AFC Cup 2017: Bengaluru FC vs April 25th SC -- 4 North Korean players to keep an eye on

WHEN BENGALURU FC take on April 25th Sports Club tomorrow night at the Kanteerava Stadium, they will be embarking on the toughest mission they have ever faced in the club's short history.

North Korea, as a country, have qualified for the World Cup multiple times. And their clubs, under usual circumstances, should be playing in the AFC Champions League. But due to the isolated nature of the country and its football league, North Korean clubs playing in Asia is a rare sight. And 4.25 (as April 25th Sports Club are often referred to) only managed to qualify for a National Licesne (not the AFC Club License) so they are only playing in AFC Cup.

To no one's surprise, they have been dominant in the Group Stage. They were put in a 3-club group with another North Korean club Kigwancha and the misfortunate Mongolian champions Erchim. While 4.25 and Kigwancha played out two draws between themselves, Erchim got a hammering from both North Korean clubs, conceding 21 goals in 4 matches and scoring none. 4.25 qualified for the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals due to superior goal difference (+11 compared to Kigwancha's +10).

Coming out of an already unsual football culture, 4.25 are even more unusual in the sense that they are owned by the North Korean army. Named after the foundation day of the Korean People's Army, they represent their country's troops, rather than the city of Pyongyang where they are based. In fact, Pyongyang City Sports Club is their fiercest rival. They play out a fierce Pyongyang Derby between each other where the 4.25 half of the Yanggakdo Stadium is easily distinguishable by thousands of military personnel sitting in uniform and cheering the team on in a rigorously concerted fashion.

Like other North Korean clubs, 4.25 have no foreigners in their roster. But that does not mean their players lack international experience. They are the most successful club in North Korean history with 15 top flight DPR Korea League titles and 3 Republican Championship trophies to their name. Naturally, many of their players are hot picks for the national team. A good few of them have also played for clubs in Europe.

So in this piece, we take a look at 4 players in particular who can give the Blues much trouble tomorrow night and the return leg.