An English women's football team has arrived in North Korea, strengthening the town's long-standing relationship with the isolated country that dates back 44 years.
Middlesbrough Ladies, the first British football team to visit the country, are due to play two friendlies against North Korean sides, and will also hold training sessions with school children during a four-night stay in the capital Pyongyang.
"We're gonna see a different type of football and we're gonna be able to meet people from a totally different part of the world, it will be great," said Marrie Wieczorek, the manager of the group of 14 players and three coaching staff.
The origins of the links between North Korea and the town date back to the World Cup in 1966, when Middlesbrough hosted the country's three group games.
The players received a warm welcome from the locals, who adopted North Korea as their second team, and a special bond has existed between the two places ever since.
Surviving members of the 1966 squad, who returned to Britain to visit Middlesbrough in October 2002, will meet the ladies team during the tour, which was arranged following an invitation by the British Embassy in Pyongyang.
"The link with Middlesbrough and North Korea from the World Cup in '66 is pretty legendary in Middlesbrough and obviously we heard that it is here in the DPRK, and obviously seeing as we didn't realise that the women's teams were so good, so that's another great thing to look forward to," Wieczorek said.
North Korea, a country with little contact with the outside world, played in this year's World Cup in South Africa, losing all three games in a tough group that also included Brazil, Portugal and Ivory Coast.
It was the country's second appearance on football's biggest stage and the first since the Koreans caused one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history by beating Italy 1-0 to reach the 1966 quarter-finals.
The scorer of that winning goal, Pak Do Ik, will be one of the former players receiving Middlesbrough Ladies.
Peter Hughes, the British Ambassador to Pyongyang, said the visit was "exciting and historical."
