By John Duerden
Contributing writer
SEOUL, Dec. 9 (Yonhap) -- It was just a year and a half ago that North Korea made international headlines at the 2010 World Cup, making its first finals appearance in 44 years and holding five-time champion Brazil to just a one-goal difference in their first round match.
This time, the team failed to qualify for the 2014 tournament. But its midfielder An Yong-hak is sure that with a bunch of promising young players, it will not have to wait quite as long to return to the tournament.
Dreams of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil ended on Nov. 11 in Uzbekistan. The consolation came four days later, with some 80,000 fans watching, with a 1-0 win over Asian champion and rival Japan in Pyongyang, even if it was too little too late in terms of 2014. Three defeats in the previous four games in Group C meant the host was playing for pride only.
An, a mainstay for almost a decade, said the drop in results was simple to explain. "After the World Cup in South Africa, we brought in a lot of new players," said An, who plays his club soccer for Kashiwa Reysol in Japan, in a recent interview.
"Around half the team was changed and five or six young players joined the team. The problem we had was just one of preparation. We didn't have enough time to prepare and get our teamwork up to scratch. All the new players are very good, but we just needed more time to play together," he said.
Luck didn't help, either. North Korea had been placed into a tough group with Japan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The rule is that only the top two progresses to the final round of qualifications.
The road to Brazil started with the most difficult away match in Japan. After a hard-fought game in Saitama, a goal in the last minute gave the host a vital win. "We were so disappointed at that time," recalled An. "It was the first game in qualification, and we were happy with how things were going and we would have been happy with one point. ... The problem for us is that we had a man sent off and what was already a difficult game became more so and we were getting very tired."
As expected, North Korea defeated the weakest team in the group, Tajikistan, in the second game, but the major damage was done by back-to-back 1-0 defeats at the hands of Uzbekistan, a fast-improving team in Central Asia.
It is not hard to see what the problem is. There is no doubt that North Korea is a defensive team. In 14 group games in qualification for the 2010 World Cup, the team conceded just five goals. Even in the five games in the third round of qualification for 2014, it conceded only three but scored just twice.
"Compared to the 2010 World Cup, we play more attacking football now," said An. "We have more attacking players and often we play 4-4-2 and look to get forward as much as we can. Sometimes we play 5-4-1 as we did in Uzbekistan."
An called the home game against Uzbekistan the turning point for the North Korean team. "We had lots of chances but missed them all," he said. "We were all very disappointed. If we had won that game, we would have been OK... I probably won't understand just how much we've lost until I watch the final round of qualifiers and the tournament itself on TV."
Uzbekistan midfielder Server Djeparov, who appeared in both games, felt that while his team deserved to win, he admitted that North Korea has skills.
North Korea is not an easy team to play against as it is very well-organized and plays defensively, up to scratch," said Djeparov, who spent part of the 2010 and 2011 K-League season with FA Seoul. "After we scored in each game it became easier as the opposition has to change its usual playing style and become more aggressive. These games are never easy."
The only bright point of the campaign for North Korea came in a home win against Japan. "Although we were out and Japan had already qualified for the final round, this was not a friendly game. We were under lots of pressure to win this game," said An. "It was a very difficult game and mentally we felt the burden, but we kept going and all the players gave everything and while Japan came at us, we defended well. There is a little regret about how differently things could have turned out if we had managed to do that from the beginning."
The way forward for North Korea could be in its policy of trying to send more of its young players overseas to gain international experience. In addition to Jong Tae-se in Germany with Bochum, there are two players in the Danish second division, one in Russia and two in Switzerland. This greater international experience should stand the team in good stead, according to An.
"I think that as I am old and we have lots of young players, it is time to support the team rather than play on it," he said. "We have many young players now on the national team. They are very good and there is a bright future for the team. Many of them played against Japan and when they were able to defeat the Asian Champions they got a lot of confidence from that win and are ready to move to the next level."
john.duerden@gmail.com
(END)
yonhap new agency
01 December 2011
AFC Challenge Cup Draw today
Asian Football Confederation (AFC) held a draw ceremony for up-coming AFC Challenge Cup football tournament today at Hotel Soaltee crown Plaza, Tahachal.
Group A :
Nepal , Turkmenistan , Maldives and Palestine
Group B :
Philippines , India , Tajikistan and North Korea
AFC Challenge Cup take place in Nepal in March , 2012
Winner get a spot in 2015 Asian Cup
Group A :
Nepal , Turkmenistan , Maldives and Palestine
Group B :
Philippines , India , Tajikistan and North Korea
AFC Challenge Cup take place in Nepal in March , 2012
Winner get a spot in 2015 Asian Cup
29 November 2011
Japan parliament debates loss to N. Korea
Japan's 1-0 World Cup qualifying away defeat by North Korea has stirred a debate in parliament with one lawmaker claiming the Blue Samurai could have been kidnapped if they had won in Pyongyang.
But Tokyo on Tuesday said it was not considering filing a protest with the North Korean authorities about alleged mistreatment of the Japan team before and during the November 15 match.
The Blue Samurai were held up for four hours on arrival at Pyongyang airport and roundly booed when the Japanese national anthem was played ahead of the match before an extremely partisan crowd of 50,000 at the Kim Il-Sung stadium.
"I presume that, if Japan won by 2-0 or 3-0, our players themselves would have been abducted," conservative opposition lawmaker Tetsushi Sakamoto told a lower house committee on Monday, according to Japanese media.
He praised Japan's Italian coach Alberto Zaccheroni, despite the defeat which has been largely attributed to his use of a large number of substitutes for the starting line-up against North Korea.
The match result did not affect the final standing of Group C, in which Japan and Uzbekistan have already advanced to the final qualifying round, with North Korea and Tajikistan out of contention.
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"The lion's share of the credit should go to manager Zac (Zaccheroni) as he let the team lose by 1-0," Sakamoto said. "Judging from the way he used the players, I presume he was resolutely prepared for a draw or defeat by the narrowest of margins."
Foreign Minister Kochiro Gemba told the committee: "I understand various things occurred (at the match) including unfortunate incidents."
At Pyongyang airport, immigration and customs officials held up the Japanese team for four hours while chiding them for laughing and confiscating "contraband" such as bananas, chewing gum, and instant noodles, according to media reports.
North Korea allowed only 150 supporters and 10 domestic journalists from Japan to visit the secretive country for the match.
The Tokyo government statement, issued in response to an opposition question, said: "It was not desirable that spectators in North Korea showed an unfriendly attitude."
"It is understood that the Japan Football Association is taking action with regard to the customs' treatment and the spectators' behaviour."
The parliamentary committee was dealing with North Korea's abductions of Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s to train spies in Japanese language and culture.
The unresolved kidnapping issue has prevented the two countries from normalising ties. Japan has strictly curbed exchanges with its communist neighbour, especially after Pyongyang tested nuclear bombs.
The Japan football Association (JFA) said it had sent a letter to its North Korean counterpart making inquiries about how the Japan team were treated and about the limits imposed by Pyongyang on supporters and media from Japan.
"We made the inquiries in a communication which we regularly make with host countries after international matches," JFA spokesman Hideki Kato told AFP.
Copies of the letter were reportedly sent to world governing body FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation.
Source : AFP
But Tokyo on Tuesday said it was not considering filing a protest with the North Korean authorities about alleged mistreatment of the Japan team before and during the November 15 match.
The Blue Samurai were held up for four hours on arrival at Pyongyang airport and roundly booed when the Japanese national anthem was played ahead of the match before an extremely partisan crowd of 50,000 at the Kim Il-Sung stadium.
"I presume that, if Japan won by 2-0 or 3-0, our players themselves would have been abducted," conservative opposition lawmaker Tetsushi Sakamoto told a lower house committee on Monday, according to Japanese media.
He praised Japan's Italian coach Alberto Zaccheroni, despite the defeat which has been largely attributed to his use of a large number of substitutes for the starting line-up against North Korea.
The match result did not affect the final standing of Group C, in which Japan and Uzbekistan have already advanced to the final qualifying round, with North Korea and Tajikistan out of contention.
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"The lion's share of the credit should go to manager Zac (Zaccheroni) as he let the team lose by 1-0," Sakamoto said. "Judging from the way he used the players, I presume he was resolutely prepared for a draw or defeat by the narrowest of margins."
Foreign Minister Kochiro Gemba told the committee: "I understand various things occurred (at the match) including unfortunate incidents."
At Pyongyang airport, immigration and customs officials held up the Japanese team for four hours while chiding them for laughing and confiscating "contraband" such as bananas, chewing gum, and instant noodles, according to media reports.
North Korea allowed only 150 supporters and 10 domestic journalists from Japan to visit the secretive country for the match.
The Tokyo government statement, issued in response to an opposition question, said: "It was not desirable that spectators in North Korea showed an unfriendly attitude."
"It is understood that the Japan Football Association is taking action with regard to the customs' treatment and the spectators' behaviour."
The parliamentary committee was dealing with North Korea's abductions of Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s to train spies in Japanese language and culture.
The unresolved kidnapping issue has prevented the two countries from normalising ties. Japan has strictly curbed exchanges with its communist neighbour, especially after Pyongyang tested nuclear bombs.
The Japan football Association (JFA) said it had sent a letter to its North Korean counterpart making inquiries about how the Japan team were treated and about the limits imposed by Pyongyang on supporters and media from Japan.
"We made the inquiries in a communication which we regularly make with host countries after international matches," JFA spokesman Hideki Kato told AFP.
Copies of the letter were reportedly sent to world governing body FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation.
Source : AFP
22 November 2011
N. Korea crowned world champs - unofficially
SINGAPORE — North Korea's 1-0 win over Japan last week was not only a famous victory over their bitter rivals -- it also made them the Unofficial Football World Champions, according to a tongue-in-cheek website.
The www.ufwc.co.uk site contends that the world title won by Spain in 2010 passed unofficially to Argentina after a friendly win, and then to Japan after the Blue Samurai beat Lionel Messi's men in October last year.
So when Pak Nam Chol buried his 50th-minute header at Pyongyang's bitterly cold Kim Il Sung Stadium last Tuesday, prompting rapturous celebrations, it was a goal that also put the secretive state unofficially on top of the world.
"Heads will shake and eyebrows will raise but, in beating former champions Japan 1-0 on Tuesday, North Korea won the UFWC title and took (virtual) possession of the CW Alcock Cup," said a posting on the website.
"It?s a shock that many football fans are still getting used to, with North Korea becoming one of the least likely champions the game has ever seen.
"That, of course, is the beauty of the UFWC (Unofficial Football World Championship).
"Anything can happen over the course of 90 minutes, and North Korea deserved to take the title from Japan, who had taken the title from Argentina, who had taken the title from Spain... and so on."
In terms of official competition, the win was meaningless for North Korea as they had already been eliminated from 2014 World Cup qualifying, while Japan are into the final Asian round.
According to the site's rankings, Scotland are the most successful team with 86 unofficial world titles, followed by England and Argentina, while North Korea's first puts them joint 42nd alongside Israel and the Dutch Antilles.
The site says its rankings under a "simple boxing-style title system" take into account matches since the first international football match in 1872.
AFP
The www.ufwc.co.uk site contends that the world title won by Spain in 2010 passed unofficially to Argentina after a friendly win, and then to Japan after the Blue Samurai beat Lionel Messi's men in October last year.
So when Pak Nam Chol buried his 50th-minute header at Pyongyang's bitterly cold Kim Il Sung Stadium last Tuesday, prompting rapturous celebrations, it was a goal that also put the secretive state unofficially on top of the world.
"Heads will shake and eyebrows will raise but, in beating former champions Japan 1-0 on Tuesday, North Korea won the UFWC title and took (virtual) possession of the CW Alcock Cup," said a posting on the website.
"It?s a shock that many football fans are still getting used to, with North Korea becoming one of the least likely champions the game has ever seen.
"That, of course, is the beauty of the UFWC (Unofficial Football World Championship).
"Anything can happen over the course of 90 minutes, and North Korea deserved to take the title from Japan, who had taken the title from Argentina, who had taken the title from Spain... and so on."
In terms of official competition, the win was meaningless for North Korea as they had already been eliminated from 2014 World Cup qualifying, while Japan are into the final Asian round.
According to the site's rankings, Scotland are the most successful team with 86 unofficial world titles, followed by England and Argentina, while North Korea's first puts them joint 42nd alongside Israel and the Dutch Antilles.
The site says its rankings under a "simple boxing-style title system" take into account matches since the first international football match in 1872.
AFP
15 November 2011
North Korea 1-0 Japan !
Pyongyang: DPR Korea picked up their second win of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, third round qualifying campaign with a hard-fought 1-0 win over reigning AFC Asian Cup champions Japan at the Kim Il-sung Stadium on Tuesday.
With Japan and Uzbekistan having already secured their passage to the next stage of qualifying the result was to prove inconsequential to the outcome of Group C but it was certainly a morale-boosting victory for the North Koreans, who are gearing up for the defence of their AFC Challenge Cup title which takes place in March next year in Nepal.
The feisty encounter which saw Bahrain referee Nawaf Shukralla issue seven yellow cards to the hosts - including two for Jong Il-gwan who was sent off in the 77th minute - was settled in the 50th minute by Pak Nam-chol, scorer of the Chollima's winner in their Matchday 2 victory over Tajikistan.
source : afc.com
With Japan and Uzbekistan having already secured their passage to the next stage of qualifying the result was to prove inconsequential to the outcome of Group C but it was certainly a morale-boosting victory for the North Koreans, who are gearing up for the defence of their AFC Challenge Cup title which takes place in March next year in Nepal.
The feisty encounter which saw Bahrain referee Nawaf Shukralla issue seven yellow cards to the hosts - including two for Jong Il-gwan who was sent off in the 77th minute - was settled in the 50th minute by Pak Nam-chol, scorer of the Chollima's winner in their Matchday 2 victory over Tajikistan.
source : afc.com
11 November 2011
Uzbekistan 1-0 North Korea
Tashkent: Timur Kapadze's strike early in the second-half was enough for Uzbekistan to defeat DPR Korea 1-0 on Friday in Group C of the third round of 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers sealing the Central Asians' progression to the next phase along with Japan.
The 2011 AFC Asian Cup champions advanced with a 4-0 win over Tajikistan earlier on Friday and the Uzbeks ensured they will join the Japanese as the other qualifier from Group C as Kapadze struck four minutes after the interval to edge the North Koreans in a hard-fought tussle in Tashkent.
DPR Korea's defeat left them on three points, seven behind Uzbekistan and Japan with just two games remaining which leaves them, and Tajikistan who have yet to get off the mark, out of the reckoning for a place in the next round of qualifiers.
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