Not so Dear Leader
We all joked that the North Korean side was playing for their lives for Dear Leader. Well, at least they’re still alive.
The team hadn’t been to the World Cup in 44 years, and it was in arguably the most talented group in the tournament. (In retrospect, we have this group too much credit, but oh well.) They held up against Brazil for about 65 minutes, then they were destroyed by Portugal 7-0 and “held” Ivory Coast to a 4-0 thrashing.
Their punishment upon returning to Pyongyang this month was a public rebuke. The team was made to stand on a stage in front of about 400 people, including the national sports minister, and were reprimanded for betraying the trust of Dear Leader’s son Kim Jong Un.
Then, after the team was criticized by other athletes and a sports commentator, the team itself had to rip into its coach.
This all came from Radio Free Asia, citing sources, so take it for what it’s worth. But it this is all true, it’s almost as bad as being beaten. You make it to the World Cup, you face three teams ranked in the top 15 at the time, and you have no program of your own. What? They were supposed to pull off a point? A goal? It was always going to be rough.
Thank goodness we live in a country where, as a coach, all you have to deal with is the rebuke of a few daft bloggers like us. U-S-A! U-S-A!
This just isn’t true, right? Players that fought for a place among the best 32 countries of the world are criticized by 400 self pronounced football experts? The coach of this team send to a forced labour site? Unbelievable. We, The Netherlands, did not win the world cup, we became second. Did we burn down the players or staff? No, we took them on a tour through the canals of Amsterdam. Of course we were disappointed, but hey, that’s life. Kim Jung whatever didn’t achieve the world cup, the players did. He did not face brasil, the team did. So let them be proud about themselves, and motivate them to train harder for the next World cup ( in a human way !!)