http://fusion.net/story/150505/sout...ook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=soccergods South Korea striker Kang Soo-il has been banned for 15 matches for failing a doping test just before his international debut.
From last year, interesting take on Kang & the national team: http://iamkoream.com/mixed-korean-american-joins-korean-national-soccer-team/ South Korea’s national soccer team has invited Kang Soo-il to its training camp, which starts next week, making the 27-year-old forward only the second multiethnic soccer player in history to represent the country that still remains largely homogeneous. Kang was born in Dongducheon, South Korea in 1987 under a Korean mother, Kang Sun-nam, and a black American GI father. His father left the family when his son was still an infant, leaving Kang to grow up without ever knowing his birth father. His moderate, but unlikely success in professional soccer was well publicized in South Korea when he became the Most Valuable Player in the K-League’s reserves league, a now-defunct competition that was designed to develop young players, while playing for Incheon United in 2008. During his childhood, Kang said he had to persistently fight through racial discrimination from his peers while his mother worked laboring jobs to raise her only son. When Kang’s mother suffered a serious back injury in 2007, he had to drop out of Sangji University just six months after he started his freshmen year to make ends meet. “I’ve been inviting multiethnic Korean kids to my games consistently,” Kang said. “I don’t want them to feel discouraged. I would love for them to dream and have hopes through me. I want them to smile as proud members within the Korean society. So I want them and my mother to see me represent Korea in an international game. I’m curious to find out how it would feel when I wear Korea’s red jersey and have my right hand over my heart in front of the Korean flag before a game. That’s something I’ve always dreamed of.”
Thanks to @THOMA GOL, we now know that he has moved to Japan's 2nd tier and scored his first goal: Looks like the club is Thespakusatsu Gunma.
Watching his movement I thought about his American half, well, athleticism and how much that is pushed in American paradigms with all sports. If he can keep his nose clean (no pun intended) and do solid work he could maybe make a jump up a division, but hopefully he stays loyal and makes a positive impact for Gunma.
He's been with Ratchaburi Mitr Phol FC in Thailand since 2018 (16 goals in 29 league matches according to Wikipedia). At least for a little while longer... Ratchaburi FC is set to sign Yoo Jun-soo from Pohang Steelers (ex Buriram) and to cut Kang Soo-il instead.— Thai Fussball (@thaifussballde) June 4, 2019
Here's a fairly in-depth (English) article: http://www.kleagueunited.com/2022/02/still-searching-for-multi-ethnic-korean.html
An amazing story - a few years ago, Kang Soo-il found his father through DNA testing. It turned out that his father had no idea of his son in South Korea. His father lives in Alabama and had become a pastor and professor. They have a happy relationship, and his father said he now can't imagine life without him.