with coach Lim because the coach always encourages him.
“He would always say; ‘I’m watching you keep working harder and do your best.’” Martin recalls coach Lim’s words.
In September last year, with the help of coach Lim and Scelido Ltd, the Korean company that sponsors the lads, Pal was also able to join the ‘K3 League Basic’ Goyang Citizen Football Team.
As a defender, he was recognized for his potential to be the captain of the South Sudan football U-23 youth national team, and he participated with Martin in the African Nations Cup qualifier last year in Juba and successfully held an adult stage ceremony.
The Bright Starlets knocked out the Uganda Kobs in a popular East African Derby in the U-23 AFCON and 2020 Olympics qualifiers beating the 2 – 1 in Juba overturning a 1 – 0 deficit in Kampala, Uganda in the first leg. They only had Tunisia standing between them and a spot in the now suspended TOKYO 2020 Olympics. Unfortunately, they lost by a goal to nil to Tunisia in Tunis as Tunisia qualified on aggregate after they were held to a 0 -0 draw in Juba in March last year.
After helping him move to the Yangju Citizen FC, the K3 league team this year, Martin referred to Mr. Lim as his “Korean Good Father,” meaning their relationship is not just a relationship between a player and a manager, but rather, a sticky family relationship. That made him fall in love with Korean football.
“The techniques of Korean football is more excellent than I thought and I want to challenge without giving up.” Martin said.
“We’ve been playing in a league that has risen to a higher level since this year, and I feel the difference. We are dealing with a lot of players who were active in the National League and k2, which is the second strongest league in the nation.” He added.
The playmaker has features in many games and scored many goals for his current club as well as Kuyang FC where he started his career. But Martin is getting greedier and greedier for more better performances. And that’s a promising future for South Sudan’s football as coach Lim would exclaim.
“I am played in most games, but as a striker, I only scored two goals, which is a bit unfortunate,” he said. “The current team’s performance is poor at 13th out of 16 teams, but we will try to win all the remaining three games.” Martin said.
His colleague Pal is struggling to cope with the physicality of the Korean football and the demand for team play as compared to in South Sudan where people focus on individual brilliance.
“In my opinion African football focuses on individual play a little like South America, there seems to be a lot of difference in the Korean football as they value more teamwork and power” said Pal.
Their Coach and Manager, Kim Seong-jae, who recently took office as the command tower of the Yangju citizen Football Team recognized the two difference in professional growth in the two players.
“Both players have sincerity and potential, and in particular, Martin will have enough skills to advance to the upper leagues if he is more tempered. Pal, on the other hand, still has a lot to learn.” Director Lim said
“however, he’s tall and that’s an advantage of his quick advance,” Director Kim added with confidence.
The two players have two dreams. Putting the South Sudan flag on the chest and stepping on the World Cup stage and going up to the K1 League, the peak of Korean professional football
Martin, who plays the same position as Lionel Messi,33 says the Barcelona legend is his royal model.
“I will try my best to advance to and get good grades. it’s still like a dream, playing Bukina Faso. I’m going to work harder to help my country qualify for the 2026 World FIFA Cup finals (in Canada–Mexico–United States).” Said martin referring to his international debut for South Sudan against Burkina Faso in the AFCON qualifications describing it as a dream.
As for Pal, the teenager still wants to grow and understand football better before making any promises.
“I want to grow up step by step and stand on the stage of the K1 league someday, whenever difficult moments such as living apart from my family come, I often remember ‘big dreams’. Martin and I lift each other up because we are brothers,” Pal said.
The duo spoke to a Seoul based Yonhap News reporter Lee Sang-seo. Read the South Korean version here.
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