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Emmanuel Eboue pretending to understand North Korea's tactics will never get old

Home> Football

Updated 16:13 25 Jun 2023 GMT+1Published 16:09 25 Jun 2023 GMT+1

Emmanuel Eboue pretending to understand North Korea's tactics will never get old

On this day in 2010, Ivory Coast defender Emmanuel Eboue featured in a World Cup clash against North Korea.

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare

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It will go down in history as one of the more memorable moments in World Cup history.

On June 25, 2010, during the Ivory Coast's final group game against North Korea, the African nation were 3-0 up going into stoppage time when coach Kim Jong-Hun proceeded to call his captain over for a team talk.

Moments later and Eboue decided to follow the Korean number ten to the touchline before listening to what was going on, despite not knowing a single word of the language.

The former Arsenal full-back, who made 214 appearances for the Gunners between 2005 to 2011, nodded and agreed before sprinting off in the opposite direction.

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You can check out that bizarre moment from the 2010 World Cup in South Africa below.


Six years later and Eboue revealed exactly what happened during an interview with The Telegraph.

"That time, I honestly don't know what was going on in my head at the time. But people aren't going to forget about it." he said.

"When their coach called his captain over, I went close to him, nodded and said, 'OK, no problem, I understand, yeah?' He said to me, 'You speak Korean?' I said, 'No, but I understand a little bit' and he was laughing.

"It was funny, it was our last game so we were at the airport the next day with the Korean players and one of them came over to me and said, 'Eboue, you speak my language?' I said, 'Yeah'.

"So he says, 'OK, how do you say 'good morning' in Korean? So I shout, 'Yang!!!' and he literally fell on the floor laughing."


Another viral story involving the Ivorian involved a tiger outfit and Arsenal's Christmas party at Gilberto Silva's house.

Gilberto was celebrating his new found captaincy at the club so Eboue decided to dress up like the the animal and hide behind a door before his teammates arrived.

Eboue shocked the likes of Emmanuel Adebayor by jumping out in a full tiger costume and proceeded to roar at guests on arrival.

Adebayor commented on Eboue's antics, saying: "He's funnier than some comedians on TV. Sometimes when he eats, he puts food up his nose."

Perhaps the most iconic moment during his six-year spell at Arsenal came on Member's Day 2010, when fans were given the opportunity to meet their favourite players.

The annual event was going relatively smoothly until the biggest character in football arrived and caused mayhem.

As you can see in the footage below, Eboue decided to entertain the masses by sprinting towards the ball and smashing it for six.


What is your favourite Eboue moment? Let us know in the comments.

Featured Image Credit: FIFA World Cup/Twitter

Topics: Arsenal, Ivory Coast, Football World Cup

Jack Kenmare
Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare is the Senior Journalist for SPORTbible, one of the world’s biggest social publishers. He specialises in long-form feature writing and has an encyclopedic knowledge of Football Manager wonderkids from 2005 to the present day. He has a BA (Hons) in Journalism and News Practice.

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@jackkenmare_

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