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Post by fretslider on Jul 30, 2010 6:53:47 GMT -5
Not so funny in North Korea, though.
The entire squad was forced onto a stage at the People's Palace of Culture and subjected to criticism from Pak Myong-chol, the sports minister, as 400 government officials, students and journalists watched. The players were subjected to a "grand debate" on July 2 because they failed in their "ideological struggle" to succeed in South Africa.
The team's coach, Kim Jong-hun, was reportedly forced to become a builder and has been expelled from the Workers' Party of Korea. The coach was punished for "betraying" Kim Jong-un - one of Supreme Leader Kim Jong-il's sons and heir apparent. The country, in its first World Cup since 1966, lost all three group games – including a 7-0 defeat to Portugal.
The broadcast of live games had been banned to avoid national embarrassment, but after the spirited 2-1 defeat to Brazil, state television made the Portugal game its first live sports broadcast ever. Following ideological criticism, the players were then allegedly forced to blame the coach for their defeats.
Only two players avoided the inquisition - Japanese-born Jong Tae-se and An Yong-hak, who flew straight to Japan after the tournament. However, media in South Korea say's the players got off lightly by North Korean standards. In the past, North Korean athletes and coaches who performed badly have been sent to prison camps.
Now there's an idea, lets put the English squad in a boot camp, geddit!
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Post by iamjumbo on Jul 30, 2010 16:27:05 GMT -5
i'm a firm believer in the truth that winning isn't everything, it's the ONLY thing, but, in the department store of human affairs, sports is, after all, the toy department, and being behind at the end of the game is not a criminal offence
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Post by biglin on Aug 1, 2010 10:24:56 GMT -5
Someone has to win and someone has to lose. Considering the Koreans were in a very tough group it's hardly surprising they got hammered and finished bottom.
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Erasmus
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"We do not take prisoners - we liberate them" - http://www.aeonbytegnosticradio.com
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Post by Erasmus on Aug 3, 2010 18:25:58 GMT -5
1936 Olympics anyone? When you are the only people to follow the only valid ideology in the world, you cannot lose: to do so would imply that your ideology is wrong. The only possible explanations are sabotage or failure to implement the ideology correctly. Chairman Mao's China avoided this problem by never competing in anything they were not excellent at - which usually happened to be ping-pong.
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Post by fretslider on Aug 16, 2010 8:40:15 GMT -5
"When you are the only people to follow the only valid ideology in the world, you cannot lose"
That counts England out, then!
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