North Korea lost the football game against Brazil 2-1. At half time there were no goals. In the second half North Korea scored a goal. Brazilian players play all year round in the world’s best leagues, with and against the world’s best players. What do North Korean players do? How did they get good enough to even qualify for the tournament, never mind not lose 14-0?
Presumably the players are well motivated. At press conferences the manager is sensitive and testy: “…we are called Korea Democratic People’s Republic. Please do not use any other name.”
He does not want to talk about the leader. When asked, “Who selects your team – you or the president?”, the annoyed answer is, “That’s a political question. Next question please.” But he’ll yak on about the leader all day, living up to the stereotype: “This will bring a lot of joy to the Great Leader, it will show that North Koreans have great mental strength.” In some other interview, he proves that he thinks just how we think he thinks, or at least knows what he is supposed to say: “Perhaps there is no other team in the world who would be fighting with the same dedication to please the leader and to bring fame to their motherland.”
The team are probably lucky ones and well favoured, but there’s no reason to believe they are exposed to the outside world very much. Perhaps they have watched football played by the top leages on TV. Presumably they are physically fit and well trained in basic skills. But I am surprised that is enough to play reasonably well against Brazil. Perhaps physical training and basic ball skills is all it takes to play well and I am overestimating the value of experience. Perhaps Brazil weren’t trying hard enough; it happens when top teams play lower teams. Perhaps those men really are playing for their lives. Or perhaps North Korea has its equivalent of the Premier League and we have never seen it.
