Hong Kong, Seoul —
Players shed tears of joy as Kim Jong Un led the celebrations and toasted Asia’s latest women’s club soccer champions to continental domination, capping an impressive rise for North Korean women’s soccer players.
Pyongyang-based Naegohyang Women’s FC lifted the Asian Champions League trophy in enemy territory in South Korea last month. The reclusive nation is also world champion in under-17 and under-20 women’s football.
In a celebratory exhibition match in the capital last week, with the supreme leader looking on, Naegohyang faced an under-17 team that had just added the Asian Cup to their impressive silver medal, defeating Japan 5-1 in the final.
They were praised as “trustworthy women” and “proud daughters of the motherland.”
According to state news agency KCNA, Naegohyang’s athletes emphasized that “respected Comrade Kim Jong Un’s loving care and compassion are leading all of the athletes to more remarkable success in sports.”
The next stage for many of these players will be the Senior Women’s World Cup in Brazil. And some experts are asking whether Kim’s players will be given a chance at world glory.
According to a report by South Korea’s Unification Ministry, Kim, who loves sports, has renewed his efforts to develop his athletic abilities as a means of promoting North Korea internationally.
The country’s secretive nature makes it difficult to know exactly what’s driving its prolific women’s soccer program, but CNN spoke to coaches and players who have worked with and played against the country’s teams to piece together how they run their programs.
When captain Kim Kyung-young scored the winning goal against Japan’s Tokyo Verdy in last month’s Champions League final, it was the latest step for her in a journey that began at Pyongyang International Soccer School more than a decade ago.
The elite youth academy, founded in 2013 to fulfill Kim Jong Un’s sporting ambitions, has since trained hundreds of girls and boys between the ages of seven and 17, many of whom will go on to represent the country at international level, according to state news agency KCNA. Among them is Han Kwang-sung, a forward on the men’s national team who briefly played in Italy.
Kim Kyung-young, now 24 years old, is an example of a highly controlled youth development system that started playing soccer at the age of 10. Representing the country across age groups. Become a star striker in the senior lineup. and led her club to continental silverware.
Coach Kim, who won the Most Valuable Player Award in this year’s Champions League, said, “Although our players still lack experience in senior-level international tournaments, we have grown significantly as a team.”
“Through this tournament, we will try to overcome our shortcomings and perform well in future world-class tournaments.”
British coach Stephen Constantine, who was one of the few coaches invited by international governing body FIFA to train North Korean leaders in 2018, pointed out the physical toughness of North Korean players.
Constantine, who is currently the coach of Rwanda’s men’s national team, told CNN: “What impresses me the most about the North Korean team is that they are very aggressive and very hardworking.”
“In some cases, and I think this is a little extreme, we would run from the goal line to the 18-yard line with someone on our backs, drop them, and then sprint to the other box. That was insane.”
Although the North Korean players’ physical aptitude was clear, coaches recognized their technical and tactical shortcomings.
According to North Korean media, elite academy instructors have begun translating the latest sports science data and technology to analyze world-class competitions from overseas to improve athletes.
Colin Bell, a former South Korean women’s national team coach who has played against North Korean teams, said, “They are technically very good and can overwhelm most teams their age through sheer physicality, technical ability and speed.”
Having studied the U20 national team at the recent Asian Cup, he described the North Koreans as being very disciplined and learning to play with “simple” sequences.
“It’s not rocket science, but it’s very well executed and their soccer IQ is very high for their age group,” Bell said.
“I watched every player run. They all run in the same style. To be honest, from a young age, it’s just practice, practice, practice. There’s no way you can compete with them at the youth level.”
Ho Chi Minh City Women’s FC defender Lily Chesna, who lost to Nego Hyang in the Champions League quarterfinals, also commented on the team’s smooth choreography.
“You could tell they knew exactly where to go and were just flowing. Their passing and movement on the ground was perfect. It was definitely difficult to track them,” the American told CNN.
Bell said the players have an added edge mentally.
“You can tell it’s not a normal game for them. There’s a certain desperation in their play. They have to succeed and you can feel it,” he said.
“Obviously, that’s the way this country is governed. We all know that there are some parts that are working, but the majority of society in North Korea is very poor. So sports are a really big option for young girls to help their future families. That’s what they do. You can’t simulate despair.”
Kwok Kamin, a long-time FIFA trainer who trained coaches in North Korea four times between 2013 and 2019, added: “At youth level in Europe, countries focus on player development, not results. In Asia, they need to produce results to be called good players.”
“If you are a champion, Kim Jong-un will meet you at the airport,” said the Hong Konger. “This is important.”
Attention will soon turn to next year’s Women’s World Cup in Brazil, which will mark the top team’s return to the world stage after years in the sporting wilderness.
After winning three Women’s Asian Cups in the early 2000s, things started to fall apart at the 2011 World Cup. Five athletes failed doping tests, which were blamed on traditional Chinese medicine that uses deer musk glands to treat the effects of lightning strikes. They were fined and banned from participating in subsequent World Cups and qualifiers, and their progress stopped.
The team subsequently withdrew from the 2019 East Asian Championship due to the coronavirus pandemic for unknown reasons, and was unable to participate in the 2023 World Cup.
However, they re-emerged with a new head coach earlier this year, replacing almost half of the team with newcomers, and secured their place in the world’s hottest competition.
Although they performed well in this year’s Women’s Asian Cup, they lost a close game to hosts Australia in the quarterfinals, and Australian manager Joe Montemurro admitted that North Korea was “the best team in the tournament. They play great soccer.”
Gina Vanullo, a freelance journalist covering Asian soccer, said the prospects for women’s soccer look bright as North Korea continues to fill its top team with proven youth team graduates.
“We’re seeing that happen because a lot of the players who were outstanding in the team, or at least started making their debut in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup, were just coming out of the underage system,” Bagnulo said, citing Kim Kyung-young as a player to watch.
With young prospects likely to be included in the squad for the next World Cup, the question is whether the seniors can repeat the success of their juniors against the world’s best teams. There is still much to prove.
“Youth football has a huge advantage, so it will be very interesting to see how they do next year,” Bell said. “Could they win senior varsity football at some stage? I don’t know if they can do that.”
Vanullo noted that competition will be fierce.
“We’re talking about things like host Brazil and America… But I think we’ll probably win at least some games, even if it’s only in the group stage.”
