World Cup preview: North Korea
Coach: Kim Jong-Hun
Key player: Jong Tae-Se
Previous best: Quarter finals 1966
For 25 minutes, North Korea looked certain to be heading for the World Cup semi-finals.
They had raced into a 3-0 lead at Goodison Park, and were eyeing a clash with hosts England in the semis, when Eusebio and Portugal got to work. The Mozambique-born World Cup legend smashed in four goals, and Portugal fought back to win 5-3, condemning the North Koreans to a heartbreaking exit and their last taste of World Cup fever. Until now.
Back then they had shocked the world by knocking out Italy thanks to a Pak Doo-Ik goal at Ayresome Park, and this time around they are going to need a similar hero to stand any chance in a group that also includes Brazil, Portugal and Ivory Coast.
Perhaps they’ll find one in Jong Tae-Se, or “the People’s Wayne Rooney” he’s known in his homeland.
Such comparisons are of course fanciful, but anyone who saw the 26-year-old Kawasaki Frontale striker’s two expertly taken goals in the recent friendly with Greece would have to concede that he has a certain quality. He possesses the surely unequalled record of scoring eight goals in his first two internationals – admittedly they were against Mongolia and Macau – but his 14 strikes in 21 outings for his country heading into the tournament mark him out as his side’s most lethal weapon.
Many of those in the squad play for April 25, the North Korean Army club, and so a regimented, organised approach is sure to be expected. Against opposition of this calibre, it’ll be needed.
Captain Hong Yong-Jo is the only European-based player, featuring for FC Rostov in the Russian Premier League, and so North Korea’s players are likely to find facing the likes of Kaká, Cristiano Ronaldo and Didier Drogba as a huge culture shock. It is a shock that they will find overwhelming.
They may have shocked the world’s more established sides back in 1966, but anything other than three defeats will be an even bigger shock this time around.
Coach Kim Jong-Hun initially named only two goalkeepers in his squad, with the striker Kim Myong-Won registered as their third-choice stopper. Fifa have put to a stop to it though, and now Myong-Won can only play as a goalkeeper.
All of which hints at an endearing naivety, but the likes of Kaká, Ronaldo and Drogba can punish naivety, and all will be looking to tot up their goals tally for the tournament when they come up against the North Koreans. All three could quite conceivably do that.
A goal, or even an unlikely point, would be cheered louder than for virtually anyone else in the tournament.
Their fans and players will enjoy the trip, and the hospitality they are sure to receive in South Africa.
It will be all they get.
North Korea squad
1 Ri MYONG-GUK (Pyongyang City)
2 Cha JONG-HYOK (Amrokgang)
3 Ri JUN-IL (Sobaeksu)
4 Pak NAM-CHOL (April 25)
5 Ri KWANG-CHON (April 25)
6 Kim KUM-IL (April 25)
7 An CHOL-HYOK (Rimyongsu)
8 Ji YUN-NAM (April 25)
9 Jong TAE-SE (Kawasaki Frontale)
10 Hong YONG-JO (FK Rostov)
11 Mun IN-GUK (April 25)
12 Choe KUM-CHOL (April 25)
13 Pak CHOL-JIN (Amrokgang)
14 Pak NAM-CHOL (Amrokgang)
15 Kim YONG-JUN (Pyongyang City)
16 Nam SONG-CHOL (April 25)
17 Ahn YONG-HAK (Omiya Ardija)
18 Kim MYONG-GIL (Amrokgang)
19 Ri CHOL-MYONG (Pyongyang City)
20 Kim MYONG-WON (Amrokgang)
21 Ri KWANG-HYOK (Koynggongop)
22 Kim KYONG-IL (Rimyongsu)
23 Pak SUNG-HYOK (Sobaeksu)
For previews of North Korea's Group G opponents click here:
http://www.senore.com/World-Cup-2010-preview-Brazil-a12469
http://www.senore.com/World-Cup-2010-preview-Ivory-Coast-a12470
http://www.senore.com/World-Cup-2010-preview-Portugal-a12472
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