From "Pork License" to Xavi and memories... "Latte Qatar"
From "Pork License" to Xavi and memories... "Latte Qatar"
Blog Article
A player who has played in the Middle East for 11 years called "Qatar Messi" suddenly made his K-League debut last summer at the age of 32.
Nam Tae-hee, 33, who was once called a rising star in Korean soccer, is now an old player and is in charge of the pillar of the Jeju SK Wyverns. With a strong sense of responsibility, he is burning the flame in the latter half of his career in the K-League.
Sports Korea met Nam Tae-hee at the clubhouse in Seogwipo, Jeju Island. This episode contains an episode that he experienced during his 11-year career in Qatar, not covered in "I want to play in front of Korean fans for one more year" [above Nam Tae-hee's interview].
Reporter: What was the trigger for the French league to come to Qatar in the early 20s.
Nam Tae-hee said, "I had lost a lot of confidence as my playing time in the 2011-2012 season, which was my third season with Valancién, decreased a lot. Then, Coach Jameel Belmadi, who played with Valancién as a player, took over as the head coach of L'Equiya (currently Al-Duhail) of the Qatar League and offered to recruit me. Compoundly, I thought it was right to go to Qatar. As a result, it was not due to various reasons such as injury, but the club offered to help me re-enter the European leagues. I have no regrets about going to Qatar because I won a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics and was able to consistently play for the A-team at the time."
Reporter: Wasn't life in Qatar hard.
Nam Tae-hee: When I arrived at the new team, Coach Belmadi had already talked about me a lot, so the whole team welcomed me and recognized me. The Qataris were generally kind. First of all, Jung-soo (Lee) and Yong-hyung (Cho) who were active in Qatar took care of me a lot, including inviting me to their home and cooking. Because the older brothers came first and did a good job, I really liked the image of the Korean player. Also, the fact that Qatar's national area is similar to that of Gyeonggi Province in Korea, so there is little fatigue about moving around during away games was a big advantage.
Reporter: It's a huge advantage to say that away trips take place only within the area of Gyeonggi-do.
Nam Tae-hee: Honestly, it's a distance that doesn't really mean home or away. It's that close, so in the middle of summer, 12 teams share three World Cup stadiums for two weeks to manage the grass and earn some raw time in other stadiums. That's how we regularly moved the stadiums and played.
Reporter: But isn't it hard not to be able to eat pork as a Korean? Because Qatar is an Islamic country, eating pork is prohibited. 토토사이트
Nam Tae-hee: I got a license to purchase pork in Qatar. If the club approves it, you can legally purchase pork from a designated place. Of course, I can't give meat to an unlicensed person, but I have to eat it alone. It was frozen pork, and it was really delicious (laughs). Also, I didn't worry about food because a lot of Korean restaurants were created in Qatar during the K-pop craze in the early 2010s.