North Korea’s national soccer team coach was not overjoyed after leading the team to a victory in the country’s return to international competition.
“We prove it with results,” he said in a low, gravelly voice at the press conference following North Korea’s 2-0 victory over Chinese Taipei in the first match of the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games Men’s Football Qualifying Group F at the Zhejiang Provincial Sabodae East Stadium in Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, China on Monday. The future results will prove (our ability).”
When asked about a possible showdown with South Korea if they make it through the qualifiers, he calmly replied, “On the pitch, the winner is the winner,” adding, “If we get the chance (to face South Korea), we will definitely win.”
North Korea’s head coach and coaching staff sing the national anthem during the men’s soccer group stage match between North Korea and Chinese Taipei at the East Stadium of Zhejiang Normal University in Jinhua, east China’s Zhejiang Province, on Sept. 19. 2023.9.19 ondol@yna.co.kr
North Korea was suspended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for unilaterally withdrawing from the 2021 Tokyo Olympics over the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), and the ban was lifted on Dec. 31 last year.
North Korea has been slowly making its way back into international competition this year, sending nearly 200 athletes to the Hangzhou Asian Games.
According to MyInfo, the official information site of the Hangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee, North Korea has registered a total of 191 athletes, including 112 women and 79 men, in 18 sports.
This is the first time in five years that North Korea has sent a team to an international multisport event, including the Olympics and Asian Games, since the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games.
North Korea’s national soccer team made its international debut in January 2020, about three years and eight months after the Asian Football Confederation Under-23 Championship.
It was against Chinese Taipei, ranked 153rd in the FIFA rankings, so it’s still too early to tell, but the DPRK (115th) dominated their opponents throughout the match.
“We haven’t played internationally for about four years (actually three years and eight months), but we have maintained the potential and ability of our team by training well domestically and playing against (domestic) teams,” said North Korean coach Kim Yong Nam.카지노사이트
He praised Lee Joguk and Kim Kook-jin, who scored the goals on the day, saying they “did what the team wanted them to do.”
Credit Nam listens to the press conference
North Korea’s national soccer team head coach Kim Yo Nam listens to a press conference after the team’s 2-0 win over Chinese Taipei in their men’s soccer qualifying Group F match at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games at the Zhejiang Sabodae East Stadium in Jinhua, east China’s Zhejiang Province, on Monday.
Shin did not reveal specific goals for the tournament.
But he was confident.
“I’m happy that my players played well in the first game. We were able to win because the players worked together and executed the coach’s intentions,” he said. “The tournament is still ongoing, so we can’t define our strengths. The results speak for themselves.”
North Korea will face Kyrgyzstan on Nov. 21 and Indonesia on Nov. 24.
“We trained a lot for this tournament,” Shin said. We will do our best to win the next matches,” Shin vowed.
Four female North Korean cheerleaders cheered loudly throughout the game.
“The support of the workers (cheerleaders) gave us a lot of strength, and the players were able to show their strength on the field,” said Shin.
Unlike Shin’s calm press conference, the North Korean players walked past the joint press area without being interviewed.
Only one player said, “It was good,” when asked by South Korean reporters how the victory felt. A North Korean team official responded to the congratulations with a brief “thank you.”