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A slow start to the South African World Cup has seen the majority of games with scorelines containing two, sometimes one and at times nil goals scored. Cue the Brazil versus North Korea clash at Ellis Park.
Emotions were worn on the sleeves of the Koreans, with striker Jong Tae-Se openly weeping during his country’s national anthem.
The Koreans were reminiscent of their fearless dictator Kim Jong-Il in their playing style – a stubborn, disciplined defensive unit that took the Brazilians 55 minutes to break down before full-back Maicon netted impressively from an acute angle.
Elano doubled Brazil’s advantage after a precise Robinho through ball sliced the Korean defence, and allowed Elano to slot comfortably passed the advancing goalkeeper.
Ji Yun-Nam scored a consolation to bring the deficit to within one goal for the final minutes, but were eventually held out by Brazil in what was an impressive game from the North Koreans, who are looking to advance on their southern rivals achievements in 2002 of reaching the quarter finals.
After being in the international wilderness since 1966, North Korea looked well drilled and disciplined – two traits synonymous with the North Korean way of life – and proved dividends in the result, losing by just one goal.
Personally, I don’t fancy them to advance further than the group stage – being drawn in a group with African darkhorses, Ivory Coast, and long-time underachievers, Portugal.
Their performance has gone a long way in winning over admirers from all corners of the globe. The only dispute to come out of it, North Korean officials have decided that World Cup games will only be shown in their homeland in highlight form, still, only if they win.
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