China v North Korea

China 2 v Democratic People's Republic of Korea 1

Canberra Stadium

Sunday 18 January 2015

Twitter @ball_sup

Come on, for a football fan from Europe, that's a game featuring two teams I never expected to see. I was born in the 50s. I remember the World Cup in England in 1966. I remember the North Koreans. They were 3-0 up against Portugal. But ended up losing 5-3.

But, here is something I only realised this week. All the FIFA countries in Africa & Asia had just ONE qualifying slot to aim for. Not one for Africa, one for Asia. Just one.

Yet. All bar two African & Asian countries dropped out of qualifying for various economic & political reasons. Leaving just North Korea & Australia competing for the single Finals slot. And, of course, in those Finals it was an African (Eusebio) who put the Koreans out.

Another early, inside the first minute, goal (for China) set the tone of the game. In the first half, it was mainly China stroking the ball around at will. All very pedestrian though. But, the North Koreans gave it a real go in the second half.

They had a great chance to equalise, but matey has put the header over. A long range shot has cannoned back off the bar, & they might have put the rebound away. A few more muffed headers & a good save down to the keeper's left.

Lots of comedians in today. General gist being "he's missed that so the Chinese will keep the gas taps on", etc. A few buffoons dressed as the Korean leader & military escort in "look at me" mode.

Otherwise, a large, mainly China supporting, partisan crowd. Someone had been handing out Red T Shirts with some slogan on. There was a guy with a megaphone organising Ultra style call & response chanting.

Canberra Stadium is part of the complex housing the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS). Before the game, I was given a lovely private tour of some of the facilities by a friend who works there. AIS Canberra is not quite hallowed ground for me. The Australian Cricket Academy (part of the AIS family) "produced" many of the star names of Australian cricket. The Academy was in Adelaide rather than Canberra. But, Canberra still feels like a nerve centre for all that stuff.

Currently, the Australian U17 football programme is hosted at the AIS. The delightfully named Joeys (young Kangaroo).

A rare privilege for me to have a quick look around.

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