You took the wrods right out of my mouth. It would be fun to see America play one of the 'Axis of Evil' nations at any sport.
Folks, this is about football, not politics. My comment was made in jest. It should not be taken as an invitation to comment on life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in the DPRK. Such posts will be removed. DPR Korea Football Association Any folks with other sources of information on the N. Korean team?
http://footballasia.com/news/2003/july/july_cover_inside.jpg Photo of Ri on the cover of this month's Football Asia magazine. "Queens of Asia again! While DPR Korea maintained their reputation as the new queens of Asian football by defending their AFC Women's Championship title, their southern neighbours were celebrating just as wildly after also winning a place at this year's FIFA Women's World Cup. The Korean ladies take the limelight in July's issue of FootballAsia and together with China, Korea Republic and Japan, the quartet will now lead Asia's charge at the World Cup Finals to be held in the United States later in the year."
Check the record. In the last three years, North Korea's women have won two AFC championships and the Asian Games, over teams you might know of, like China and Japan. This is obviously a very good side, with a chance to win the whole tournament. And if they're anything like other Korean sides we've seen, they'll be tough, fit and athletic. I suspect that this will be the States' toughest game in the group phase (and that's not to disparage Sweden and Nigeria).
MichaelR, You might be right about NKorea but Sweden went undefeated in Algarve (tied the USA, Norway and Canada) and Nigeria just beat China. Sweden also defeated NKorea 1-0 last summer. Definitely a tough group.
Korea DPR ready to surprise the world “There isn’t much known about them and that can worry many teams,” said Peter Velappan, Secretary General of the Asian Football Confederation. “And, what they have seen also probably worries them.” “They are one of the best teams in the world, we know that,” said Sweden head coach Marika Domanski-Lyfors, whose side lines up with the Asian Champions in Group A along with the United States and Nigeria. “We will have to play our best to beat them.” http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/03/en/030904/1/5ke.html
Interesting website. I had already downloaded the national anthem from Kazaa. Oops. I guess they will go after me now.
New York Times article on North Korean team: http://nytimes.com/2003/09/14/sports/soccer/14soccer.html
I hope the Korean community in South Jersey and Philadelphia comes out for them. Maybe they won't. But let's hope a little bit of the Sunshine Policy goes a long way in the Delaware Valley which is so far from Crawford, Texas in distance and in spirit.
I suspect Philadelphia will give the North Koreans a loud cheer...... the axis of evil rhetoric isn't taken as seriously here as elsewhere. the koreans surely find themselves in a very strange environment, and some times it affect athletic performance...
That's a great article. After hearing so much about the North Koreans' improvement, I can't wait to see what they look like.
If the NKoreans get cheers, I'm sure it will only last for a few seconds. They're like the Canadians, they'll tackle anything that moves. They like kicking and hitting people wearing different uniforms!
I hope you're right. I'm really looking forward to seeing them play. P.S. I also hope and expect Philadelphians to cheer for France when they step on the field led by Marinette. No BS politics needed here.
I doubt N.K. will do well. They're are a good team, but very un-experienced. Especially in such international tournaments. Added to that, they're in a group full of teams that play just like them.
I still think DPRK are too inexperienced to win it all, it showed in their finishing and some of their frustration during the second half before they got the second goal. That said, they showed enough class to look a real candidate, if they can learn and grow with each game then they could well make it.
Interesting leap from the earlier post of not doing well in WWC to not being capable of winning it all. I think we were speaking more of acquitting themselves well on the field. I think they have done just that. Advancing out of the First Round should be the primary goal. Anything after that is icing on the cake.
An item in this morning's Boston Globe described them as lacking in tactical variety but otherwise extremely strong. Anyone who actually saw yesterday's game care to comment?