Not much was known about North Korea, the country nor the football team, when the national team arrived in England in 1966 for the FIFA World Cup. (I'm not sure we know much about them now?) No one bothered doing much research on their football team, either, after they lost their opener, 3-0, to the Soviet Union. The 1000-1 outsiders had a World Cup anthem which went like this: "We can beat everyone, even the strongest team". It was the first time a nation from outside Europe or the Americas had reached the knockout stage. The Asian debutants to the World Cup may not have seemed true to their word, but they drew 1-1 with Chile before producing the shock result that sent Italy into mourning, after stunning the Italians, 1-0 at Middlesbrough's, Ayresome Park, on July 19th. Pak Doo-Ik, the goal scorer, became the name of the weekend, and he was supported by some miracle saves from his goalkeeper, Ro Chang Myong. Do you remember where you were when this result came through?
The Koreans had won lots of "hearts" in England and they were dreaming of going further still when on July 23rd, they went 3-0 up against Portugal in the Quarter-finals, at Anfield. However, Eusebio, one of the stars of the tournament, produced a four-goal masterclass (including 2 penalties), rescuing Portugal's reputation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frx-u3T5eT4
By the way, England progressed when the North Koreans fell and met Portugal (making their first appearance in the competition) in the semi-final. England won a remarkable match 2-1 and then of course, met West Germany in the Final. Enough said!
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