FIFA U-17 World Cup: a spirited North Korea are looking to cause upset in a difficult group

NORTH KOREA ARE increasingly visible in the news these days. The politically isolated country is known to Indians mostly through its war rhetorics and a never ending battle of propaganda with the USA.

One of the few places in which this troubled country interacts with the world freely and on an equal footing is in the field of sports, especially athletics and football. The country's national teams have proven their competence with multiple World Cup berths across all age levels.

Over the last one year, North Korea has had an increased footballing interaction with India. First their Under-16 team travelled to India to participate in the AFC U-16 Championship. Then April 25th SC, one of the country's biggest clubs, faced off with Bengaluru FC in the AFC Cup Inter-zone semi-finals where the Blues emerged victorious. And next month, their AFC U-16 championship squad will arrive in India again, this time to participate in the FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Unlike many other countries including India, the North Korean colts have not gone on elaborate international tours to prepare for their World Cup outing. Just like most North Korean sports team, their preparation to take on the best in the world has been strictly domestic. But their quality was on full display at the AFC U-16 Championship, where they rose all the way to the semi-finals to earn a World Cup qualification.

North Korea, or Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea as it's officially known, has been active in the AFC U-16 Championship since the 1980s. The DPRK team has performed consistently well, with their peak arriving in early 21st century. They reached the AFC U-16 final twice in a row in 2004 and 2006 but lost both times. Then in 2010 and 2014 they became the champions.

In the FIFA U-17 World Cup, too, they have made it to the final competition a few times already. In 2005 upon first qualification, they made it till the Quarter Finals. In 2007 they reached the second round, and matched that in 2015.

It's open to argument whether their current team is as good as their Asian champion squad back in 2015. But their performance in Goa last year wasn't something to scoff at.

North Korea were placed in a group with Yemen, Uzbekistan and Thailand; not the easiest of lots to draw. They started off with a win against Yemen, then beat Thailand by a big margin before going down to Uzbekistan.

In the knockouts, both their matches came against strong West Asian countries and both of them went to penalties. In the quarter final they played Oman, and after a 1-1 result beat them in the shootouts. Then they faced Iran in the semis. It was 1-1 again after extra time, and the tiebreakers ended in an extremely narrow 6-5 defeat for them. Iran themselves went on to lose to Iraq in the final by another extremely close tiebreaker result.

So, to sum up, on the field they were a worthy match for the finalists, who themselves were equals with the champions of Asia. Keeping in mind the luck factor in penalty shootouts, North Korea were literally inches away from being Asian champions again.

The team has quite a diverse attack and does not have any particular dependence on one or two players to deliver the goals. The likes of Kim Pom-hyok, Kye Ta and Ri Kang-guk have been repeated scorers for the team. With the likes of Yun Min, Kim Chung-jin, Kim Kyong-sok and Paek kwang-min providing a good depth to their squad, the players in this side looks set to deliver not only at the junior level but all the way to the senior team.

It's hard to tell how this team will perform against some of the more established teams. For the last year the boys have been undoubtedly put through the most rigorous preparations possible for this mega tournament. Because being in the same group as Brazil and Spain is not an easy prospect. 

North Korea will play all their group stage matches in Kochi and with Niger being the fourth team in the group, they are not catching any break. These youngsters will be put to the test immediately, being pitted against the prime talent coming out of Europe, Latin America as well as Africa. A true global test for a team that has had less international exposure than perhaps most of their fellow participants in the U-17 World Cup.

Whenever North Korea participate in a big world sporting event, the narrative around their team's journey is always that of an underdog, coming from a poverty stricken humble country, fighting against the biggies of the world for the immense national pride systematically nurtured by their government among its citizens. Well, if North Korea manage to cause an upset and make it out of the group stage by upending either Brazil or Spain, it will surely make for some fine, fine propaganda.

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