Brazil vs. North Korea World Cup 2010: A Matchup of Opposites

Brazil is synonymous with two things: beautiful women and beautiful soccer. On the other end of the spectrum, North Korea is also synonymous with two things: a crippling dictator and crippling U.N. sanctions.

When Brazil (ranked No. 1 in the world by FIFA) meets North Korea (ranked 105th) today, it will, quite appropriately, be a match up of beautiful offense versus crippling defense.

Brazil, as always, is one of the favorites to win the World Cup. North Korea is…well, not too many people know what to make of North Korea exactly, and that’s what makes this matchup so fun.

All but three of the players on the North Korean squad play professional soccer in the heavily secluded country, making them a difficult team to scout.

The North Korean side will likely be a rare underdog that the world will have trouble rooting for. Not only because they’re a direct threat to democracy and world peace, but also because their brand of soccer isn’t exactly the most aesthetically pleasing.

The team, like their country, invests a lot in their defense.

The North Koreans utilize a defensive-minded 5-4-1 formation, and allowed only seven goals in 16 matches en-route to qualifying for their first World Cup since 1966.

And they did face some solid competition in qualifying for the tournament; the Asian qualifiers, outside of Australia, have performed admirably thus far, with Japan defeating Cameroon 1-0 and South Korea outclassing Greece 2-0.

In their three matches against bitter rival South Korea, the North Koreans tied two and lost one (although they blamed the lone loss on South Korean officials poisoning their food prior to the match).

But the intrigue of this match has little to do with the game being played.

North Korea's air of mystery is perpetuated by its state-run media, which constantly emphasizes the country’s accomplishments, and, curiously enough, never reports any sort of failure. Because outside media access is forbidden, there is no objective view of North Korean affairs from within the country available to the world.

This matchup will be one of the few instances in the past half of a century in which a part of North Korea will be in the public sphere, unable to hide behind state-generated headlines. The North Korean side has been vocal about their anticipated success in the tournament, and the fact that they will have to back their talk up against what some believe to be the world’s best soccer team could be described as poetic justice.

Unfortunately, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il has banned coverage of the World Cup in North Korea unless their team wins the tournament, meaning that even if they perform well against Brazil, the citizens of North Korea will likely never hear of their side's performance.

In addition to the discrepancy in skill level, history is not on the side of the North Koreans: Brazil has won all 15 of its World Cup meetings against countries not located in Europe or South America. But North Korea, unlike those other teams, will reportedly have the advantage of Kim Jong-il giving them direct orders during the match via ear pieces that are invisible to the naked eye.

Just because they're playing against an outmatched opponent doesn't mean this isn't an important game for Brazil. Their next two contests will be against much more polished squads in Portugal and the Ivory Coast. Thus, a tie or loss in this match could seriously hinder Brazil's odds of advancing to the knockout stage.

The betting line on the game currently places the North Koreans at two-and-a-half goal underdogs; which is intriguing given the little information available about the squad and their strong emphasis on defensive play. I suppose Vegas forgot to take the North Koreans' ear pieces into account.

Regardless, for several reasons, this should be a very entertaining game of soccer.

The game can be seen at 2:30 p.m. (EST) on ESPN.