Ri Kum-suk

Ri Kum-suk (Korean: 리금숙; Korean pronunciation: [ɾi.ɡɯm.suk] or [ɾi] [kɯm.suk]; born 16 August 1978) is a North Korean footballer who plays for the 4.25 Sports Club. She plays a key role not only for her club, but also for national teams in the AFC Women's Asian Cup, Asian Games and FIFA Women's World Cup.[2] She is the highest goalscorer for North Korea with 40 goals and the most prolific female footballer ever from North Korea with 165 goals.

Ri Kum-suk
Personal information
Date of birth (1978-08-16) August 16, 1978
Place of birth Hamhung, North Korea
Height 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s) Central Forward
Team information
Current team
 4.25 Sports Club
Number 10
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
?–present 4.25 Sports Club 178 (125)
International career‡
1998–2008 North Korea 123[1] (40)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19:37, 3 November 2007 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of November 3, 2007
Ri Kum-suk
Chosŏn'gŭl
리금숙
Hancha
李今淑
Revised RomanizationI Geumsuk
McCune–ReischauerRi Kŭmsuk
In this Korean name, the family name is Ri.

Club career

Ri Kum-suk began her international career at the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup at age 20. She played as a midfielder during three matches, supporting their young and talented striker Jin Pyol-hui.

In 4 years, the PRK Women's National Team qualified for the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup and Ri teamed again with her friend Jin. In a winning match 3-0 over Nigeria she took 5 shots and 2 shots on goal. Even though, her team could not proceed to the quarterfinals, she played very well in last two games against Sweden and United States, with 6 Shots and 1 SOG.

The 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup was her best tournament. The team qualified for the finals by taking 3rd place in 2006 AFC Women's Championship due to referee judgement during the game against China. Her team belonged to Group B with United States, Sweden and Nigeria.

At their first game, against USA, and with the injury of key midfielder Ho Sun-hui at 10 minutes in the first half, they conceded a goal 50 minutes, but scored at 58 and 62 minutes. At 69 minutes the USA scored again. Ri scored in the next game against Nigeria with a head shot and the team played well enough against Sweden to get out of the group stage.

The most game she showed her strike and dribble skill was against China PR in the 15th Doha Asian Games, when the two teams tied after 90 minutes. Ri Kum-suk scored a goal in the 2nd extra time, by striking a powerful shot with her left foot.

Ri pulled a hat-trick sending DPRK into the final of the AFC Women's Asian Cup after they defeated Australia 3–0 at Thong Nat Stadium in the 2007 AFC Women's Asian Cup.[3]

Ri also played for DPRK at the 2008 Summer Olympics.[4]

She is the captain of the national team. Recently she retired to start a coaching career. She married Pak Chung Hyok(student of Kim Hyong Jik University Education[5]), coach of the women's football team of the Jebi Sports Team, in November 2008,[6] and gave birth to a son.

International goals
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.16 December 2001Yunlin County Stadium, New Taipei City, Taiwan Japan1–02–02001 AFC Women's Championship
2.11 October 2002Changwon Stadium, Changwon, South Korea Vietnam3–04–02002 Asian Games
3.10 June 2003Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand Hong Kong2–013–02003 AFC Women's Championship
4.6–0
5.7–0
6.8–0
7.10–0
8.11–0
9.12 June 2003 Thailand4–014–0
10.5–0
11.7–0
12.11–0
13.14 June 2003 Singapore3–016–0
14.19 June 2003 Japan1–03–0
15.2–0
16.21 June 2003 China1–02–1 (a.e.t.)
17.2–1
18.24 February 2004QE II Stadium, Brisbane, Australia New Zealand1–011–02004 Australia Cup
19.18 July 2006Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide, Australia Thailand1–09–02006 AFC Women's Asian Cup
20.3–0
21.30 November 2006Suheim bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar Vietnam4–05–02006 Asian Games
22.7 December 2006Al-Rayyan Stadium, Al-Rayyan, Qatar South Korea1–04–1
23.3–0
24.10 December 2006Suheim bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar China2–13–1 (a.e.t.)
25.3 June 2007Yanggakdo Stadium, Pyongyang, North Korea Australia1–02–02008 Summer Olympics qualification
26.2–0
27.10 June 2007BCU International Stadium, Coffs Harbour, Australia Australia1–02–0
28.14 September 2007Chengdu Sports Centre Stadium, Chengdu, China Nigeria2–02–02007 FIFA Women's World Cup
29.18 February 2008Yongchuan Stadium, Chongqing, China Japan1–12–32008 EAFF Women's Football Championship
30.24 February 2008 South Korea3–04–0
31.28 May 2008Thống Nhất Stadium, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Thailand2–05–02008 AFC Women's Asian Cup
32.30 May 2008 Vietnam2–03–0
33.3–0
34.5 June 2008 Australia1–03–0
35.2–0
36.3–0
37.8 June 2008 China1–12–1
38.9 August 2008Shenyang Olympic Stadium, Shenyang, China Brazil1–21–22008 Summer Olympics

References
  1. FIFA Century Club
  2. Ri Kum-Suk – FIFA competition record (archived)
  3. "More to come from Ri". FIFA. 2007-09-16. Retrieved 2009-07-06.
  4. "Ri Kum-Suk Biography and Statistics". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18. Retrieved 2009-07-06.
  5. "北여자축구 주장 리금숙 "국가대표팀 감독 될래요"". nocutnews. 2008-12-18.
  6. "北 여자축구 스타 리금숙 결혼". hanjyung. 2008-11-11.
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