SOUTH AFRICA: FOOTBALL / SOCCER - WORLD CUP 2010 - North Korea prepare for Brazil showdown

Record ID: 454586

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: FOOTBALL / SOCCER - WORLD CUP 2010 - North Korea prepare for Brazil showdown
  • Date: 15th June 2010
  • Summary: JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA (JUNE 14, 2010) (REUTERS) WIDE OF NORTH KOREAN PLAYERS TRAINING AT ELLIS PARK STADIUM MORE OF PLAYERS TRAINING PLAYERS PERFORMING HEADING EXERCISE (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) NORTH KOREA COACH KIM JONG-HUN, SAYING: "Our players are very qualified, I think they're very talented and I think they don't fall behind any other players in the world. Their talent and qualifications will be shown if we win tomorrow and this will bring great happiness to our Great Leader Kim Jong-il and this will also show that the people of the Korea DPR have a very strong mentality and I think that is why we can be proud. The players are proud and so am I. Of course Brazil are a very strong team, and a perennial favourite. It's not that I don't know this or my players don't know this, but we really have a strong mentality and I think that's what will prevail." MORE OF PLAYERS TRAINING PLAYERS STRETCHING ON PITCH VARIOUS OF TRAINING (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) NORTH KOREA COACH KIM JONG-HUN, SAYING: "There are quite a few players from the England World Cup still alive. We met them before coming here, while we were training they came quite often to our training camps and they gave us lots of advice and they told us what it would be like and they also gave us a lot of encouragement so that we could make our Great Leader Kim Jong-il very proud." MORE OF TRAINING IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) NORTH KOREA COACH KIM JONG-HUN, SAYING: "Among the 32 teams, I believe we are called the Korea DPR so please do not use any other name for our team." PLAYERS TRAINING
  • Embargoed: 30th June 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Africa
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVADO5318OHUIR5OOFN2I6SJUMYJ
  • Story Text: North Korea feel they can emulate the giant killing feats of 1966 as they prepare to face the World Cup's most successful side Brazil in Johannesburg, South Africa on Tuesday (June 15).
    Speaking at a news conference on Monday (June 14), North Korean coach Kim Jong-Hun said they did not feel they were inferior in Group G to the likes of Brazil, Ivory Coast and Portugal.
    "Our players are very qualified, I think they're very talented and I think they don't fall behind any other players in the world. Their talent and qualifications will be shown if we win tomorrow and this will bring great happiness to our Great Leader Kim Jong-il and this will also show that the people of the Korea DPR have a very strong mentality and I think that is why we can be proud. The players are proud and so am I. Of course Brazil are a very strong team, and a perennial favourite. It's not that I don't know this or my players don't know this but we really have a strong mentality and I think that's what will prevail," he said.
    The national team is behind one of the most memorable fairytale stories in World Cup history when they surpassed all expectations in 1966 by knocking out the Italians and reaching the quarter-finals before being knocked out by the Portuguese, who needed a Eusebio-inspired comeback to overturn a three-goal Korean lead.
    "There are quite a few players from the England World Cup still alive. We met them before coming here, while we were training they came quite often to our training camps and they gave us lots of advice and they told us what it would be like and they also gave us a lot of encouragement so that we could make our Great Leader Kim Jong-il very proud," the coach said.
    North Korea have remained out of the media spotlight during their stay in South Africa and journalists were instructed to refrain from asking political questions at the news conference.
    Kim Jong-Hun even refused to answer a question from a journalist who had referred to the country as "North Korea" instead of the "Democratic People's Republic of Korea" as it is known in the secretive state.
    "Among the 32 teams, I believe we are called the Korea DPR so please do not use any other name for our team," he said.
    North Korea have been written off by many in what is widely regarded as the toughest group in the competition. Their neighbours and foes on the Korean peninsula, South Korea, got their campaign off to an excellent start after they beat Greece 2-0 on Saturday (June 12).
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