Kilmarnock on tour in Korea

Japan and South Korea secured co- hosting rights in 1996 – as the latter attempted to show FIFA that they could stage the World Cup, they held one of the most unusual football competitions in 1995.

The Korea Cup was the official dress rehearsal, welcoming the best teams from across the globe – at least, that was the intention. What they actually ended up with was an eight- outfit tournament involving the national teams of South Korea, Costa Rica,

Ecuador and Zambia, Belgian side Mechelen, Swedish team Trelleborg ( who had just beaten Blackburn in the UEFA Cup), a Rio de Janeiro XI and the team who had come 7th in the Scottish Premier Division.

“They wanted Rangers or Celtic,” explains Ray Montgomerie, Killie’s captain at the time. “But both of them had tours that summer, so the invitation filtered down to us and we took up the baton to represent Scotland.”

Kilmarnock’s squad weren’t exactly over the moon, as it meant their close- season holiday was truncated – because of the last- minute nature of it all, anyone with prior plans was excused. “We only knew about it in May,” adds Montgomerie. “Some of the players had holidays booked, so we didn’t take our strongest side.

“When we arrived, there were TV crews everywhere we went – we were interviewed coming off the plane. Our transport to and from the stadiums was done by police escort and we got the full red carpet treatment, staying in the best hotels. Every game was broadcast live throughout Asia to millions of people.” Kilmarnock kicked off with a 2- 2 draw against Costa Rica, then lost 2- 1 to the Rio XI. They would finish bottom of their group after South Korea thrashed them 5- 1 in the third game, aided by a double from future 2002 star Hwang Sun- hong. After a whirlwind week, Killie’s squad returned home to find no one in Scotland had any inkling of where they had been. Even now, there’s only a fuzzy 90- second Youtube clip of Ecuador winning the final. “No one covered it,” says Montgomerie. “But before the games, you’re hearing the national anthem and it was the closest we felt to being internationals. It was brilliant. “The main drawback was the food – a lot of rice wasn’t what the boys wanted pre- match. They were raging. If you’d spoken to me as I walked off the plane in Glasgow, I’d have said I was glad to be back – we thought we were there to make up the numbers. “But I remember manager Alex Totten saying, ‘ This is an amazing experience’. I wouldn’t swap it now – I can see it was something unique and am glad I was there.”