Posted by Ryan Wilson
The United States Women's National Team opened its 2011 World Cup with a 2-0 victory over North Korea. That in itself is newsworthy, but sometimes its what happens before or after a match that turns out to be the real story. And according to North Korean coach Kim Kwang Min, that appears to be the case here. During the post-match presser Kim blamed his team's performance on … several players being struck by lightning earlier this month.
Guardian sportswriter John Ashdown tweets that Kim claimed the incident took place during a training match on June 8. As for what this means for the rest of the tournament, Kim said (through a translator) "They will play with high spirits and strong will, a strong will you cannot expect from human kind."
The official FIFA translation identified the "goalkeeper, four defenders and some midfielders" as those who were injured. Which explains … well, a lot. "The strength of our players not sufficient so our strategy could not be implemented," Kim said.
Kim's statements haven't yet been verified by FIFA but Ashdown tweets: "Obv can't say whether Kim was making it up or not, but makes sense in a way. Fitness levels not right because of disruption to preparation."
Generally speaking, fitness levels are the least of your worries if you've been exposed to a billion volts and 200 amperes of current.
