North Korea Super Fans

As expected, the World Cup has created many stories in the sports world. Both the defending champ Italy and the runner-up France have yet to win a game. The terrible calls by the referee in the USA vs Slovenia (see previous post for more on this.) Powerhouse Germany’s stunning defeat by Serbia. However, one of the most humorous stories this world cup has is the fake North Korean fans.

According to the CIA World Factbook North Korea is a country of 22,912,177 people. The country is full of starvation and hardship. It is one of the most sanctioned countries on the planet. Out of those nearly 23 million suffering people Dear Leader Kim Jong Il manage to turn at least 11 of them into passable soccer players. The North Korean national team or the Winged Horses as their fans know them, played so passably in the world cup qualifying that they made the 2010 world cup. This is only their second appearance in the tournament.

The North Korean’s first opponent was the mighty Brazilian team. Brazil has won a total of 5 world cups, more then any other country, and is led by star midfielder Kaka (funny name I know, but I will leave those joke for those of you less mature in the audience.) During the game the camera’s found a section of North Korean supports dressed in all red. This was especially weird because North Korean citizens are not allowed to leave their country. It was discovered later that these fans were actually Chinese. The North Korean “supporters” were given the tickets so that the North Korean team would have fans. It was the ticket holders jobs to cheer when expected for the mighty North Koreans.

This is just a weird stroy. It is like if the Seattle Mariners had.... It is like if the University of Colorado couldn’t… Well really it is like nothing I have ever heard of in the sports world.

Sources: AP, CIA World Factbook