North Korea's World Cup football team will receive a warm welcome when it returns home from South Africa, a veteran of the country's historic 1966 squad said Saturday.
Pak Du Ik played for North Korea when it advanced to the quarterfinals in England 44 years ago in its first World Cup. The team eliminated Italy before being knocked out by Portugal.
This time, however, North Korea didn't fare as well, losing group matches to Brazil 2-1, to Portugal 7-0 and to Ivory Coast 3-0.
Pak, speaking to international TV news agency APTN in Pyongyang, said the team did its best in South Korea, despite the losses.
``Now when the Korean team gets home, officials and crowds of people will go to the airport to welcome them,'' he said. ``This is because taking part itself is a success.''
Pak said that while North Koreans regret the Portugal result, they have praised the team's players.
``It is a pity that we let in three goals against Ivory Coast. I think if we had played harder we would not have lost two goals in the first half and one goal in the second half,'' Pak said. ``But on the other hand, I think they did their best.''
North Korean official media had not yet reported the result of the match against Ivory Coast early Saturday, but the news had spread quickly within Pyongyang by word of mouth.
Football is very popular in North Korea, and the country's second World Cup appearance in 44 years caused great excitement and expectation among its citizens.
Pak said the experience was valuable.
``We have learnt a lesson from the three World Cup matches, we accumulated experience and we found an answer to how to improve our football,'' he said. ``To decrease the gap between our team and teams from Europe, South America and Africa.''
