N. Korea’s World Cup-Winning Footballers Get Heroes’ Welcome Home

Members of the North Korean women's under-17 football team wave to people after their arrival in Pyongyang on November 9, 2024. (AFP)
Members of the North Korean women's under-17 football team wave to people after their arrival in Pyongyang on November 9, 2024. (AFP)
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N. Korea’s World Cup-Winning Footballers Get Heroes’ Welcome Home

Members of the North Korean women's under-17 football team wave to people after their arrival in Pyongyang on November 9, 2024. (AFP)
Members of the North Korean women's under-17 football team wave to people after their arrival in Pyongyang on November 9, 2024. (AFP)

North Korea's Under-17 Women's World Cup-winning footballers received a heroes' welcome back in the capital Pyongyang, AFP footage showed on Sunday, with hundreds of people on the streets to celebrate their success.

They had defeated Spain on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the U17 World Cup final in the Dominican Republic a week ago.

Remarkably it was the second global title in two months for secretive North Korea -- largely closed off to the outside world -- they also lifted the Women's World Cup at under-20 level in September.

Officials and players' families gathered at Pyongyang International Airport to wave flowers and North Korea flags as the plane approached the arrivals gate.

Beaming players and their families celebrated together, with one mother, dressed in the traditional hanbok Korean dress, telling her footballing daughter: "You worked so hard."

Jon Il Chong, who won the Golden Ball for best player at the U17 World Cup, told AFP: "It was the desire and honor of our team to give the respected fatherly Marshal Kim Jong Un the report of pleasure and victory.

"I will train harder and harder in the future so that I will demonstrate the honor of North Korea throughout the world," added Jon, who scored the vital 66th-minute equalizer against Spain that took the game to penalties.

Jon's mother, Kim Yong Sil, told reporters: "I will continue to fulfil my responsibility as a mother to make my daughter a world-class football player and wave the national flag in the sky in triumph."

Giving thanks to the ruling Kim family and using sports achievements as a means to raise the national profile is a tradition for North Korean athletes and their families after notable victories.

The victorious squad took to an open truck decorated with flowers and painted with the North Korean flag to drive through the city as they waved to people on the streets.

Some people approached the vehicle to shake hands, with some men in military uniform saluting as the players passed.

While the secretive country's men's football team are currently ranked down at 111th in the world, their female counterparts have won two youth World Cups in two months.

State media proclaimed that the country's teenage players were "the attention of football experts, fans and spectators across the world" after the U17 triumph last Sunday.

North Korea have qualified for the Women's World Cup four times, reaching the quarter-finals in 2007. They are ranked ninth in the world.



Rafael Nadal Retired after the Davis Cup. It's a Rare Team Event in Tennis

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz, left, shakes hands with Rafael Nadal during a training session at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall, in Malaga, southern Spain, on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Spain's Carlos Alcaraz, left, shakes hands with Rafael Nadal during a training session at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall, in Malaga, southern Spain, on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
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Rafael Nadal Retired after the Davis Cup. It's a Rare Team Event in Tennis

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz, left, shakes hands with Rafael Nadal during a training session at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall, in Malaga, southern Spain, on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Spain's Carlos Alcaraz, left, shakes hands with Rafael Nadal during a training session at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall, in Malaga, southern Spain, on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Rafael Nadal wanted to play his last match before retiring in Spain, representing Spain and wearing the red uniform used by Spain's Davis Cup squad.

“The feeling to play for your country, the feeling to play for your teammates ... when you win, everybody wins; when you lose, everybody loses, no?” Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam champion, said a day before his career ended when his nation was eliminated by the Netherlands at the annual competition. ”To share the good and bad moments is something different than (we have on a) daily basis (in) ... a very individual sport."

The men's Davis Cup, which concludes Sunday in this seaside city in southern Spain, and the women's Billie Jean King Cup, which wrapped up Wednesday with Italy as its champion, give tennis players a rare taste of what professional athletes in soccer, football, basketball, baseball, hockey and more are so used to, The AP reported.

Sharing a common goal, seeking and offering support, celebrating — or commiserating — as a group.

“We don’t get to represent our country a lot, and when we do, we want to make them proud at that moment,” said Alexei Popyrin, a member of the Australian roster that will go up against No. 1-ranked Jannik Sinner and defending champion Italy in the semifinals Saturday after getting past the United States on Thursday. “For us, it’s a really big deal. Growing up, it was something that was instilled in us. We would watch Davis Cup all the time on the TV at home, and we would just dream of playing for it. For us, it’s one of the priorities.”

Some players say they feel an on-court boost in team competitions, more of which have been popping up in recent years, including the Laver Cup, the United Cup and the ATP Cup.

“You're not just playing for yourself,” said 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu, part of Britain's BJK Cup team in Malaga. “You’re playing for everyone.”

There are benefits to being part of a team, of course, such as the off-court camaraderie: Two-time major finalist Jasmine Paolini said Italy's players engaged in serious games of UNO after dinner throughout the Billie Jean King Cup.

There also can be an obvious shared joy, as seen in the big smiles and warm hug shared by Sinner and Matteo Berrettini when they finished off a doubles victory together to complete a comeback win against Argentina on Thursday.

“Maybe because we’re tired of playing by ourselves — just for ourselves — and when we have these chances, it’s always nice,” Berrettini said.

On a purely practical level, this format gives someone a chance to remain in an event after losing a match, something that is rare in the usual sort of win-and-advance, lose-and-go-home tournament.

So even though Wimbledon semifinalist Lorenzo Musetti came up short against Francisco Cerúndolo in Italy's opener against Argentina, he could cheer as Sinner went 2-0 to overturn the deficit by winning the day's second singles match and pairing with Berrettini to keep their country in the draw.

“The last part of the year is always very tough,” Sinner said. “It's nice to have teammates to push you through.”

The flip side?

There can be an extra sense of pressure to not let down the players wearing your uniform — or the country whose anthem is played at the start of each session, unlike in tournaments year-round.

Also, it can be difficult to be sitting courtside and pulling for your nation without being able to alter the outcome.

“It’s definitely nerve-racking. ... I fully just bit all my fingernails off during the match," US Open runner-up Taylor Fritz said about what it was like to watch teammate Ben Shelton lose in a 16-14 third-set tiebreaker against Australia before getting on court himself. "I get way more nervous watching team events, and my friends play, than (when it’s) me, myself, playing.”