The coach of the first North Korean sports team to visit the South in eight years batted away questions about the prospect of South Koreans cheering his side, saying: “We are here solely to play football.”
Naegohyang Women’s FC will face South Korea’s Suwon Women in the semi-finals of the Asian Women’s Champions League on Wednesday.
Interest in the rare North-South clash has been intense.
Around 3,000 spectators from civic groups backed by Seoul’s unification ministry are expected to cheer both teams in
Suwon, but there will be no official away supporters because North Koreans are generally not allowed into the South with the two countries technically remaining at war since 1950.
At a packed pre-match press conference, Naegohyang head coach Ri Yu Il brushed off questions about South Koreans cheering his side.
“We are here solely to play football. Simply put, we will focus only on each match,” Ri said. “Therefore, the issue of the supporters is not something I, as a coach, or our players need to concern ourselves with. We will concentrate exclusively on the game.”
Suwon midfielder Ji So Yun said she had never seen such intense media interest in women’s football. She added that Suwon were ready for a battle.
“Naegohyang are expected to be very strong – almost at the level of a North Korean national team,” Ji said.
“When North Korean players compete, they tend to be very physical and there is also a lot of verbal abuse on the pitch,” Ji added. “So our players should not back down. If they swear at us, we will swear at them back. If they kick us, we will kick the back.”
The winner of the semi-final will play either Australia’s Melbourne City or Japan’s Tokyo Verdy Beleza, also in Suwon, in Saturday’s final.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
