N Korea celebrates sweet revenge with 1-0 victory over Japan

Holly... This game was so utterly boring it wouldn't deserve three lines in a printed newspaper. I must wonder why is n korea allowed to participate in the championship though? They don't fulfil the most basic requirements of human rights and dignity. I would refuse to play them...

The ref did a good job trying to be absolutely fair in a potentially threatening atmosphere. It took courage. Respect.

Bananas? They would have been confiscated in any country after an international flight.

Cup noodles? What is it with the Japanese and packing this crap? And pro soccer players no less.

Not a fan on NK at all but ouch, that has GOT to hurt the Japanese ego. Thank god for the women's team!

Not a fan on NK at all but ouch, that has GOT to hurt the Japanese ego.

well said, my thoughts exactly.

The raucous crowd cheered wildly every time the North Koreans pushed forward, with one entire stand of the stadium

Sounds a bit like a Volleyball game in Japan (always on home turf with 99% support of the crowd)

Sounds a bit like a Volleyball game in Japan (always on home turf with 99% support of the crowd)

Except anybody is allowed to come and cheer his team ...

Not a pretty game, very violent, hopefully they came back without any injury. The result didn't really matter.

Those North Korean players were probably playing for their lives, literally. I also loved the way 'bananas, chewing gum, and instant noodles' was described as 'regime-threatening contraband'. Kim Jung Il deposed by a boatload of instant noodles! Seriously, though, NK probably sees the smuggling of 'Choco-Pies' from South Korea - as regime threatening, It gets the people from the North wondering what other luxuries their decadent brothers down South are enjoying ... http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/01/12/2010011200624.html

The result didn't really matter

Try telling that to the players on either side. When you play for your nation, the game ALWAYS matters - make no mistake about that, Clement. Well played to the Korean lads (not to their regime who hates their own people). Bad luck to the Japanese boys.

The North Korean side was probably told the match was the World Cup final. Show some heart, mates, they took the bananas and cup ramen because they're hungry!

I would actually fear for the well being of the home side had they lost.

I would actually fear for the well being of the home side had they lost.

True that! I would even fear for the well being of the Japanese team had they won, too. Japan would have probably never heard from the Japan team again.. (being sarcastic, but who knows?)

Good for both sides, Japanese players/fans can come home safely, NK players don't have to get beat up. Japan will go to the next round and NK has been eliminated already as the article says so this game had no meaning from the beginning.

When you play for your nation, the game ALWAYS matters - make no mistake about that, Clement.

Factually it didn't matter because we were already qualified for the next round, no doubt the players were disappointed but I bet they're glad to escape this without any injury. It was a violent match, there was no aerial challenge without an elbow in the face, no touch without a little kick behind your legs. North Korea had a red card but it could have been worse for them.

i guess the north koreans don't have to worry about steroids testing at home

1 stadium full of chanting North Koreans and 120 Japanese supporters surrounded by military as if they escaped from Guantanamo Bay.

Super Aggressive North Korean players.

Chants from the Audience when Japan lost. "Finally we beat Japan, Finally we beat Japan"

I could say I dislike the north koreans, but then again, they are brainwashed, we can go to our beautiful home and they have to get back to their hell.

I completely agree with what Zaccheroni said, we didnt need this win plus Japan didnt even had their best players. Let NK enjoy their win once.

@Papigiulio

I agree. The NK are having a field day, they didn't want to concede an inch! This was more about payback than anything else and NOT the game, let's be clear about that. NK had so much hate, you could see it, the 120 supporters couldn't really do anything, like stepping on pins and needles, not really allowed to root for you own team? WTF? Probably one of THE most bizarre games EVER. North Koreans are so brainwashed, you could just see the hate. No way, I would have gone there, the hell with that. Just glad the Japanese team came back in one piece, they played well and played fairly, given the jeers and the hate chants.

Japan already has its place in the next round of the tournament and the communist country is out of the competition.

So basically it was a waste of time and they could have just reboarded their flight and went back to Japan. What a cow of a country....hey don't smile and no loud cheering.

I have no doubt that Japan only lost because they are already through to the WC and were dragging their feet a bit as a result. Plus, NK really wanted to win. Those two facts made it possible for them to win the game.

{I must wonder why is n korea allowed to participate in the championship though? They don't fulfil the most basic requirements of human rights and dignity. I would refuse to play them...} ebisen, I hear you! South Africa were boycotted and unable to participate in most world sports until apartheid was abolished. I don't see any reason why North Korea (with its track record for evil) is welcome on the world's sporting stage to treat their opponents in this pathetic way and turn a game into a communist love-in!!

I must wonder why is n korea allowed to participate in the championship though? They don't fulfil the most basic requirements of human rights and dignity. I would refuse to play them...

The NK regime is truly evil (not the people though). But where does FIFA draw the line? Look at some of the other truly awful regimes in the world who participate in FIFA sanctioned games - Saudi Arabia, Iran, Burma, China and many more. I mean, some of them won't even allow women to enter the stadium to watch the game! Perhaps we should restrict the world cup to true democratic and capitalist nations?

Japan played their benchwarmers and it showed. Inoha? Played crap defense. Hosogai? Likewise. At least the goalie finally got some playing time and experience.

My guess is they threw it to ensure their safe departure ASAP.

Those that gave kurumazaka a thumbs down would be advised to check stories about what happened to the Iranian soccer team's buses after they won a game in NK. They were attacked for just winning a game. Thumbs me down to if you want, but any country that allows or encourages this type of behavior should not be allowed to participate. It is probably for the best for the players and their safety that they lost. They are already qualified anyway and there is no reason for them to risk their health. I do not think they threw the game at all, but I do think their safety would have been in their minds while playing and could have certainly played a part in their performance.

Japan are still the winners here to me.

But where does FIFA draw the line?

I would draw it at not playing at countries that can't manage not to attack teams that win when they play in their countries. I think that is a pretty good line to start with.

Again, I don't get the thumbs down for this. Why would anyone support an oppressive atmosphere for a sporting event? I am not talking about competition, booing or cheering. I am talking about overt threatening behavior on the part of North Korea. It should not be tolerated or accepted.

I will also venture the opinion that Japan would have never played this game in NK if they needed the win. I can't imagine any country doing so.

Wow, those PRK players were speedy.

Cup noodles? What is it with the Japanese and packing this crap?

Quite possibly they did not trust the North Korean cuisine. Surprising, huh?

"ex-colonial rulers Japan"

sigh Do they have to bring politics into sports?

"this game was so utterly boring"

It's soccer! Ha ha!

Thank god this game was played in the middle of the day Korea and Japan standard time! The North Koreans in my neighborhood here in Tokyo would have been yelling, screaming even more and all night and until the morning all drunk if it had been played say from 10 pm etc..