Korea DPR / Dave Farrar / 18 May 2010 / Leave a comment Free £25 Bet

North Korea are alongside the likes of New Zealand and Honduras the weakest side in this tournament and you get a feeling that playing for respectability is the most they can hope for. And it doesn't help matters that they're in this group, by the way.

"The draw is clearly a nightmare for them, and they’ll be going up several levels here. The majority of their players play inside North Korea, and so they have the advantage of being a genuinely surprise package, but their chosen formation is rather outmoded, and they’ll be safety first, hard running and not overly ambitious."

For as long as North Korea stay in the tournament, and it may not be very long, we're all going to get heartily sick of references to 1966 and grainy footage from Goodison Park. You can just see Colin Murray's face as he makes a postmodern reference to Pak Doo-Ik and want to punch it, really want to punch it.

The North Koreans are back at the World Cup for the first time since they reached that quarter final 34 years ago, and they have shown real stamina and "stickability" to get this far. They took out the likes of Iran and Saudi Arabia on their way here, and on the basis of that alone, they have to be given a measure of respect.

The draw is clearly a nightmare for them, and they'll be going up several levels here. The majority of their players play inside North Korea, and so they have the advantage of being a genuinely surprise package, but their chosen formation is rather outmoded, and they'll be safety first, hard running and not overly ambitious.

I wouldn't rush into piling into them to finish bottom of the group, as the Ivory Coast could simply implode, but it's impossible to make a case for them qualifying. I have to be honest and say that when you're writing a preview like this, it's incredibly hard to get first hand information on them (hmmm, funny that), and so I'm not going to paint myself as an expert on them, having only seen them play three times. What I saw then, though, coupled with the statistics, leads me to expect an unadventurous side who may nick a point, but not much more.

Coach

Kim Jong-Hun

He's a man who it will be hard to get to know, but he clearly has a heart which beats to a football drum. He was sent off in North Korea's final qualifying game against Saudi Arabia, and clearly tells his players to get stuck into the opposition. He's reportedly assiduous in his research, and will have detailed plans worked out to try and deal with the opposition, but he simply doesn't have the players to carry them out. Given their occasional propensity for violence, watching North Korea try to stop Ronaldo could be HILARIOUS.

Key Players

Hong Yong-Jo

The man whose job it is to get the goals for North Korea plays his domestic football for FC Rostov in Russia. His four goals from four games in qualifying showed how important he is to the team, and he will be important as both a player and an on-field general. As one of the older players in the squad, he's a natural leader, but the fact that such a key man plays for such a team neatly sums up North Korea's failings.

Jong Tae-Se

Jong plays for Kawasaki Frontale in the J-League and so comes to the tournament with valuable experience of having played outside his home country. He's scored 46 goals in 111 appearances for them, and 5 in 9 starts this season, a decent strike rate.

Ri Myong-Guk

A theme with a lot of smaller teams is the quality of their goalkeeper, and Ri is only 23 years old but plainly talented. North Korea play with three centre halves and that gives their inexperienced keeper protection. His temperament is also good, and so he should be able to cope with the pressure of a big tournament. His regular football, after all, is played for Pyongyang City.

Recommended Bet:

North Korea 0-2 Group Points at anything over [1.6]

Tags: football bets, North Korea team, North Korea World Cup fixtures, North Korean players, World Cup team guide