Football: North Korea down bitter rivals Japan

TOKYO: North Korea downed bitter rivals Japan 1-0 in a bad-tempered World Cup qualifier. Pak Nam Chol’s 50th-minute strike avenged North Korea’s September defeat in Tokyo and sparked jubilation in the crowd at Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Stadium. But the hosts’ first win in qualifying came too late to save their campaign, which was killed off last week by Uzbekistan, while Asian champions Japan were already through to the last round. The match was a spiteful affair with the referee showing eight yellow cards to North Korean players.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 16^th, 2011.