http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZcARgTqADU




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynIY_4SXRXU




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biJmswTyGK0




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5bhNjb8H_E




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEnwb9TFWXQ




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LL-IEDzpV0E




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSA5h2WDjWY




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA3Uo9KfFgM

This post has been edited by HangPC2: Jun 12 2010, 01:50 PM

1stttttttttt... @.@ North korea??? Good luck with that fanlist..

a clarification about the juche regime football

1-their key players are actually south korean/korean expat in japan

2-they don't torture their players.rather they get vip treatment by them north korea

3-they got a rather sophisticated training facilities(their stadia is the biggest in the world.200000+ people.bigger than wembley,bigger than old trafford,bigger than stadium bukit jalil,bigger than camp nou....)


i don't support them(i prefer the southern realm) but i don't against them either

if North and South Korea reunified (if there was every a chance) may be Malaysia would qualify for the World Cup in the again!

In any case, it would be as though cows can fly and pig eat tiger kind of scenario.

I think like any dictatorial regime, be it North Korea or Iraq (former Saddam Regime before he retired abruptly), i won't be surprised at all if any athletes were tortured or their families decapitated if they didn't achieve certain KPI by their Great Leader.

North Korea all the way!

Zainichi Korean J-Leaguers Will Play in World Cup (for North Korea)






The three players are of Korean ancestry, choosing to hold on to the Korean citizenship of their parents rather than naturalize and become Japanese. They all play professionally in Japan on J-League teams. Although they do not live in North Korea, the North Korean government recognized their soccer skills and requested that they join the national team.

In this clip, the North Korean team is shown wearing t-shirts with the slogan “ 1966 again ” – a reference to the stunning performance their national team gave in that year’s World Cup. [The shirts presumably do not refer to how many of the 1966 team members ended up in the gulags upon their return to North Korea.]

Ahn Young-Hak, a player for the Omiya Ardija J-league team, is interviewed about his expectations. He seems to be proud to be representing North Korea and hopes that the team’s strong sense of unity will help it win some matches. North Korea’s position in the “group of death” will put it up against incredibly strong teams, so any victory could be hailed as a repeat of the surprise of 1966.

Relevant Link: The Wall Street Journal has an article up about the North Korean soccer team. It includes some quotes from Ahn.


NTV news reports on how 3 professional soccer players who were born and raised in Japan will be playing for the glory of one of the world’s most brutal dictatorships in the 2010 World Cup :


http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xd9yt1_1966again_webcam



Sources : http://www.japanprobe.com/

At least they are better than South Korea in which, The whole world will never ever forget the history created by them, turning the crowds who are against them to support them, making a team with many aces like Italy to go home welcoming by tomatoes and eggs, play with team work, individual skills, techniques and believing themselves to make it through....

Bringing the name of Asia football into the recognition of the whole world...

Unlike South korea, they are not football players, they're MMa fighters. That explained well why nobody talked about south korea after their glamorous 4th place in 2002 WC.

This post has been edited by liez: Jun 12 2010, 12:14 PM

North Korea Sign Legea Kit Deal


Bloomberg reports that North Korea has signed a four year - 4 million-euro Legea kit deal, according to Daniele Nastro, marketing director of Pompeii, Italy-based sports apparel maker Legea.

North Koreanfootball association assistant general secretary Ri Kang Hong confirmed the deal with Legea, without giving financial details.

North Korea received other bids. It declined an offer by China Hongxing Sports Ltd., the Singapore-listed company that provided its jerseys for qualifying games, according to Kelvin Yeung, chief financial officer of the Chinese company.

European brands might have bid more, Yeung said, without saying how much China Hongxing offered. Ri said the agreement with the Quanzhou, China-based company had expired and declined to comment on why it wasn’t renewed.



Brand : Legea



















Vendors Leave No Shirt Unturned Seeking North Korean Soccer Duds



MAY 27, 2010


Secrecy Suits Hermit Kingdom to a Tee; Will There Be a Brand New Jersey ?


By ADAM THOMPSON

Richard Smith wants to start selling the official soccer jersey of the world's most secretive totalitarian regime before the World Cup tournament begins June 11.

He isn't optimistic.

Hawking the soccer jerseys of all 32 World Cup teams competing in South Africa this year is a point of pride for Mr. Smith, the managing director of Subside SportsLtd., an apparel seller in Exeter, England.

To do that, he and his fellow sports merchandisers must find North Korea's soccer shirt. They've initiated the equivalent of a world-wide Easter egg hunt, talking to apparel makers from Mexico to China.

Mr. Smith says he would order 1,000 North Korean jerseys if someone would just let him. " Our market is collectors, " he says. " They will want the shirt no one else has. "

Handicappers view the North Korean soccer team as a long shot in this year's Cup. The secretive Democratic People's Republic of Korea mostly boasts players from its walled-off home league, which soccer fans know little about.

With an opening match against Brazil on June 15, the country makes its first Cup appearance since 1966. While the North Koreans have made pre-Cup appearances this year, they have yet to show off the shirt they will wear in South Africa. Such elusiveness is an anomaly in the gear-fanatical global soccer culture that feeds the merchandising frenzy surrounding the Cup every four years.

Adidas AG and Nike Inc. make many national teams' jerseys. But the job of clothing teams from more obscure nations sometimes falls to smaller companies. The Chinese Hongxing Erke Group had dressed North Korean athletes in recent years, but it isn't equipping them for this Cup.

Some vendors guessed Mexico's Pirma would assume the job after it hastily provided the North Koreans with replacement jerseys when the team's luggage failed to arrive in Mexico City for a March 17 exhibition against Mexico.

Julio Villalobos, Pirma's director of clothes and accessories, said the company began negotiations with the North Koreans over providing World Cup jerseys shortly after that. But he says haggling got out of hand : " They kept wanting a lower price, so we eventually said, 'No deal. '

North Korea's national soccer federation didn't respond to requests for comment made through the country's United Nations mission.

As recently as this week in an exhibition with Greece, the North Koreans wore a jersey made by Spanish apparel company Astore. But Astore sales director Michel Gogniat says his company has no official deal with North Korea. Instead he says his company unwittingly sold the shirts without any national demarcations to an intermediary in China, who redirected them to the team.

After spending months on the puzzle, Mr. Smith finally solved part of it earlier this month. A contact in Asia informed him that the North Koreans had struck a deal with Legea SRL, an Italian company. But Mr. Smith still isn't sure his firm can order the jerseys before the Cup begins.

Lorenzo Grimaldi, Legea's marketing manager, confirmed that it has the North Korean contract. He said it struck the deal in Pompei, Italy, in early February, which predates the negotiations between Pirma and the North Koreans.

Legea wants the exposure of having jerseys with its logo shown on TV all over the world. So it is paying for the costs of producing the jerseys and other official attire worn by the North Korean team.

Getting the jersey to the market in time for the tournament has proved tough. The North Koreans wanted a " personalized " design for their jersey, including fabrics that were " off the catalog, " Mr. Grimaldi recalls.

Legea translated memos into Korean explaining such details as how large the North Korean flag and Legea's own logo would appear on the jersey in order to meet World Cup standards. " This really slowed our work, " Mr. Grimaldi says. The jerseys aren't available anywhere online yet. Legea will charge €45 ($56) to €50 ($62) for the shirts.

Why it should be so difficult to sell the jerseys is anyone's guess, says Jim Noonan, vice president of marketing for Sports Endeavors Inc. in Hillsborough, N.C. " I don't think they're being deliberately difficult, " he says of the North Korean soccer federation. " They're just winging it, probably. "

Finding the jersey is just one of many challenges facing those hoping to sell North Korean merchandise.

Mr. Noonan is among the vendors who don't expect much from sales of souvenirs for one of the tournament's biggest underdogs, considering the unpopularity of the government and the lack of access to customers within that country's closed borders.

So far souvenirs like " I DPRK Football " infant bodysuits, which Mr. Noonan's company sells online for $12.99, have accounted for .025% of the company's World Cup-related sale

As for questions about the morality of making a buck off Kim Jong Il's favorite soccer team, the merchandisers say they don't worry about that.

" We're a football company, " Mr. Smith says. " We're not a political adjudicator. We trade in polyester. "

" I have Iran, Venezuela, everyone on the Axis of Evil," says Ben Phillip, a Michigan graphic designer with a North Korean soccer T-shirt for sale. " It doesn't really bother me. "

Even if merchandisers can't get a hold of this year's jersey, there is one set of North Korean shirts vendors can count on: throwbacks. Subside sells shirts from 2008 and 1966. Toffs Ltd., another English company, also sells the 1966 edition.

Toffs co-owner and president Alan Finch says his company usually accommodates customer demand regardless of how controversial the jersey may be, and never thought twice about making the North Korean throwback. He was 18 when the 1966 World Cup came to England, and recalls having a soft spot for the unheralded team that upset Italy and reached the quarterfinals.

" They were likable long shots, " he says.

—Stacy Meichtry, Nicholas Casey and David Luhnow contributed to this article.



Sources : http://online.wsj.com/



North Korea Profits From Brazil World Cup Game With Jersey Deal



June 02, 2010, 11:37 AM EDT

By Alex Duff and Makiko Kitamura


June 3 (Bloomberg) -- North Korea is returning to the World Cup after 44 years, and venturing into the sports marketing industry that evolved in its absence.


Ahead of the June 11 start of the tournament, the soccer team of Kim Jong Il’s regime has snared a 4 million-euro ($4.9 million) jersey contract over four years, according to Daniele Nastro, marketing director of Pompeii, Italy-based sports apparel maker Legea s.r.l. North Korean soccer association assistant general secretary Ri Kang Hong confirmed the deal with Legea, without giving financial details.


“ Perhaps it’s a sign of incipient capitalism, ” Jim Hoare, a retired British diplomat who served in Pyongyang, said from London. Although western sports leagues aren’t covered by the media in North Korea, officials “ would be aware of the value of sports sponsorship, ” Hoare said.

The deal is timely as North Korea faces trade restrictions. South Korea halted business last month after blaming the communist nation for a torpedo attack on a warship that killed 46 sailors in March. Japan has tightened controls on sending money to the North, which was already under United Nations sanctions for nuclear testing.

Kim’s regime is “ hungry ” for foreign cash, according to Scott Snyder, director of the Center for U.S.-Korea Policy at The Asia Foundation in Washington. “ The economy is in a very difficult situation, ” he added.

1,000-to-1 Chance

Ranked No. 105 in the world, North Korea takes on the Nike Inc.-clad Brazil, the record five-time world champion, in its opening game on June 15 in Johannesburg. Ladbrokes Plc, a U.K. oddsmaker, rates North Korea a 16-to-1 chance to defeat Brazil, meaning a $1 bet would yield $16 in profit.

The communist state is given a 1,000-to-1 chance of winning the tournament, according to Ladbrokes.

At the 1966 World Cup in England, when brand names were absent from even European team uniforms, North Korea wore plain red shirts when it upset Italy 1-0 to reach the quarterfinals and won the affection of the English, who “ probably felt sorry for them, ” Hoare said. England now commands about 34 million euros a year from Nike Inc.’s Umbro brand, making it the top earner of the 32 teams that will play at the World Cup in South Africa, according to Sport + Markt AG.

No Apparel Market

North Korea’s team is getting an amount similar to what might be paid to a low-ranking team in the English Premier League, the world’s richest soccer league, according to Simon Chadwick, a sports business professor at the U.K.’s Coventry University. Ri, in an interview in Tokyo last week, said it was hard to find a jersey sponsor as there’s “ no market ” for sports apparel in North Korea.

“ If it doesn’t result in sales, there’s no point ” for some sporting-goods companies, Ri said.

Legea will provide North Korea with branded World Cup jerseys and training gear, Nastro said. That will help raise the Italian brand’s international profile, although the marketing bet could backfire, Chadwick said.

Legea “ will be working overtime to put clear blue water between the team and the regime, ” Chadwick said. “ It could get to the stage when people stop buying the brand if they’re being seen as propping up a dictatorship. ”

While not breaking trade sanctions, Legea is “ swimming against the tide ” with its sponsorship because of the perception of North Korea, Snyder said. “ It’s a bit like sponsoring Tiger Woods at the moment, ” he said.

Nastro said he isn’t worried. “ In the World Cup, politics will be out, ” he said by telephone from Pompeii.

Rival Chinese Bid

North Korea received other bids. It declined an offer by China Hongxing Sports Ltd (ERKE), the Singapore-listed company that provided its jerseys for qualifying games, according to Kelvin Yeung, chief financial officer of the Chinese company.

European brands might have bid more, Yeung said, without saying how much China Hongxing offered. Ri said the agreement with the Quanzhou, China-based company had expired and declined to comment on why it wasn’t renewed.

North Korea rejected Legea’s first design for its shirts as too modern, frowning upon a white line across a red shirt, Nastro said.

“ As a people, we don’t like flashy designs, ” Ri said. “ For home games, the jerseys are white, which we regard as noble, and it reflects our spirit. For away games, we go with red, which is used in our national flag. It also symbolizes our passion and heart. A simple design expresses that more purely. ”

As part of the shirt deal agreed in March, there is a kicker for North Korea: it will get a 10 million euro bonus if it wins the World Cup, Nastro said.

“ That’s probably not going to happen, ” he added.



Sources : http://www.businessweek.com/

i hope they trash brazil ... not gonna happen tho

my prediction will be that they will be ripe to shred by brazillian counter attack if they dare to play an attacking game.

I'm sure the scoreline will be surprising. Good or bad

what if north invades the south and take over it ...

edit: nvm ... us will never let that happen


north korea plays a 3-3-2-1-1 system ... that's 6 defenders that you have to get through before you get your attempt at goal ... it will be nice to see how brazil break them down ... dunga might need to field his flair players ... o wai ... he didn't bring any

This post has been edited by spursfan: Jun 14 2010, 05:52 PM

The present Brazil is very different from the previous generation of Brazil team. Dunga developed this team to become one of the best counter attack team. So no matter how many defenders you lined up, they will still have the chance score because they're fast, accurate, fit and have good understanding between them. North Korea should spend less time thinking how to defend and spend more time to sort out how they actually gonna avoid losing the ball to Brazil while they're attacking.

Robinho is more than enough flair in a team like recent Brazil if you know what I mean~

i think brazil will temp then with some chance to attack and then their counter attack will be like hot knife through butter.

i'd like to see how brazil break down dprk ... it will be interesting ... or a snore fest ...

i know brazil's team has changed from a flair team to a CA team ... however, this brazilian team does not work well against a team that parks the bus ... that is what the dprk team does ... the 6 defenders dun go forward ... the attacking is done by the remaining 4 players ...

i think for the brazil - dprk match, the brazilian wing backs will be the key ... 6 defenders + 2 central midfielders means there's nobody to press the wing backs ... maicon and bastos will do serious damage if they are given 50 yards to run at ...

if DPRK were to set up camp in their own half, brazil need to change strategy to play possession football to try lure their defender out, i am interested to see if DPRK player are discipline enough to keep the their formation not to give away space. but if they are discipline enough it will be a snore fest

looks like their full backs dun cross the halfway line ...
http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/05/26/nor...u-might-expect/

Playing possession football against a defensive team is no use since history of football thought us well. remember the match between Inter and Barca not long ago. How Inter actually Inter managed to defense against a team that defended so well which also the same team that lined up one of the most disciplined outfield players in history of football. I hate to say it, but to come against a team like Barca you must be very disciplined. That's what Korea need to defend against Brazil. Although Brazil is not the same/good as Barca but Brazil have speed in Counter attacks in which very much needed to come against the slow Korean defenders.

Like I said before, if the Korean are smart, they will try to settle for a draw and avoid committing themselves in attacking too much. Even a little too much for them is suicide as we all know, they don't have a very organized defensive unit. But I hope that we can watch more technical battle than tactical. hehe~