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THE BOYS from North Korea are in the kingdom in a bid to keep their 100 per cent World Cup Russian dream intact and pour more misery on Bahrain’s embattled Argentinian coach Sergio ‘Checho’ Batista.
Batista knows his team has to put on a convincing show at the National Stadium tomorrow night if he is to win over sceptical fans who have suffered too much soccer sadness in a series of heart-breaking failed attempts to reach the finals of the world’s most prominent sporting spectacular.
To date Bahrain have played only once this time round, losing by the only goal in the opening match away to the Philippines, who have also despatched Yemen. North Korea sits proudly on top of the Asia qualifying Group H with two wins on goal difference, having scored seven goals and only conceded two.
But Batista is defiant and convinced he can turn things around and the Bahrain Football Association hopes that free entry to the match, which kicks off at 6.40pm, will attract a bumper crowd. The coach said: “We need to win this game and I am confident we will. But, we must keep in mind that North Korea have also prepared really well and we should not take things for granted.
“The team members need to play with every part of their being … their emotions, their heart and their brain. And, what we need now, more than ever, is the support of the fans. They need to stand by their team.
“Many people here are waiting to see their flag fly high at a World Cup Finals. They want to see their dream come true and we hope to make that a reality.”
Tough talking but the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s national football team, recognised as Korea DPR by FIFA, although ranked 12 places below Bahrain at 124, are considered by many pundits to be favourites to qualify for the final stages of the 2018 tournament to be staged in Russia.
They have history on their side. Korea DPR are indelibly linked to the FIFA World Cup thanks to the exploits of their 1966 team. North Korea became one of the original ‘giant-killers’ with a famous win over Italy in England, and then fell just shy of an unthinkable appearance in the semi-finals.
Their other appearance on world football’s greatest stage was in 2010 when they ground their way through a tough qualifying campaign to reach South Africa. There they turned in a heroic effort in the opener against Brazil in succumbing to a 2-1 loss, only to crash to hefty defeats against Portugal and Côte d’Ivoire.
New coach Kim Chang-bok must have been delighted with his side’s performances on their recent World Cup endeavours, a 4-2 home victory over Uzbekistan after an earlier 3-0 success against war-torn Yemen in an ‘away’ match staged in Doha.
North Korea is one of the world’s most isolated countries, and its people face chronic food insecurity and poverty and sport undoubtedly helps unify the country.
For decades it has been one of the world’s most secretive societies. It is one of the few countries still under nominally Communist rule … but on the football field the nation’s players and fans are better known for their passion and somewhat extreme exuberance.
North Korea’s nuclear ambitions have exacerbated its rigidly maintained isolation from the rest of the world.
The country emerged in 1948 amid the chaos following the end of the Second World War. Its history is dominated by its Great Leader, Kim Il-sung, who shaped political affairs for almost half a century.
Decades of this rigid state-controlled system have led to stagnation and a leadership dependent on the cult of personality. The totalitarian state also stands accused of systematic human rights abuses.
Outside North Korea, son and successor Kim Jong-un is depicted as a monster, sometimes a buffoon who sends his goons around to a London hairdresser who dared poke fun of his haircut, or a portly playboy with a liking for Swiss cheese, fast cars and faster women.
But inside North Korea, he is a monarch, the supreme leader, with an almost god-like aura. The controversial, comedic movie The Interview, an American political satire, so hacked off the ruler that the FBI pointed to North Korea as the mastermind of a cyber-attack on its makers, Sony Pictures.
Love him, or hate him, the country’s top scorer Jong Tae-Se, nicknamed ‘the People’s Rooney’, is known for crying when the North Korean national anthem is played before a match, most notably when Korea DPR played their first game of the 2010 World Cup against Brazil. He admits he ‘gets emotional’.
The football-mad nation has experienced a few lows too. In March 2005, the team entered a match with Iran with limited chances of qualifying for the World Cup Finals due to poor performance in earlier fixtures.
During the match that was hosted in Pyongyang, the North Korean fans became enraged when the Syrian referee Mohamed Kousa failed to award North Korea a penalty.
The fans then rushed the referee, throwing bottles, stones and chairs onto the field and after the match they refused to let the Iranian team leave the stadium. Riot police had to be called in to subdue them. This incident caused North Korea to lose its right to host the subsequent home match with Japan and the game was instead played behind closed doors at an empty stadium in Thailand.
There is unlikely to be any travelling support at tomorrow’s fixture in Bahrain although supporters will be glued to the Internet for updates on the action.
Batista is more interested in the home fans, hoping they will be happy with the team’s performance and a vital three points are secured.
The chase would then be on to catch up the leading two countries with a short journey to Doha to take on Yemen on Tuesday at the Grand Hamad Stadium.
If successful, the misery of World Cup play-off defeats against New Zealand and Trinidad & Tobago may be finally put to rest.
