In 1966 the North Korean football team shocked the world by knocking out Italy.
Using archive footage and interviews with the seven surviving players, this award-winning documentary tells the remarkable and highly entertaining story of the pint-sized giant killers.
Director Interview: Daniel Gordon
BBC Four: How did you become interested in the story?
Daniel Gordon: When I was a kid my dad gave me a copy of Goal - the 1966 video. The North Koreans always impressed me more than the England victory. They were tiny, so just the scale of what they did, beating Italy, who were massive, was amazing. I couldn't work out why.
So there's always been this curiosity and when I got involved in TV and documentaries it became a story that I really wanted to tell. The more people who told me I couldn't do it, that there was no way I'd get into North Korea, or no way I'd get out, the more it became a story begging to be told.
It took four years for [producer] Nick Bonner and myself to get permission and then we went in October 2001.
BBC Four: What was the reaction of the North Koreans to the fact that an Englishman wanted to tell their story?
DG: The Korean authorities were quite curious and pleased that someone wanted to do something fairly neutral about the country. The players were really delighted because they thought they'd been forgotten by the rest of the world. The first thing that one of the players said to us was, "Is the mayor of Middlesbrough still alive?" I knew there was a strong bond but I didn't know it had lasted for that long. They were really pleased that finally someone wanted to tell the story.
BBC Four: Why do you think the people in Middlesbrough really embraced them?
DG: The fact that they were underdogs obviously appeals to the English. Middlesbrough is an underdog itself. Their team had been relegated; they also played in red, so there were a lot of things that made them empathise with the North Koreans.
The Koreans were the only team based in Middlesbrough. It's a very small place and everyone knew where they were staying and where they trained. They trained on the ICI pitch. ICI employed 30,000 people so loads of people would come and watch.
I also think that the way they conducted themselves, as now, is why people warmed to them.
BBC Four: After making the film you brought all the players back to Middlesbrough. How did that come about?
DG: It's a classic case of having too much to drink! We went back out to Korea in May 2002 to show them the film. They have this drink called soju, a rice wine liquor, and it's potent. They do like a drink in Korea. One of the players said how much the film had rekindled his memories of Middlesbrough and said, "Wouldn't it be great if we could go back." Before I even had a chance to think, Nick said, "What a great idea, let's take you back!"
BBC Four: How easy is it for North Koreans to leave the country?
DG: Impossible without the necessary permissions. It was amazing that we got the permissions from the British government and the DPRK government.
We originally thought of just bringing a couple of players across but then we said, "Sod it, let's bring them all." We ended up with all the surviving players, the coach, plus eight more people. It was all a bit mad really.
BBC Four: What was it like for them going back to Middlesbrough?
DG: They absolutely loved their time. We had a sign in the back of our coach saying 'North Korean World Cup Squad Tour 2002' and people were beeping on the motorway. It became a bit of a circus.
We did a live link-up in Middlesbrough to the BBC One O'Clock News. Where Ayresome Park was is now a housing estate, so we did a tour of that. We were swamped - the media, fans. There was six-year-old saying, "Where's Pak Sung-jin. My granddad's told me to get his autograph." It was an absolutely classic moment. It won't happen again!
