World Cup qualifier North Korea, wearing a borrowed strip, played drew 1-1 with Venezuela on Thursday in a friendly that was ended after 80 minutes due to darkness.
North Korean defender Pak Nam-chol gave the visitors the lead in the seventh minute, with Sporting Braga’s Angelo Pena equalizing in the 43rd.
The match began two hours late after the North Koreans declined to play in the middle of the afternoon when temperatures reached 36ºC in the small city of San Felipe in the northwest of the country.
PHOTO: AFP
In addition to the delay in starting the match, the North Koreans said their kit was lost in transit, forcing them to wear a strip borrowed from Venezuela’s national team.
The two countries will play another match today in the coastal city of Puerto La Cruz.
North Korea, who played last in the World Cup in 1966 and reached the quarter-finals, will play in Group G against five-time champion Brazil, Ivory Coast and Portugal. Many consider the group the toughest of the eight in South Africa.
Venezuela failed to reach the World Cup and is the only one of 10 countries in the South American confederation that has never played in the World Cup.
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