What was going for a cultural adventure turned into a life around the ball. Hyo Shin Kang left Cheonan (South Korea) when he was 12 years old to study Spanish in Spain. That was the idea with which he ended up in Vélez (Málaga), but the objective soon changed. “My parents told me to go learn languages. I went to an academy to learn, I started to play and I already stayed here ”, he tells with simplicity and fluent Spanish, a consequence of eleven years in Spain. The life of the end of the Caudal, who against Luarca made a double in 2-4, the son of a dentist and a pharmacist, is that of an emigrant who pursues his dream from end to end of the country.
Because the stop in Malaga only lasted one year. “I lived with a Spanish family with whom I continue to maintain contact and which I visit from time to time. But by FIFA rules, he couldn’t play in their competition. On the other hand, in Catalonia it was possible ”, says Kang. So he packed his bags to play for Cornellá.
“There I was with a family of Koreans, friends of the family. We lived near the Camp Nou. He was happy: he went to school and played. I continued with my dream, ”he says. But after a year and a half of experience in Cornellá he had a new transfer: this time to Madrid. First, at the Rayo Vallecano quarry. Later, close to adult football, Alcobendas signed him. There he settled in the club’s residence, his new home, with more foreign kids, including Bogdan Milovanov, Sporting’s right-back. “Bogdan was always very consistent; serious, hard-working and very strong. Someone who always delivers on the field ”, his friend defines him.
With Alcobendas, still a minor, he trained with the Third Division team, but could not play any official game until he was 18 years old. While the date arrived, he continued training at school until finishing his Bachelor’s degree. And, as a result of his patience, his opportunity finally came. His transition to amateur football opened a door for him, years later, to continue his adventure in Asturias, a place that he had never set foot in until then. And a curious contrast with what he had lived up to then. “It was through my agency. They told me about San Martín, who was in Third. And I went there, “he says. It was three seasons ago. The club provided him with a flat in the village, and Kang had no trouble adjusting. “It was a very different life from the one I had led in Madrid or Barcelona, but I soon realized that this was better for me. I love the nature of Asturias, and its food, such as fabada and cachopo. And also in San Martín I played almost the whole year, which is what I was looking for ”, he assures. That campaign (2019/20) participated in 1,963 minutes.
He was not so lucky at Langreo last year, with little prominence (barely 65 minutes in a couple of games), but his luck has changed this season and he is starting to stand out at Caudal, in his third year in Asturias: he has already been a couple of years living in La Felguera. “The new coach (Luis Rueda) wants a more practical football than Nacho (Cabo). He asks us not to complicate ourselves, to make it easy. I think we have time to fight for everything. We started off badly, but we didn’t rule out anything. We are a good team ”, he highlights.
His dream, the one for which he left South Korea at the age of 12, is still intact: “I would like to go back to Second RFEF, like last year, but the dream is professional football. As Bogdan is doing now with Sporting. He always says that you don’t know when your moment is going to come. You have to be prepared ”. And in case the dream does not come to pass, Kang has a plan B: “This year I have started a higher degree in tourist accommodation management. Besides Korean and Spanish, I also speak English ”. That alternative, that of tourism, would open the doors to follow in the Principality. “I love Asturias, I am very comfortable here, even the ‘what’s up, ho?’ I wouldn’t mind staying here any longer ”, closes Kang, the Korean who thrashes with Caudal.
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