North Korea shrouded in secrecy upon arrival in Sydney for the Asian Cup
January 6, 2015 - 9:22PM
Dominic Bossi
Sports reporter


All that 10-year-old Jayden Cook wanted were photos and signatures from players of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. He rushed to the squad with his Macarthur Rams jersey, armed with a black felt pen and a smile. They were international footballers, that's all he knew.

But the boy from Campbelltown quickly learnt these footballers seemed to have less freedom than he did, as the players were quickly ushered away by stern team officials less than a minute later.

The most secretive nation at this year's Asian Cup will remain as such for at least another three days, with North Korea refusing to speak to media upon their arrival in Sydney and ruling out any interaction outside of official and mandated media conferences.

There was little more than a polite wave and the odd smile from the players as they arrived at their hotel near Circular Quay to a reception of indigenous dancers and musicians. There was barely a pause from the players as they walked on Australian soil for the first time and past a performance representing a culture most knew nothing about.

Officials wearing suits decorated with badges of their flag, workers' party and, of course, "Dear Leader" Kim Jong-un, tightly guarded the players for their brief public appearance upon arrival. There were smiles in front of the cameras but the players were not allowed to embrace the occasion any more than what was already unavoidable.

All players wore team uniforms without names, squad numbers, sponsors or logos. Every player wore the same model of green and black sport shoes and all had matching haircuts with no quirks of modern fashion.

A team minder refused to allow any players or coach to speak to the media and ruled out any public interaction outside of what is required by the Asian Football Confederation. The English-speaking media official, whose western-style polo shirt sported a badge of Kim Jong-un on the breast, was asked of the team's expectations this tournament. His response: "To win every game." And that's probably what his countrymen back home will be told by their Ministry of Information.

As far as the North Korean public knows, this team arrived in Australia as the reigning world champions after beating Portugal in the final of the 2014 World Cup. On their way to the "title", the heavily censored government television informed citizens their side had cruised through their group, defeating China 2-0, the US 4-0 and hammering neighbours Japan 7-0.

North Korea failed to qualify for the last World Cup and didn't even reach the final round of qualification.

While the players will remain closely guarded and secluded from the public until Friday's pre-match media conference at the earliest, their first opponents will be familiar with their on-field character. Uzbekistan face North Korea in Sydney on Saturday night and are expecting a close and low-scoring match. The two nations played twice in the qualification process for the 2014 World Cup, with Uzbekistan winning 1-0 both home and away. Defender Anzur Ismailov expects little to change at ANZ Stadium.

"They're a very tough team, they're really close, they play from defence. If we score one goal it will be good for us," he said.

The two nations form what is closest to a "group of death", having been drawn alongside Saudi Arabia and China to form what is expected to be the most evenly contested group.The White Wolves were unlucky not to have sealed direct qualification to the 2014 World Cup after losing to second-placed South Korea by one goal differential. However, the Uzbeks fancy their chances of progressing unscathed through the group stages and have set a goal of reaching the final to atone for that disappointment.

"We hope we're going to qualify from the group and we want to go to the final and then we will see who is the best," defender Vitaliy Denisov said.

Uzbekistan are unlikely to have the support of a travelling contingent of fans after many were said to have struggled to obtain travel visas to Australia.


http://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/afc-asian-cup/north-korea-shrouded-in-secrecy-upon-arrival-in-sydney-for-the-asian-cup-20150106-12it68.html

That video was a hoax. The 2014 World Cup was actually broadcast into North Korea.

Are they actually trying to remain hidden as a Country / nation / culture. It's great having them anyway even if they disapprove of western culture. Watched a movie called the 'The Interview' ..not sure what to think after that. Not much of a culture, I think N.Korea have made a few complaints about that movie also since its been released. Might be a little satirical

lol i always thought it was a load of bullshit. fuck sake our media can't research for shit :oops:

haha that was a good episode last night \:d/

What it’s like at North Korea football team’s training session
Melanie Dinjaski FOX SPORTS January 07, 2015

THEY’RE the most mysterious national football team in the world. So it should come as no surprise that watching North Korea prepare for the Asian Cup, wasn’t like your average football training session.

At little old Leichhardt Oval in the heart of Sydney, at the site of so many classic moments in rugby league history, here was the North Korean football team; 22 men from an ostracised nation, feared, and in their eyes demonised by the Western World, ready to take on the region’s finest at the Asian Cup in front of a global audience.

It was surreal to say the least.

At the ground there was a handful of media, mostly photographers, other reporters seemingly not willing to waste their time on a team renowned for snubbing the media.

The feeling was not one of excitement, but more anticipation.

How would they train? What was the mood in the team? And of course, would they allow interviews after the session?

Word had travelled that the team were very private at the official welcome upon arriving at their hotel earlier that day. No players were made available for interviews then, and the media manager could only confirm their main intention at the tournament — to win the Asian Cup.

At Leichhardt Oval some media were unnecessarily suspicious. One photographer objected to being kindly asked to remain behind the sideline fence until the players came out of the dressing rooms. He eventually obeyed security, and when the teams came out, he and other photographers were free to go on the pitch to do their job. However, the scene was visibly tense.

The squad arrived a little late to the ground, but before long, they calmly emerged from the grandstand tunnel.

As they walked onto the pitch, only the repetitive shutter of high powered camera lenses could be heard.

The team formed a huddle with new coach Jo Tong-Sop at the centre. Each player had their heads slightly bowed and arms politely behind their back, carefully listening to his instructions. But if there were words said, few could hear them.

Sure, English-speaking media would not have understood anyway, but even if they could speak the language, it would be impossible to decipher such soft voices.

The team began to stretch in a circle. It was pretty routine at first.

One thing stood out, though. It was silent.

Normally at any training session, football or otherwise, there’s a positive vibe in the air, and most of all, there’s noise. The team shares jokes among one another, coaches are hollering at players, trainers are chatting on the sidelines. ‘Quiet’ is the last word you’d use to describe proceedings. But this session was just that — eerily quiet.

They warmed up, doing laps up and down the pitch, as those few in attendance looked on — one of whom included a former Balmain Tigers legend watching from the bleachers.

As training continued, the players appeared to relax a little. Even a smile here and there. Some hushed banter while jogging.

Still, there was little to take away from the session.

Then came the inevitable. Asian Cup officials informed media that the team would not allow interviews after training.

Most would think this outcome was to be expected, but it was no less disappointing.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is a reclusive state, but sport offers that rare opportunity for the nation to take its place on the world stage, an exception you’d hope would be embraced by their leader and known sport fanatic, Kim Jong-Un.

Regardless of politics, wars and cultural differences, football is the one thing that everyone can take pride and pleasure from.

At the World Cup in England in 1966, North Korea provided the fairytale of the tournament, beating Italy and winning the hearts of the local supporters.

If the latest team get a run in the Asian Cup, hopefully the North Korean players are allowed to make themselves better known to the Australian public and the rest of the world, so they too can enjoy and share the experience of bringing a glimmer of joy to so many at home.


http://www.foxsports.com.au/football/asian-cup/asian-cup-what-its-like-at-north-korea-football-teams-training-session/story-e6frf4fu-1227177125396

Edited by Damo Baresi: 7/1/2015 05:22:59 PM

Would anyone be surprised with a few defections ala Ali Abbas? They have some pretty handy players who could land spots in A League sides.

the entire team could probably claim refugee status and rightly so. problem is that their families would pay for it back home. i doubt anyone would have been allowed out that didnt have someone that could used against them back home.

They do have a few overseas based players plus the Japanese born Koreans who then play for them.
The weird thing is how you and the media can imagine that this and world cup are the only time they are allowed out of the country, when you have to play away all the time at international level, and at youth representative level.


Edited by nickk: 8/1/2015 07:55:58 AM

That and they pretty much have 30 government agents watching their every move.

they probably have it good compared to the average North Korean. Probs have an apartment in the centre of the city judging from what i have heard and the general nature of communist governments. Probably no point risking it for them as they are living ok and there families are fine. It is the ones outside the elites and national sports people who are not living in Pyongyang that are starving and have no hope of leaving the country.

'the Inteview' is bullshit and the symbol of Western Ignorance about Korea.

http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/23066/1/i-watched-the-interview-with-a-north-korean-defector

The article says 'As far as the North Korean public knows' which based on a hoax video saying based on North Korean people would believe whatever the North Korean TV says - but it is actually the reporter who is stupid as believing in the hoax vid.

Political crimes are punished with three generations of imprisonment. Wanderers fans would be horrified. North Korea is best Korea!

=; Sweet brah, let's defect to Kazakhstan!

Long live DPR Korea

Edited by TheSelectFew: 10/1/2015 01:11:26 AM

What's the food aid for, but?

Training at Leichhardt Oval apparently. My mate works for Leichhardt Pool across the road, and they booked out the whole aquatic centre for the day too.

It's always more than a game for North Korea
January 13, 2015 - 6:26PM
Michael Lynch
Senior sports reporter with The Age

"It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key."

Those were the words of British war-time leader Winston Churchill in October 1939, just after the outbreak of the Second World War when he was addressing the nation in a BBC Radio broadcast and speaking of Russia and the part it had to play in hostilities.

There may well be an edgy, cold war going on between the West and North Korea at the moment, and certainly Churchill's famous description might apply equally well to the Hermit Kingdom, with whom much of the rest of the world has long been engaged in a tense stand-off for several decades.

There are few ways in which the North Koreans actively engage in contact with the rest of the world, save for sabre rattling and threatening apocalyptic action against those who insult it or its "glorious leader" Kim Jong-un.

But sport, particularly football, is one avenue of positive engagement. Perhaps the game will, at one level, be the key to a partial rapprochement with one of the most perplexing and unknown societies on the planet.

The North Koreans do things differently and their arrival in Australia for the Asian Cup was no exception.

It was difficult to find out where they were basing themselves and when they were training before the tournament kicked off. Their players were forbidden from speaking and as little information as possible was given out.

The team has, of course, to fulfil the basic publicity and media requirements demanded by the Asian Football Confederation, but that is about all.

It has been the same for decades. When teams are drawn against them in Asian Cup or World Cup qualifiers they often stay in South Korea and then parachute in and out of Pyongyang for the day, play the game, and depart.

And there are, of course, the jokey tales of how games in foreign tournaments in which the team are involved are only shown if they actually win - although that backfired after the last World Cup in South Africa. Having performed with credit in their opening game, a 2-1 loss to Brazil, the authorities in Pyongyang arranged for the next fiture, against Portugal, to be shown live.

That became a national humiliation as a Ronaldo-inspired Portugal (coached by Iran's current Asian Cup boss Carlos Queiroz) ran riot and won 7-0.

There is a much darker side, of course. According to reports published throughout the West after North Korea's failure in the 2010 World Cup, the squad were forced to appear on a stage at the People's Palace of Culture and made to hear a barrage of criticism from government officials

London's Daily Telegraph, quoting Radio Free Asia and the South Korean media, reported the players were lambasted for failing in the "ideological struggle" to succeed in South Africa.

It quoted the same sources in saying that the team's then coach Kim Jong-hun, was expelled from the Workers Party of Korea and forced to become a builder for "betraying" the leadership.

Given those circumstances, it is perhaps not surprising that North Korea has since often taken a cautious approach to games, where minimising defeat can be as important as actually winning matches.

It wasn't always the case, of course, and while Brazil's 1-7 capitulation to Germany in last year's World Cup semi-final might well be the most astonishing result in the history of the sport, North Korea's efforts in the 1966 World Cup in England also gave them a spot in the history of the game's greatest giantkillers.

The North Koreans had qualified as the representatives of the combined Asia, Africa and Oceania group. They beat Australia 9-2 on aggregate to make the play-offs, but their path to England was made simple when the African nations all withdrew and refused to play as a protest against the single World Cup spot allocated to such vast regions of the world.

North Korea thus advanced unchallenged to the finals, where they were figures of immense curiosity in England's north-east. They were grouped to play against Italy, the Soviet Union and Chile at Middlesbrough's Ayresome Park ground and Sunderland's Roker Park, hotbeds of football where support for the underdog was guaranteed.

Things began predictably enough with a 3-0 loss to the Russians, but improved considerably in their next match when an 88th-minute equaliser by Pak Seung-zin got them a draw with Chile.

It was in their next game that they produced a shock that was every bit as big as that achieved by the US in 1950 when America's part-timers had beaten England in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, in the first post-war World Cup.

No one gave the North Koreans a chance against the aristocrats of Italy when they lined up against each other at Ayresome Park. The Italians had beaten Chile and lost narrowly to the Soviets in their early games, so only needed a draw to ensure their place in the next round.

But, in one of the greatest surprises of all, the North Koreans beat them 1-0, the goal coming just before the interval from Pak Do-ik. The Italians simply could not break down their Asian rivals, and it was the Koreans who progressed. The Azzurri returned home to a barrage of rotten tomatoes and abuse from a disbelieving Italian public.

The shocks almost continued for the men from the east when they took on one of the tournament's top teams, Portugal in a quarter-final at Everton's Goodison Park ground.

In what was an unbelievable match, North Korea raced to a 3-0 lead inside 25 minutes with the stunned Portuguese unable to comprehend what was happening.

That Portuguese side had players of the calibre of the great striker Eusebio and cultured midfielder Mario Coluna, the captain, winger Antonio Simoes and striker Jose Torres. They were, of course, short-priced favourites to progress.

Portugal's was a squad jam-packed with stars from top clubs Sporting, Porto and Benfica: the latter, the Eagles of Lisbon, had won the European Cup a few years before, beating Barcelona in the 1961 final and Real Madrid in the 1962 decider before losing the 1963 and 1965 finals to Italian opponents AC Milan and Internazionale respectively.

So the scoreline after less than half an hour sent shockwaves round the football world. Could the unconsidered North Koreans be on course for a semi-final berth, where they would have met hosts England?

The fairytale did not, however, last. Eusebio singlehandedly took the game by the scruff of the neck and pulled a goal back after 27 minutes. He reduced the deficit again from the penalty spot with two minutes of the first half remaining.

Eusebio added two more second-half goals of his own in a remarkable turnaround, netting in the 56th minute to level and putting Portugal 4-3 up from the penalty spot three minutes later. Jose Augusto, with a goal 10 minutes from time, made it 5-3.

But what a scare the North Koreans had given one of the world's best teams. Their subsequent tournament performances might not have built on the legend of their heroes of 1966, but they will always be remembered for the exploits of that team.

The Saudi Arabian opposition on Wednesday night is a long way removed from Portugal in 1966, and with some adventure the North Koreans will hope that they can rescue their Asian Cup campaign before it is over and begin to write another chapter in their history of giant killing.


http://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/afc-asian-cup/its-always-more-than-a-game-for-north-korea-20150113-12n3so.html

Edited by Damo Baresi: 14/1/2015 01:56:57 PM

North Korea draw strength from Kim Jong-un's 'deep love' before vital Asian Cup clash
January 13, 2015 - 6:52PM
Michael Lynch
Senior sports reporter with The Age

North Korea head coach Jo Tong-sop says the team "feel a deep love" from Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, who also provides "valuable instructions" on training and player welfare.

He may not be here in person, but North Korea's Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un will be at AAMI Park in spirit on Wednesday night, when his country meets Saudi Arabia in a do-or-die Asian Cup pool match.

Coach Jo Tong-sop and striker Pak Kwang-ryong – both speaking through an interpreter at a pre-match press conference – were happy to outline ways in which the youthful successor to his father, Kim Jong-il, aided the team through a mixture of guidance, advice, government support and love.

It might sound quaint to Western ears and be taken with a pinch of salt given the difficult political relationships North Korea has with many of its neighbours and their allies, but the player and coach were happy to field questions about the man who presides over their largely closed country and his influence on the game.


Kim Jong-un has been a frequent observer at matches in Pyongyang and takes a keen interest in their progress, but he did not make a special trip to wish the team luck or proffer advice before they departed for Australia, Jo said.

"He gives us very valuable instructions and tells us many valuable things about training and taking care of the players. We are very much grateful for that," the coach said through his translator. "We feel deep love, he really is encouraging us."

His team was ready to pay back their leader by winning the tournament, but he admitted that losing their first game 1-0 to Uzbekistan had made it a difficult task.

North Korea traditionally sets out to be defensive and hard to break down, snatching goals on the break.

They were breached only once by the Uzbeks, but that was enough, making a result critical against the Saudis, who are in the same boat after losing 1-0 to China in their opening game in Brisbane.

Jo said there was nothing wrong with the game plan, but the players lost concentration and let their defence slip for a moment.

Still, he believed North Korea had what it took to make it through.

"Our first match was not successful and now we are facing the last games, which are very important. The result was not very good because of the lack of mental concentration for 90 minutes.

"I think if we can show our skill enough we can achieve what we want from [Wednesday's] match. I am still optimistic and I believe in our players [to] get to the next stage."

North Korea have a handful of players who earn their living outside their country, the best-known being Pak, who plays for Swiss champions Basel.

He got game time in Basel's Champions League clash with Manchester United, an experience he nominates as a career highlight.

While the coach believes the tough European club schedule has left some of the players tired, Pak says the experience he has gained of the different style of European football is invaluable.

"What I learn in my club can be of help to my team and the players," he said.

But, he added, it had not been an easy transition, as the language, culture, lifestyle and even the way the game is played were so different to what he was used to.

[youtube]JAiY5tQKt2Y[/youtube]

LMFAO

they were fucking hilarious. Best korea playerz loved them

Last night was the debut of the The Pyongyang Pozan!

Kim Jung Un Ole Ole Ole.

Edited by scotty21: 15/1/2015 10:41:39 AM

:lol: pity seccos trying to ruin the fun

They gave up on trying to stop the Pyongyang Poznan once it stretched into 3 bays.

Edited by scotty21: 15/1/2015 11:15:47 AM

I would love to see what the north korean media thought of it, the propaganda they could make from this asian cup would be golden.

"Millions of Australians paid homage to our glorious leader in supporting our world champion team defeating saudi arabia 13-0."

Its gone global :lol: