Crucial International fixtures were being contested across the globe yesterday as nations strived for a spot in South Africa 2010, but nowhere were the stakes higher than here in Seoul as South Korea took on their Northern brothers in a collision at the top of Asian Group B.
Korea is still technically a warzone because the Korean War culminated in 1953 with an armistice, a ‘temporary truce’ before a peace settlement that never materialised. This is why the de-militarized zone along the 38th parallel makes the border between the two nations the most heavily militarized frontier in the world.
The last half century has seen a cold war scenario play out between the two sibling countries, but in recent times the volatile nature of their fragile relationship has ensured that the possibility of it becoming ‘hot’ again is all too real.
The backdrop to the game has been the impending launch of a satellite/missile from the North, with the South and its allies threatening to shoot it down, a move that Pyongyang would consider an act of war. History has shown us that even something as simple as a football match can trigger a war between nations.
So, no pressure on the players then. For 15 years, the two did not meet on the football field, but the last 14 months has seen them duke it out 4 times, all of them low scoring draws and by all accounts tepid, timid displays where both sides seemed afraid to tackle or God Forbid, actually win and offend their neighbour. However, with South Korea trailing the North by 2 points and the finishing line looming large, the Taegeuk Warriors were going to have to go for the jugular.
Irritatingly I had left it to the last moment to sort out a ticket and discovered that you couldn’t buy one online or in the bank (banks here sell football tickets for some reason) on the day of the game. Also I was finishing work late, at 6.25pm and faced a race to get across the city for the 8.00pm kick off. It was a tricky mission, so I abducted a Korean teacher friend to assist me and off I went.
Some sprinting and subway hopping later and somewhat miraculously we were at the stadium with 20 minutes to spare. Now all we needed were a pair of tickets. Luckily, there were plenty of touts. Almost immediately one strode towards us purposefully and wafted a couple of tickets under my nose.
The price he was quoting was a bit steep, so I employed my international bartering technique of looking at the guy with an expression like a terrible odour had just wafted into my nostrils, flapping my hands at him dismissively and walking off with a “no way chum” over my shoulder. He pursued us and Hea Jung managed to barter him down to a reasonable price, job done!
Got into the stadium just in time for the national anthems. Due to the quarantined nature of North Korean society (or the contradictory Democratic People’s Republic of Korea if you prefer) the away support weren’t able to lustily belt out their national anthem, imaginatively titled “the patriotic song” due to the fact that there were none in attendance. The martial music was met with an awkward silence.
Both anthems were then applauded and I quickly scanned the crowd. A lot of businessmen resplendent in their shiny suits. South Korea has the worlds highest average working week, clocking in at a staggering 55 hours, so I guess a lot of guys have just come straight from the office. Also, a lot of people are wearing fluorescent devil horns, the type that slutty girls in England wear on Halloween.
Kick off! Incredibly, North Korea almost took the lead after 30 seconds, with Lee Won-jae saving spectacularly from a rasping Hong Yong Jo shot. Remember these names; there’ll be a test later.
It was not a sign of things to come. The first half was largely dominated by the South, with the North rarely able to venture out of their own half. For all the possession though, the South weren’t posing much of a threat and the communists looked reasonably comfortable.
There was a palpable sense of excitement every time Man Utd’s Park Ji-Sung was even close to the ball. All the guy had to do was sneeze and the buzz around the stadium intensified tenfold. The fans clearly believed that if anyone was to unlock the Northern defence it would be him.
Back in England, he’s often ridiculed for lacking a cutting edge and he let loose a vintage daisy cutter on 27 minutes. Fellow 2002 World Cup hero Lee Young-Pyo, formerly of Tottenham and only 6 caps behind Beckham’s total was the another player to have a dig, but his 35th minute shot went wayward.
The first half fizzled out and ended in a stalemate. Still, it was fairly entertaining stuff and the atmosphere was great. A lot of flags and colour, not to mention the bright red ‘clapping sticks’ often whacked together because clapping is considered unnecessarily strenuous.
Half time then and Hea Jung and I were discussing the game when the geezer in front of us turns around and asks us to be quiet. Perhaps he thought he was at Stamford Bridge. Suffice to say, his request was given short shrift.
It was hard to see where a goal was going to come from, but I made the measured prediction that the South would nick it 1-0 with a 90th minute Park Chu-Young free-kick. Hea Jung adventurously plumped for a 2-1 home win, with the North scoring first.
It was this prediction that led to her bizarrely cheering on the North at the start of the second half. Luckily no-one around us could understand English. This odd behaviour reached its zenith when she leapt up and shrieked when the North’s main man Jong Tae-se broke free and crashed a low drive into the side netting, which from our vantage point appeared to be a goal.
For a moment I was stunned and then fearful that we would get lynched as infiltrating ’Great Leader’ sympathisers, before realising that it wasn’t a goal and that a neutral would therefore hopefully interprete Hea Jung’s reaction as a nervous cry of relief.
Jong Tae-se would come even closer when he had a close range header palmed off the line. The stadiums big screens did not show any replays, which was highly dubious seeing as every Park Ji-Sung pea-roller was shown from multiple angles. I saw some TV footage later and it was probably a goal.
The game became increasingly frenetic and the South began to impose themselves once more. Many chances were spurned, with Lee Keun-ho and Park Chu-Young especially prolifigate, although the latter skimmed the crossbar with a set piece which gave me hope for my prediction.
The North started resorting to a bit of time wasting, perhaps a bit surprising given their stereotypically stoic image. As one was being stretchered off following an innocuous challenge, the old man behind us cracked a very PC joke that was translated for me, something along the lines of “those poor starving Northerners don’t have the strength to stand up any more”....and some say Koreans don’t have a sense of humour.
Local boy Kim Chi-woo came off the bench to much acclaim, which I found surprising seeing as he was rubbish when I saw him for FC Seoul the other week.
However, he was to prove the hero as his 87th minute free-kick evaded the crowd of players in the box and dropped past the unsighted keeper, into the net. The place went nuts and I was left to savour the prospect of a pitcher of beer that my clairvoyance skills would earn me.
That was all she wrote and the result meant that the South leapfrogged over the North to the top of Group B. The players all lined up to shake hands in a show of unity that the politicians may well never muster.
North Korean coach Kim Jong Hun wasn’t feeling so amiable after the game. In the post match press conference, Kim, a man who looks like he’s never smiled in his life, let loose a verbal tirade, first disputing the referee’s decision to not allow Jong Tae-se’s header before stating that the game should never have taken place, because food poisoning had weakened his team "after eating at the hotel provided by South Korea”. Not remotely bitter then.
The future looks promising for both teams though, with South Korea poised to qualify for their 7th successive World Cup and North Korea hoping to edge out Saudi Arabia to take second place and book a place to their first finals since their one and only appearance in 1966. I’m just trying to think who won that year......