14 April 2010
Pop World Cup 2010: Group G – Korea DPR 1 Cote D’Ivoire 1
We return now to Group G, where nothing is decided. Anyone could go through, anyone could go out. Cote d’Ivoire, managed by Wichita Lineman, have been muscular and impressive so far, while Mark S’s Korea DPR seem to approach us from a different pop reality entirely. We’ve been waiting for this match – will it live up to expectations?
This match closes at midnight on Tuesday 20th April
KOREA DPR: Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble – “Hwiparam” The Manager Says: “Victorious Greetings from the Hermit Kingdom! Wonder now tremendously at delicacy unfeigned and mastered, in the true crafting hands and sprightly revolutionary currents of the Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble — YES! Savour this name! For among the sullen milquetoast acronyms of the debased barbarian huddlings you call Western “culture”, the PEE arc and glitter boldest of all… Jaunty yet poignant, saucy yet gemlike, “Hwiparam” is a gracenote on the people’s insoucient warrior ease with all the advanced waiting world. Let the paltry outer layers vacillate and fret: they came to SNEER yet they STAYED TO LEARN. Hop la, it is an established shoo-in. OUR NAME IS FABULOUS FOR WE ARE LEGION.”
Length: 3:38 Played: 230 
COTE D’IVOIRE: Tangara Speed Ghoda – “Loubard Feeling” The Manager Says: “Bringing the eccentric Abidjan reggae star Tangara off the bench provides a tactical switch, with a vocal that manages to be relaxed and tuff and bristling all at once. Loubard, for the record, means “bad boy, yob, hooligan, churl”. After a bruising game with Brazil, CIV are buoyed through the 90 minutes by some cortizone-injecting keyboards and brass. In case none of this is enough to overpower the North Koreans, the crazed blitz on their goal in the last 30 seconds should do the trick.”
Length: 5:37 Played: 210
Commentary Box Analysis: a game played entirely on the off-beat and a game which has the pundits refusing to pund – no-one can tell how DPRK’s beautifully stiff space-Morricone business will work against CIV’s excellently flex-y organ-driven African reggae. We’ve never seen a game quite like it. We’d like to see a lot more.
Group G Match 5: Which track do you prefer?
- KOREA DPR: Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble (55%, 33 Votes)
- COTE D'IVOIRE: Tangara Speed Ghoda (45%, 27 Votes)
Total Voters: 60
Poll closes: 20 April 2010 @ 11:59 pm
Loading ...Results: Group C – USA 3 – Algeria 3: Pete Baran’s USA team and Martin Skidmore’s Algeria went toe-to-toe with massively varying styles and played out a high-scoring stalemate to the delight of all neutrals, the 59-41 percentage as tight a result as we have seen so far. Slovenia 3 – England 0: Kat’s melodic bosh approach completely overwhelmed an England side which looked competent and confident at the outset. The group results are with the statisticians but first reports suggest that Slovenia have squeaked past a very unfortunate Algeria on percentages.
Coming up: The final game in Group G, and one of the great post-colonial matches – a fixture to conjure with as Portugal take on Brazil.
Tim in FT • pwc10/pwc10 group G • 483 views
There’s a hint of “Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Dear Leader After Midnight)” in the Pochonbo synth riffs. It soon dissipates. This couldn’t be a more different line-up than the Pyongyang Hardcore Resistance, really – sweet-natured and charming, with a hint of the twee.
Playing the Schooly D to the DPR’s Tallulah Gosh we have Cote D’Ivoire – is this REALLY the first reggae we’ve heard in the tournament? Surely not! That’s what comes of Sweden not qualifying.
The Koreans look slight but that’s deceptive and they frustrate the Ivoirians for most of this game, always looking threatening on the counter too, until some inspired substitutions by the CIV manager break the deadlock. First a decisive intervention from the trumpet, and then some kind of SPACE TANK is brought onto the pitch to deliver the killer blow.
The official name for the “space tank” is the “Beaconsfield Sycob”.
I don’t expect more than 3 people to get that reference.
If Dana, instead of espousing rightist politics, had been a revolutionary socialist and then teamed up with Raw Sex from the French and Saunders show, she’d sound like this. And like nothing else on earth. Cote d’Ivoire lope around a bit, sounding convincing but not really threatening the People’s Goal, even at the end where they appear to bring in part of the soundtrack from Hitchcock’s “The Birds”. Narrow win for the quirky style of Comrade Dana, I think.
And yes, Wichita, I’ve seen the Deres play at Sycob! The ground is separated from the town by a motorway, talk about easy access.
This is men against little girls and for a while the little girls look like they’re set to spring a surprise. Their fancy tippy-tappy approach is very eye-catching and while they dominate posession they just can’t get through this rock solid Ivorian back four. Cote D’Ivoire are playing with one massive bass player behind the ball at all times and in the second half when press further forward they just steamroller North Korea.
“THE MEN DON’T KNOW BUT THE LITTLE GIRLS UNDERSTAND”
—Jim Jong Il
as told to a tanned rested and unlogged lørd sükråt wötsît obvs
I’d like to see both of these two teams through, please.
It would be nice to see these two teams progress, but with Portugal on current form I think its unlikely. So as intriguing as this look into North Korean pop has been, Cote D’Ivoire has it in spades in this heat. Though shomehow both tracks played at the same time earlier, and they mash up very well indeed!
What Birdseed said. How do I best vote to get CIV and PKR through?
(In this match I prefer the PKR track, just – it’s charming, and the hint of totalitarianism easily outweighs the tinge of twee.)
There’s no results that guarantee it* – a CIV win would definitely send the DPRK home to the hermit kingdom, a Portugal win would mean one of them was definitely doomed (probably Korea).
*draws in both games would make it very likely, since DPRK is head of Portugal on %age total. But that is an incredibly hard result to influence.
“THIS IS THE HERMIT KINGDOM NOR ARE WE OUT OF IT”
—Kim Il Stopheles
I think what Tom is saying is: vote Brazil, against your better instincts ;)
Having left their own kit back at the hotel CIV are playing in a borrowed Jamaican strip but it seems to be chafing at first and they don’t sound too comfortable. The horn section introduce more focus but I’m not bowled over by the front line. They may defend well but I can’t see them scoring until the manager brings on the subs – a sax player and space invader machine by the sound of it – near the end.
PKR play with precision and poise. No effort is wasted, no movement without purpose. They may avoid getting their kit dirty but once they have the ball they will not give it up without a fight. They are playing a tactical game, frustrating the opposition until the backing singers move forward to join the centre forward for an irresistible and successful move on goal.
The Ivorians for me, swagger and attitude make them complacent first half, and the winsome DPRK use neat passing to unsettle the muscular africans. Second half is different, the sugary sweet hits of “The Hermit Kingdom” give way to nausea. Those whistles from the bench aren’t getting through and the CIV striker leaps like a salmon to nod home the winner, peels off his jersey in celebration to reveal a massive “THUG LITE” tattoo across his chest in gothic script, bless ‘im.
The Koreans have just gone straight for my heart. I thought their game was enchanting.
A tight game, and one of the matches of the tournament. Hard luck for the Koreans, as the crowd noise emanating from the Portugal vs. Brazil stadium indicates an easy win for the Portuguese. So Korea has to win this, a match that seems too close to call right now.
Question for the North Korean manager, or anyone: do you know if this track draws on Morricone or if this is the sort of stuff that Morricone drew on? (Obv. the answer could be “influence flows both ways.”)
I’m hearing this match the way many of you are: Korea glides to an early lead, an excellent piercing attack from the corners while the center is left tantalizingly empty, to no apparent disadvantage. But the Ivorians keep pressing, and it’s anyone’s guess whether or not the Koreans will hold them off. I feel that Korea’s got the edge here, such disconcerting beauty being hard for opponents to assess and counter, but this one is not over by any means.
The DPRK song is utterly beguiling. I’ve never heard its like.
You won’t see better pop football than this. Tactics, grace, evasion and pursuit. Oh yeah, and giant laser robots bent on destruction.
LOL Frank, you know how Mullah Resmat feels about “influence”!
Yes, one of my projects in life is trolling Mullah Resmat.
First mis-step from CIV here. Soprano sax noodling over half hearted dub reggae? Hmmm. N Korea is as delightful as the comments above suggest. Their best yet. Whatever next, I wonder? Onward!
The draw sends the ecstatic Coastal Ivorians through, leaving unlucky Algeria the only African side to not progress – an interesting contrast with the South Americans (bar a mathematical miracle for Chile).