var teamInfo={"C7F6BE50245998BE4736399810BAA03D6FA3B04F61D5A658":"1945","F1B6E1D72D987D7B3EB458B4F65A3711":"<P><STRONG>FIFA World Cup Appearances:<\/STRONG> 2 (1966, 2010)<BR><BR><STRONG>AFC Asian Cup Appearances:<\/STRONG> 2 (1980, 1992)<\/P>","0007E9CF9A896EC9D3CC702BC3952F9E":"Korea DPRK","7F038DC1E8BB9848A913C50B80DDCC84":"2023-1-1","32A99FE5B709A1DB00C6B257D3D689A1":"0","A5421091F331CE45C0CB8FC7C215FE89":"North Korea","2EDF0AE83F4EAE44640AD1811EF877E6":"70,000\/30,000","DAF99DFE86B9D49B":"noc-kp@co.chesin.com","EAED8CB630D9337C78DBF9D86264B1E8":"Kumsongdong, Kwangbok Street Mangyongdae Dist.P.O. Box 56 PYONGYANG FNJ - PRK","DB90F084860C5F3CF81F73F79F35F1F6":"1978-1-23","169B71B57B449B15":"25.79","71F9FFCD9F42178D":"Sin Yong Nam","3A86AD48E5310F852C570B36ACD4BAB6":"","3914A2E40FC34F868981257208AF57A7":"Kim Il-sung Stadium\/Yanggakdo Stadium","31E4B7E841B17C66":"North Korea","BB277CED872EF2132450BC10379E9FFD":"172","92D102DDE1327A88":"North Korea","5CBAAB4EAEFCB59E32F703E047D25735":"Sin Yong Nam","979410D584F5F7FBE52BC514F07CC004":"","81B884E95AA53F78":"92402","2DABE4E0A6FF57E8C367FD80F960DC11":"North Korea(U23),Ryomyong SC","B36E0AA9AE505908":"Pyongyang","97E82EC43CF9D2AC485E70CEE9A89D4A":"North Korea(U23)","4931588B4E3083E863A5C74E5EDB35F1":"<P>Korea DPR seemingly came from nowhere to storm into the Asian Zone&#39;s final round of qualifying, where they defied sizeable odds to take one of the continent&#39;s four automatic spots at the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa&#8482;. In a sense they lived up to their long-standing reputation as Asia&#39;s surprise packages, their qualifying success marking a return to world football&#39;s top table for the first time since going all the way to the last eight in 1966. <\/P><P>After spending nearly 30 years in wilderness, the past decade saw the revival of the nation&#39;s footballing fortunes. With their women&#39;s football teams running riot at all levels on the international scene, the men&#39;s side came close to qualifying for Germany 2006 before successfully negotiating the road to South Africa 2010. <\/P><P><STRONG>The road to South Africa<\/STRONG><\/P><P>To reach the 2010 showpiece, Korea DPR went through a gruelling qualifying campaign spanning 20 months and a whopping 16 games. They made light work of Mongolia in the Asian Zone&#39;s first qualifying round, winning both home and away to earn a bye to the third round as one of the 11 highest-ranked first-round winners. Once there, they finished second in their group behind southern neighbours Korea Republic to qualify for the final round. <\/P><P>There they got off to a brilliant start by defeating UAE 2-1, before holding Korea Republic to a 1-1 draw. Despite losing to Iran 2-1 in the next game, they bounced back with a 1-0 home win against Saudi Arabia. Even a 1-0 loss to Korea Republic did not dent their chances too badly, followed as it was with a draw against Iran which kept them in second place. Needing just a point against Saudi Arabia in the closing game to qualify, they bravely held on for a goalless draw to seal their passage. <\/P>","E40B4988E6F21D3C":"630","8D8D9EDFA95C72BF":"","66AED1F6B695420EE9875F06C7974B58":"","3FCE1628A9116831":"","033EA04110C4B96A":"1","32A99FE5B709A1DB63DE32C8AC0B8A014B4BCC8738543B0E":"1","EC1B23A51B4C607D":"<P><STRONG>First international:<\/STRONG> China PR 0 - 1 North Korea<\/P><P><STRONG>Biggest win:<\/STRONG> North Korea 21 - 0 Guam (March 11, 2005)<\/P><P><STRONG>Biggest defeat:<\/STRONG> Bulgaria 6 - 1 North Korea (May 25, 1974)<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Poland 5 - 0 North Korea (July 25, 1976)<\/P>","52D57ABB4C76E4FB5641C3EF431CBBF1":"Korea DPRK","E4356A026EA82BEB77FAA090663E29CD":"","61CD9DEED77E23E3":"","e_index":7};