What a great run that was. So many ups and downs in that last game watching it around 4 am with my dad
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...to-expand-to-40-teams-from-2026-a6758511.html Read the report of World Cup expending to 40 teams in 2026 are in discussion. Here some points 8 extra teams means the total of 96 matches 8 group of 5 teams(instead of 4). And top two teams goes to round of 16. 8 extra tickets probably means 1.5 perhaps 2 full tickets for Asia. Meaning Uzi, or even China(well maybe not China) will make it to the World Cup. Considering the crap that is Asia, I don't think we can ask for two full tickets. 1.5 addition, total of 6 full tickets for Asia is likely.
I feel 32 is a perfect number for the World Cup. World Cup is the event for us Koreans for longest time and I feel very fortunate to see our team in the tourney. But for teams are in the fringe, perhaps this expansion is the only way they get in the mix. When World Cup time rolls around, I personally watch and follow EVERY game. And I mean every game. That's three games a day. Now there's going to be four, even five games a day. That's a lot of football. Five teams in one group. What does that mean for us? We're going to play against two European teams, one African team and one South American team. And finish the group top two? That's asking a lot for Asian nation like us who need all the help we can get to knock out stage. I'm all for playing the fourth game but not in this fashion. Six full tickets means we'll never miss the World Cup. But playing beyond the group stage? That'll be difficult. But i feel this expansion will go through because there are lot more money in the play with eight additional team in the tourney.
If they increase the number of WC teams to 40 from WC 2026, I think Asia and Oceania should be only one continent for world cup qualifiers.
I'm writing a thesis on North Korea, and it just occurred to me, how would a unified Korean soccer team look like? Honestly, I can't say that I would see anyone else outside of maybe Jong Tae-Se.
^that and I doubt we'll need any other Norks in our Starting XI (other than JTS). Maybe for our KWNT's side we'll see a balanced lineup further down our youth ranks, I can see a mix of Norks being needed since Norks tend to excel at that level, especially at the u-17/u-20s levels
If somehow North and South unifies there will be more players coming from families in the North compared to South, because football players usually come from poor background. One day in near future you should embrace them with open arms when dear leader is gone.
The poor Norks that aren't part of the elites are undernourished and too short. They won't be of any help even after unification for at least a couple of generations.
That said I think the physical component is a low hurdle. Koreans got so much taller every ten years.
Malnourishment has a direct effect on height and muscularity, but still it can not suppress the creativity and potential skills. Maradona and many more football players with small stature came from very poor background but they turned to the best football players. Messi is another example.
For the first few generations following unification, we're more likely to see an influx in the pool of boxers from the Nork poor than footballers. Club investment in the youth system will continue to be disproportionately spent in the richer southern clubs.
you will get a few gems from the communist style strategy of cultivating athletes for propaganda purposes. i think at every level the norks could provide 2 or 3 good players. Jong Il-Gwan and Park Kwang-Ryong for example.
Take even a malnourished kid of eight and feed em and train em well and you have little impairment by the time theyre eighteen ten years later. The turnaround could be pretty fast.
http://sports.news.naver.com/sports...&mod=read&office_id=413&article_id=0000026518 http://sports.news.naver.com/sports...&mod=read&office_id=076&article_id=0002855229 Two interesting articles on Stielike (I'll translate them when I have time.), all in all he's truly a good man with a huge amount of commitment towards the KNT.
You really can't fault people when they try their best/hardest and it shows. I can understand about half of that, so looking forward to the translation.
I dont know about Park KR but Jong Il-Gwan would definitely be a fringe player on the NT if he was South Korean. Dude has bags of potential but obviously limited being a Nork.