By Ahn Mi Young
Seoul - The last time North Korea seized the global stage was at the 1966 World Cup finals when the Asian underdog advanced into a quarter-final clash with Portugal after stunning the world by defeating Italy.
Nobody had expected the East Asian outsiders to triumph over European teams, but in the end one goal by Park Du Ik against Italy secured them a first-ever berth in the quarter-finals where the team lost to Portugal 5-3 after leading 3-0.
The victory in England in 1966 was a source of great pride for millions of football fans in the communist country but had become a faded memory, with the hermit kingdom failing to return again to the global stage.
Since then the North Koreans have either failed to qualify or - as in 1998 and 2002 - did not enter at all.
The North Koreans' success in qualifying has been built on safeguarding defence and seeking to score on the counter attack, a tactic which ultimately proved successful against the likes of Jordan, Mongolia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, United Arab Emirates and South Korea during qualifying.
One of the challenges facing North Korea is the team's relative inexperience against top foreign opposition.
Unlike neighbours and rivals South Korea, who often host international teams for friendlies, North Korea has only recently hosted a friendly with a Brazilian club on November 4, almost for the first time with a non-Asian team at home.
The defensive-minded tactic has also made goals hard to come by: they drew 0-0 in five of their 14 matches in qualifying rounds, while three of their six wins came by virtue of a solitary goal.
The team is probably at the vanguard of globalization. Under home- grown coach Kim Jong Hun, it includes South Korean players who were born and bred in Japan: Jong Tae Se and Ahn Yong-Hak, two of their star players.
The Coach:
Kim Jong Hun, who played as a defender for the national team for 10 years, was scouted as coach in September 2007 with the aim of become a "defeatless team" instead of a winning one. The 53-year-old coach, even-tempered and a good strategist, says his mission is to fulfil a childhood dream of repeating the 1966 epic run.
The Star:
Jung Tae Se, 25, a key player for the team's counter-attacking tactics side, plays for the Japanese professional team Kawasaki Frontale. Jung was born and grew up in Japan, and his elder brother Jung I Se plays for a South Korean team.
Factfile:
Nickname: Chollima
Founded: 1945
FIFA affiliation: 1958
Highest FIFA ranking: 57 - November 1993
Lowest FIFA ranking: 181 -October 1998
Previous World Cup appearances: 1 (1966)
Best World Cup performance: Quarter-finals (1966)
Date qualified for finals: June 17, 2009
Sapa-dpa