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"FacebookPinterest\n\n It's fitting that the national team of North Korea\u2014that is, the Democratic (ha!) People's Republic of Korea\u2014sealed its first World Cup appearance since 1966 with a 0-0 tie. \"They're a very dour type of team,\" says ESPN analyst Tommy Smyth, who had the misfortune of calling that scoreless draw, versus Saudi Arabia. \"They just don't let you play football.\" Needing only a tie to advance, North Korean coach Kim Jong Hun played three defenders in his midfield. \"I'm not taking about defensive midfielders,\" Smyth says. \"They were defenders.\" The team's style is simple, if not sexy: \"They just try to stifle you, to make sure you don't score.\"\n\n Soporific play isn't the only buzzkill encountered by opponents of the Cup's most mysterious team. When peninsula-mates\u2014and mortal enemies\u2014South Korea were to come calling for a regional Cup qualifier in 2008, the North announced that the South would not be allowed to display its flag nor hear its national anthem while in Pyongyang. The South protested, and FIFA mediated the tiff, moving the game to Shanghai, where, of course, the two sides played to another zilch-zilch draw.\n\n Smyth says rumors persist in the international soccer community that it's a different Kim Jong calling the shots during matches\u2014using, Smyth theorizes, \"very, very minuscule cell phones\" not visible to TV cameras\u2014and though a tad outlandish, the rumor isn't totally unbelievable. We know the man loves a good defense (he's got one of the world's largest armies). Sub in an Il for that Hun and some oversize Liz Taylor glasses and, well, a soccer coach becomes Dear Leader.\n\n Regardless of who's in charge, neither Kim will be tossing back Hennessy shots over the team's draw. North Korea is in the so-called Group of Death with the Ivory Coast, Portugal, and Brazil. Then again, the last time North Korea qualified for the World Cup, in 1966, the team shocked the world, beating Italy to advance to the quarterfinals, where it took a 3&amp;amp;#x2013;0 lead over Portugal before collapsing.\n\n Those looking for fantasy-draft sleepers should keep an eye on Hong Yong-Jo, a rangy striker who plays in the Russian League, and Ri Myong-Guk, whom Smyth calls \"a fantastic goalkeeper\" and who might end up earning himself a job in Europe if he plays well in South Africa. (And if that doesn't work out, there's always politics. \"When I was keeping goal, I felt like I was defending the gateway to my motherland,\" Ri told the media after the tie with the Saudis.)\n\n How old is Ri? Good question.\n\n \"Those are some of the things that are very hard to find out about these guys,\" Smyth says. \"There's very little information available.\"\n\nFor more 2010 World Cup coverage, click here."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.gq.com/story/north-korea-world-cup-team>