On the eve of Korea DPR lining up for their FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup™ final against the Netherlands, the nation’s male age-group counterparts showed they are also a force to be reckoned with.
Challenges don’t come much more daunting than facing the defending champions, but it was one Korea DPR met head-on as they fought back to earn a 1-1 draw against Germany. The result keeps them top of their FIFA U-17 World Cup™ group and in a strong position to qualify for the next phase.
Speaking post-match to FIFA, coach Rim Chol-min explained why he believes Korea DPR are having such success at this level and discussed his connection with women’s U-17 coach Pak Song-jin.
“He and I are from the same area,” Rim said. “As a team in the same age group, we’re very proud of what our women’s team have done. They must now win the tournament. I expect them to become champions!
“There are many reasons for Korea DPR’s impressive displays in youth tournaments, but more than anything, it’s the team cohesion and our way of playing are superior to our opponents. I think our result today [against Germany] was thanks in large to those factors as well.”
After falling behind to Germany, Korea DPR hit back impressively and levelled in some style thanks to Han Il-bok’s stunning curling effort. The equaliser was fully deserved, with the Koreans finishing the game with 12 attempts on goal to their opponents’ five.
Goalscorer Han set out the team’s ambition to follow the women’s side and go all the way to the final.
“We stayed true to our team’s way of playing and fought for this result. Of course, our aim is to win the tournament. We want to maximise our team’s way of playing to produce the best results that we can. We want to be the last team standing here.”
He added: “To see them (the women’s team) make the people back home happy also makes me happy.”
Coach Rim is also not putting any limits on what his side can achieve at Qatar 2025.
“We’re aiming to go as high as we can,” he said. “Before the Germany game, we knew that we’d be facing a strong team. As the match went on, though, our players believed our team tactics and showed mental toughness to fight. I’m proud of what our players did today.
“Defensively, we did not give the opposition any space. We also created more chances. That shows the progress that we’ve made as a team.”
