1966 Revisited

There are times when I think that football put too much emphasis on past matches. Every Premier League match starts with a summary of results between the two previous teams. This is pointless; consider than in 1994-5, Blackburn won the league and Chelsea finished 11th. We're obviously talking about a very different era now.

In the World Cup, it can get even more ridiculous. Before the match between USA and England, some pointed out that England had never beaten the USA in the World Cup. This ignores several key points:

1) The USA and England had only played one World Cup game.
2) That game was in 1950.
3) All of the 22 players who played in that game have retired.
4) 14 of the 22 players are dead.

That said, there are still match-ups that recall famous encounters from the past. Any future USA vs. Iran match will be viewed as potential revenge for the 1998 World Cup. Germany vs. England matches have that special "two World Wars and one World Cup" vibe. Today we're going to examine a famous match from the 1966 World Cup. North Korea were then, as now, total unknowns. Miraculously, they bested Italy 1-0 to set up a match with Portugal. The match went to 3-0 . . . to North Korea. Then, Portugal came back to win 5-3, thanks in part to a hat-trick from the great Eusebio (who isn't Portugese really, but never mind that).

In the wake of that famous match, and in the wake of Portugal's weak showing against Cote D'Ivoire and DPRK's strong showing against Brazil, I was hoping that I would witness another enthralling match. I did, though not due to any miracles from DPRK. In fairness, in the first half they put up a spirited resistance, and at half time Portugal only led by one goal from Raul Meireles.

After half time the floodgates just opened. I made a note of Portugal's strong start and after 8 minutes they doubled their lead through Simao. Then, only North Korea can tell you what happened. They proceeded to give up five more goals, including one to Liedson who, like Eusebio (who was present) isn't actually from Portugal. I hate to engage in idle speculation, but one hopes that they weren't given something akin to the "0-3 or Exile" ultimatum reportedly given to Zaire's players in the 1974 World Cup. That would explain the abject capitulation if they already knew punishment awaited them.

Ironically, this was apparently the first time a North Korea game played abroad was broadcast live in the DPRK:

N. Korean state TV airs team's 7-0 loss to Portugal