Im Seong-hwi

Im Shung-hwi (; born 3 February 1946), also spelled Im Song Hwi, is a North Korean former football midfielder who played for the national team in the 1966 FIFA World Cup. He also played for February 8 Sports Club.

Early life Im was born on 3 February 1946 in North Korea. A midfielder, he played for February 8 Sports Club in the DPR Korea Premier Football League, North Korea's top football league. In 1962, Im was chosen as one of the best 40 players from the North Korean leagues, whose membership reportedly consisted of over 250,000, to be considered for the national team. The 40 players were enlisted into the Army as military officers, under the leadership of colonel and coach Myung Rye-hyun, and went under strict training for the next four years in preparation for the cup. Im scored a goal in one of the two games against Australia.

Im was ultimately chosen as one of 22 players for the World Cup team. By that time, he had been capped for the national team a total of 12 times, according to the Evening Telegraph, although the Sunday Mirror reported it to be 18 caps. Im was considered one of the team's top players in the midfield, The North Koreans, projected as having little chance of success, lost their first match, 3–0 against the Soviet Union, before tying Chile 1–1. In a massive upset, North Korea won 1–0 on a goal by Pak Doo-ik. The team eventually lost 5–3 in the quarterfinals to Portugal; Im ended the World Cup having appeared in all four matches, playing all 360 minutes.

Later life For the team's performance at the World Cup, all the players who appeared in a match were given the title of Merited Athlete, the second-highest honor for sportspeople in North Korea. After the World Cup, it was rumored that the North Korean squad was imprisoned for celebrating the win over Italy in a bar; however, when interviewed in 2002, several players denied this. In 2002, Im was interviewed as one of the seven surviving members of the 1966 North Korean team in the documentary The Game of Their Lives and visited Middlesbrough with his former teammates.