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Life as a player for the North Korean national team is probably pretty difficult as it stands what with living through that 7-0 to Portugal and a much improved 3-0 loss in their final two games. Their passion for the motherland combined with their pride as athletes surely took a belting hit as they headed back to the land of mystery.

Seems this was the least of their worries, as they were publicly humiliated for “betraying the trust of Kim Jong-un” – a phrase which is getting more and more play by the day. (Feels like I may have done the same at least twice during breakfast.)

Of course it doesn’t help that the first ever live game showed in North Korea was that very same 7-0 loss, a move which seemed perfectly fine from the end of the Brazil match until the whistle starting the second half. It was at that point which the nuclear bomb went off and the team was left to rubble while serving as the fish in Portugal’s barrel. Hard to imagine a worse live debut.

And this was their payback:

Citing unnamed North Korean sources, RFA said the team were made to stand on a stage at the People’s Palace of Culture on July 2, just three days after they returned from South Africa, and subjected to ideological criticism for six hours. The team’s two Japanese-born players, Jong Tae-se and An Yong-hak, were exempt from the session.

Around 400 officials including the vice minister of the Workers’ Party, Sports Minister Pak Myong-chol, other athletes and sport students were apparently part of the audience. Ri Dong-kyu, a sports commentator for the North’s state-run Korean Central TV, pointed out the mistakes of each player.

“Coach Kim Jong-hun and the team’s athletes were made to stand on a stage and other North Korean athletes and students took turns criticizing the players. At the end of the session the team members were made to criticize their coach,” RFA quoted a source as saying.

It sounds a bit harsh, but there are countries doing internal studies trying to determine whether or not they can get away with the very same.

[Thanks to Marco for the tip.]

Life as a player for the North Korean national team is probably pretty difficult as it stands what with living through that 7-0 to Portugal and a much improved 3-0 loss in their final two games. Their passion for the motherland combined with their pride as athletes surely took a belting hit as they headed back to the land of mystery.

Seems this was the least of their worries, as they were publicly humiliated for “betraying the trust of Kim Jong-un” – a phrase which is getting more and more play by the day. (Feels like I may have done the same at least twice during breakfast.)

Of course it doesn’t help that the first ever live game showed in North Korea was that very same 7-0 loss, a move which seemed perfectly fine from the end of the Brazil match until the whistle starting the second half. It was at that point which the nuclear bomb went off and the team was left to rubble while serving as the fish in Portugal’s barrel. Hard to imagine a worse live debut.

And this was their payback:

Citing unnamed North Korean sources, RFA said the team were made to stand on a stage at the People’s Palace of Culture on July 2, just three days after they returned from South Africa, and subjected to ideological criticism for six hours. The team’s two Japanese-born players, Jong Tae-se and An Yong-hak, were exempt from the session.

Around 400 officials including the vice minister of the Workers’ Party, Sports Minister Pak Myong-chol, other athletes and sport students were apparently part of the audience. Ri Dong-kyu, a sports commentator for the North’s state-run Korean Central TV, pointed out the mistakes of each player.

“Coach Kim Jong-hun and the team’s athletes were made to stand on a stage and other North Korean athletes and students took turns criticizing the players. At the end of the session the team members were made to criticize their coach,” RFA quoted a source as saying.

It sounds a bit harsh, but there are countries doing internal studies trying to determine whether or not they can get away with the very same.

[Thanks to Marco for the tip.]

There was a standoff between employer and employee, and one of those wins that battle more often than not.

And it doesn’t matter if your name is Diego Maradona.

Diego said he would not budge regarding his demands that the AFA allow his whole staff to return or he walks. The AFA has politely let him walk.

There’s no need to rehash the reasons why – he’s a nice sideshow, but he’s not a football coach. As such, Argentina had offered him a four year deal with stipulations as to his assistants, because presumably they were trying to replace Diego’s backroom staff with a who’s who of tactical masterminds while allowing Diego to stay the figurehead who thinks he’s in control. Kind of like most presidencies.

Now the AFA will be tasked with finding a replacement who can do better than a four goal loss in the quarterfinals in four years time – not that difficult – whilst Diego will probably go back to the chat show circuit and avoiding Italian customs officers (with a fairly decent success rate).

Sounds like a win-win.

There was a standoff between employer and employee, and one of those wins that battle more often than not.

And it doesn’t matter if your name is Diego Maradona.

Diego said he would not budge regarding his demands that the AFA allow his whole staff to return or he walks. The AFA has politely let him walk.

There’s no need to rehash the reasons why – he’s a nice sideshow, but he’s not a football coach. As such, Argentina had offered him a four year deal with stipulations as to his assistants, because presumably they were trying to replace Diego’s backroom staff with a who’s who of tactical masterminds while allowing Diego to stay the figurehead who thinks he’s in control. Kind of like most presidencies.

Now the AFA will be tasked with finding a replacement who can do better than a four goal loss in the quarterfinals in four years time – not that difficult – whilst Diego will probably go back to the chat show circuit and avoiding Italian customs officers (with a fairly decent success rate).

Sounds like a win-win.