I realise that they are a secretive bunch but REALLY...

[Airfix]

Meet - according to the ESPN website - the oldest and youngest players ever to appear in a World Cup finals tournament:~

[Lighthouse]

Nice blend though of youth and experience.

[Burt]

Not the happiest looking bunch are they?

[epsomraver]

Would you be knowing that if you play badly you and your family are dead!

[LBNo11]

...silence please for their National Anthem...

So Ronery

[FC Silver Fox]

Some interesting snippets about North Korea and their team.

Spuds were interested in signing their captain but their North Korean government refused any transfer to a Western capitalist country. He now plays in Russia.
Only 2 other players play abroad. Both are in Japan.

The North Korea World Cup games will not be broadcast live in their home country. They will be transmitted with a short delay just in case anything happens that the government don't agree with. Its not clear if this includes a severe pasting from the Brazilians.

North Korea are pirating the TV transmission via an Asian country. They refuse to pay any rediffusion rights to FIFA.  In my opinion, this is enough to justify throwing their team out of the tournament.

[os5889]

Some interesting snippets about North Korea and their team.

Spuds were interested in signing their captain but their North Korean government refused any transfer to a Western capitalist country. He now plays in Russia.
Only 2 other players play abroad. Both are in Japan.

The North Korea World Cup games will not be broadcast live in their home country. They will be transmitted with a short delay just in case anything happens that the government don't agree with. Its not clear if this includes a severe pasting from the Brazilians.

North Korea are pirating the TV transmission via an Asian country. They refuse to pay any rediffusion rights to FIFA.  In my opinion, this is enough to justify throwing their team out of the tournament.

Apparently thats not the case now.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup-2010/teams/north-korea/7828810/World-Cup-2010-North-Korea-secures-World-Cup-broadcast-deal.html

World Cup 2010: North Korea secures World Cup broadcast deal
North Korea has secured legal rights to air World Cup matches live, according to Asia's broadcasting union, who deny the communist state had pirated a recording of the opening fixture.

By Telegraph staff and agencies
Published: 8:17AM BST 15 Jun 2010

Legal deal: North Korea have agreed a deal for broadcasting rights to show World Cup matches allowing fans to watch their team. Photo: AFP
According to South Korean broadcaster SBS, the North's Korean Central Broadcast Service (KBS) aired Friday's opening 1-1 draw between hosts South Africa and Mexico without permission.
But the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union said North Korea - whose team is competing at the World Cup for the first time in 44 years - had used legal footage "right from the start" following a deal between the union and Fifa.
KBS is a member of the TV union, which has agreed with football's world governing body to air the tournament live in six other impoverished countries - East Timor, Laos, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
"We have signed a contract with Fifa on June 11, just before the opening game started, to broadcast the matches live in North Korea," a spokeswoman at the Kuala Lumpur-based broadcasting union told AFP.
"It's not true to say they have broadcast a pirate recording for the opening match. Right from the start, North Korea has been using the feeds from Fifa legally," she said, while declining to detail the terms of the agreement.
South Korea are also competing in South Africa, and SBS says it holds the broadcast rights for the entire Korean peninsula.
North Korea, whose national side open their campaign against five-time champions Brazil, wanted the South to provide free footage, as it had done for the 2006 tournament in Germany.
But SBS said last week that negotiations with North Korea over a fee had broken down. It said the talks had been coloured by tensions between Seoul and Pyongyang over the sinking of a South Korean warship in March.
Despite the tensions, a pro-Pyongyang newspaper reported on Tuesday that North Koreans were united in cheering South Korea's 2-0 victory over Greece in their first group match on Saturday.
"Who would like to see a nation with the same bloodline lose?" one North Korean who watched the game on TV said, according to the Chosun Sinbo.
"What we detest is not the South Korean people but their conservative government," the person was quoted as saying.
Four years ago, South Korea's then-liberal government spent 150 million won (132,600 dollars) subsidising World Cup broadcasts to North Korea.

[FC Silver Fox]

If that's the case, OS, I stand corrected. I got the information from a "reputable" French national radio station this morning. Seems they are as bad as our lot.

[os5889]

If that's the case, OS, I stand corrected. I got the information from a "reputable" French national radio station this morning. Seems they are as bad as our lot.

Dont worry, until this morning we all thought they were pirating it, part of the axis of evil image I'd imagine keeping up appearances. I am looking forward to seeing them play tonight

[beijing ben]

North Korea play decent football. They may well get hammered because they try and pass their way through teams but they could spring a surprise. They have one of the most exciting players to have come from this part of the world - Jong Tae se. He is nicknamed the Asian Wayne Rooney. He scored two against Greece recently, one was an absolute belter