The North Korea team made history when it entered into the 2010 FIFA World Cup after a gap of around 66 years. At the time, the government felicitated the coach, saying he was a miracle worker.
North Korea couldn’t make it past the group stage, but the fact that they were competing was commendable.
Now that the team is back home, they have been subject to public humiliation. The team was lectured in public on their failure and “betrayal” of Kim Kong- un, son and heir of the great leader Kim Jong-il.
Coach Kim Jong-hun
The coach, Kim Jong-hun has been sacked as team coach and forced to work as a construction worker without pay. Now, he fears for his life – he believes that he might be executed.
The team fought hard against Brazil. Though the score line was 2-1 for Brazil, North Korea struck the first goal. They went on to lose 3-0 to Ivory Coast and 7-0 to Portugal. Remember, this young, untested team, was placed in the dreaded Group of Death.
The problem was that football hasn’t ever been broadcast live in North Korea, as the broadcast of live games had been banned to avoid national embarrassment. When the team played Brazil they were not under too much pressure, as they knew the game would not be telecast live and were able to play freely. After the spirited 2-1 defeat to Brazil, however, state television made the Portugal game its first live sports broadcast ever.
Dejected team members walk off the field
This historical match put the team under pressure, as they faced a formidable team in Portugal, they knew their every move would be watched back home, they felt pressured and their game disintegrated. They had no answers for the Portugese defense. They were young and inexperienced. And for this, they are being crucified.
According to media in South Korea, though, players got off lightly by North Korean standards. Historically, it was straight to the prison camps for athletes and coaches who performed badly.
Shameful.
FIFA should ban the country from participating in football matches if defeat means that the coach could be executed and the team subject to public humiliation.
Sunday’s World Cup final was bound to create history — one way or another. But this clash of two two like-minded footballing cultures looked more like foulball than football. The Dutch set a new record for yellow cards in a World Cup final (12, compared to the previous record of 6), with Heitinga getting sent off with his second yellow card for the evening in the 110th minute of the game. The night, however, belonged to Spain, which prevailed despite the hounding and hammering they received from the Dutchmen.
“I simply made a small contribution in a match that was very tough, very rough,” said Andres Iniesta, the Spanish hero who sent his team to World Cup glory. “All sorts of things were happening on the pitch.”
The match was rough and tumble; the Spanish weren’t able to play their free-flowing football; and despite the number of scoring chances, there was very little of the quality football that these two teams are known for. The sport’s showpiece event was hardly a showcase for the beautiful game, and that was the Netherlands’ doing. Refree Howard Webb showed the first yellow card of the evening to Van Persie in the 15th minute when he brought down Joan Capdevila. Spain’s Carles Puyol reacted to a foul on a Spanish player a minute later and was shown a yellow card of his own, but the spoilers were definately the Dutch.
Though the tactics slowed down La Roja, they still maintained the upper hand in terms of possession (60/40), and delivered where it mattered most — in the goalkeepers net! As Iniesta took off his shirt and ran to the sidelines to celeberate on one end of the field, on the other end Iker Casillas, standing inside his goal post, had tears streaming down his face. That goal ended nearly 80 years of angst for a nation that has produced so many great players but has not once lifted the World Cup trophy.
With this win Spain enters the history books not only because this is the first time the nation has won the World Cup, but also because no country has ever lost its opening match and gone on to win the final! Spain is also only the second country to have won the Euro Cup and gone on to win the World Cup two years later.
The semi-finals have been played and the final two sides chosen — it’s going to be Netherlands vs Spain on the 11th of July at Johannesburg, and no matter which team wins, history will be created.
Netherlands enter their first World Cup final since 1978 with a 3-2 win over the relatively inexperienced Uruguay side. They won’t be favored to win against Spain, but this Dutch team finds ways to win. The Oranje outplayed Brazil with a combination of a very strong, hardworking midfield and a continuous attack that revealed all of Brazil’s weak spots, setting up the upset of World Cup 2010.
But they didn’t look all that very convincing against Uruguay. The verve with which they played against Brazil was lacking for the most part of the game. They won against the hard-working Uruguay team solely on the basis of their experience.
Dutch stars like Robin Van Persey haven’t made a mark at the World Cup — the glory in their team belongs to Wesley Sneijder (who is in the running for the coveted Golden Boot) and Dirk Kuyt.
Spain have already created one piece of history —- this was the first time the Spanish team made it to the semi-final stage in the World Cup. Should the Euro 2008 champions go on to lift the title, it will mark their first-ever World Cup victory, and will make them one of just a handful of teams to have won the Euro cup and gone on to win the World Cup two years later.
After their embarrassing loss to Switzerland in their opening group game, Spain were able to go on to beat a “German team so rampant that it had three times scored four goals in a game during the tournament,”
suggesting that they’re just hitting their stride. Though I was afraid that the German defense might be too difficult for the Spanish to break through, and that German strikers would pull holes in the Spanish defense, La Roja flowed down the field like a wave of red!
Their confidence in possession is terrifying — Spain more than once took short free kicks to players who had an opposition defender literally on their backs, the gesture showing their players’ confidence in holding on to the ball no matter how close the opposition got. On the rare occasion that they lost it, they simply grabbed it back within a split second. And in the process, they played some gorgeous attacking football with little flicks and feints putting their players through — although that sometimes maddening Spanish habit of seeking to pass the ball all the way into the net rather than sometimes simply pulling the trigger was occasionally in evidence. — Time.CNN
But what are their chances in the finals?
The Dutch didn’t expect to reach the finals, so they should be able to play a freer game without any kind of performance pressure. The start-studded Spanish side, though, entered the tournament as the favorites to lift the trophy, and the pressure can tell. At the end of the day, though, football is a crazy game — anything can happen, at any time!
Uruguay advanced into the semi-final by beating Ghana due to a foul in the final minute of extra time. Netherlands defeated Brazil because Felipe Melo got in the way of his goalkeeper, and later let his frustration get the better of him and got himself sent off for a violent foul.
And that is why I for one am going to be glued to my television set on the 11th, cheering on for my favorite side — Spain!
South Africa has seen some major drama in this world cup! France and former world champions Italy crashed out in Round 1, England and Portugal bowed out in the Round of 16, and Brazil and Argentina crashed out in the Quarters!
Here’s a look at the final four teams that are still standing:
Netherlands Netherlands has a rich footballing tradition, but have never taken the trophy home. After being Brazil 2-1, this could well be their year! The Oranje were in the semis in 1998, and made two straight finals in 1974 and 1978. But for decades, the Dutch have been labeled the best team never to win it all. If they could come back against the Brazilians, thanks to two brilliant goals from Wesley Sneijder, then their major breakthrough could well be at hand, after 32 years of waiting!
Uruguay Uruguay, once a soccer power, most recently an afterthought, broke South Africa’s heart on July 2, beating the last African nation in the fray — Ghana — 3-2 on penalties. (Uruguay won the first World Cup in 1930, then again in 1950, beating Brazil in Rio de Janeiro.) This is the country’s first semi-final appearance in 40 years. However, they will face the Dutch without their most important goal-scorer Suarez, who was red-carded when he used his hands to keep out a header in the last minute of extra-time, denying Ghana a place in the semis.
Germany With its 4-0 rout against Argentina in the quarters, Germany will enter the semis more confident than ever. This is the youngest side to ever be sent to the World Cup, and they certainly don’t seem to be missing their captain from four years ago — Mikael Ballak. The team has a formidable defense led by captain Philip Lahm, and excellent mid-fielder in Bastian Schweinsteiger, great goal scorers Miloslav Klose and Mesut Oezil and Lucas Podolski.
Spain Spain entered the World Cup as the favorites to win, but were off to a shaky start, losing 1-0 to Switzerland. That defeat, though, shook them, and they’ve become progressively better, beating Paraguay 1-0 to book their place in the semi-finals. Spain last claimed a space among the top four in 1950 in a round-robin final stage, but have never competed in a World Cup semi-final. Fernando Torres hasn’t got his groove back, but the individualistic David Villa is creating magic on the field, as are Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas, who replaced a shaky Torres 10 minutes into the second half. Other notables in the Spanish squad include goalkeeper Iker Casillas, defenders Gerard Pique, Carles Puyol and Sergio Ramos, and mid-fielders Xavi and Xabi Alonso.
In the most exciting match of FIFA 2010 so far, the brilliant Christiano Ronaldo led his band of 11 merry men to a resounding 7-0 victory over DPR Korea.
You really can’t call Korea a weak team, they did manage to hold Brazil 0-0 till the second half after all. However, they changed their strategy since that game, from a defensive to an attacking one, and that appears to have gone against them. It doesn’t take anything away from Portugal, however, which gave the Koreans a masterclass in football!
(images from fifa.com/getty images)
There was some brilliant passing from Ronaldo, who set up a number of goals. Plus, when his shots missed the target, his usual theatrics were missing, showing how he has matured as a captain for his team.
“I am always happy to score, but the credit must goes to my teammates,” said Mr. Ronaldo, who was named player of the game. “We were fantastic today.”
Now, what do you have up your sleeve for Friday’s game against Brazil, Mr. Ronaldo?
What’s up with all the “strong” teams? So far, Argentina’s the only team that impressed in both of its matches. Germany started out extremely well before falling to Serbia; Italy’s just about managed to draw both of its games against Paraguay and New Zealand; England gave away a goal to the US and couldn’t find the back of the Algerian net; Portugal drew nil-nil with Ivory Coast; France is almost certainly on its way home; Brazilian magic worked mainly in the second half; and Spain crashed and burned against Switzerland!
None of the footballing stars have been able to really control the Jabulani ball, and goal keepers haven’t been able to always predict its trajectory. The most successful goalkeepers in this World Cup have been the ones that have punched the ball out instead of trying to catch it, and commentators’ favorite line has been “the ball was too long and went out of play.” The number of times that crosses fly over the penalty box and shots go into the stands is only increasing. Have the best players in the world suddenly forgotten how to play? Or is the reason for all of these gaffes the Jabulani ball, with which players are unfamiliar with, and which England boss Fabio Capello describes as “the worst ball” ever?
It might be sensible to bring the best stars in the world to play in winter conditions, on high altitude, on porous pitches (those in Port Elizabeth, Pretoria and Rustenburg are more suitable for planting potatoes or accommodating homeless moles), and deafen them with vuvuzelas. After all, Sepp has always promised to bring the World Cup to Africa. But to make those stars play with a completely new ball on the biggest stage in the world is more than outrageous. That kind of decision shows total lack of respect for all involved – the players, the fans, the World Cup and the game as a whole. (you can read the entire article on goal.com)
But then how do you explain how Maradona floated a beautiful free-kick into the net during practice? It simply demonstrates that the best players keepers are the ones that adapt the quickest to the way a ball reacts, particularly at altitude.
So maybe the fault doesn’t lie in the Jabulani ball; maybe it’s just first-round fears, with many of the teams paralyzed at the thought of being on the back foot after a match. As the teams get into a more “do or die” situation, chances are we’ll see some world class football once again. If you saw Brazil’s 3-1 victory over Ivory Coast yesterday night, you’d know what I was talking about!
