Jorn Andersen is standing on the touchline dressed all in black, arms folded, waiting impatiently for the last seconds to drain away. The digital clock in the Kim Il Sung Stadium in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, has stopped counting—a large "90" frozen on the scoreboard. The match, a 2019 Asian Cup qualifier against Lebanon on Sept. 5, was a rare chance for the large North Korean crowd to see their men's team play. The Chollima, as the national team is known—named after a mythical winged horse that flies at supersonic speeds and can never be mounted by mortal man—had not played a home game in Pyongyang for almost two years.
Inside the Secret World of Football in North Korea
