Their rulers may be at the eye of an international storm but North Korea's football team has done their best to live up to its reputation as the hermit kingdom in the World Cup build-up.

The 2,000-1 rank outsiders made their debut on South African soil on Sunday in a friendly against Nigeria which garnered more headlines for the trouble off the pitch after 16 people were injured in a stampede by ticketless fans.

Drawn in the same group as Kaka's Brazil, Didier Drogba's Ivory Coast and Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal, the North Koreans are devoid of big names with only three of their squad based abroad.

But while their leader Kim Jong-Il is famous for his Fidel Castro-style olive green fatigues, the team did at least have a nod to Western fashions with around half wearing florescent green boots.

While other teams have welcomed locals to watch them go through their paces, North Korea's training sessions have all been behind closed doors.

They have yet to give a press conference - even the customary post-match briefing to reporters was scrapped - and a FIFA delegate attached to the team said there was no chance of grabbing a word.

"You can guess what it's like with those guys," he told AFP.

Attempts to grab a word or two with Korean officials were met with vigorous shakes of the head.

All of which has gone to bolster their reputation as veritable dark horses which should suit a team nicknamed the Chollimas after a mythical winged horse which is too fast to mount.

Team coach Kim Jong-hun did give an insight in a recent magazine article as to one of their chief motivating factors.

"Perhaps there is no other team in the world who would be fighting with the same dedication to please the leader and bring fame to the motherland," he was quoted as saying by World Soccer.

Their qualification from the Asian group is their first since their famous adventure in the 1966 World Cup in England when they reached the quarter-finals where they were eventually beaten 5-3 by Portugal with the legendary Eusebio grabbing four goals.

Along the way, they beat Italy 1-0 as well as drawing with Chile.

Their team bus, sponsored by South Korea's Hyundai conglomerate, celebrates their last appearance at football's top table with a slogan proclaiming: "1966 Again! Victory for DPR of Korea" alongside an image of players hoisting a flag.

While hundreds of journalists are covering the likes of Brazil and England during the tournament, only a handful of reporters from the tightly-controlled state media have travelled from North Korea.

And if the qualification period is any guide, the matches will not be shown live on state television although highlights might be transmitted.

Not that there is a complete lack of interest from Korean journalists.

Around 30 South Korean reporters made the journey on a bus from their team's base near the northern city of Rustenberg to watch the North.

And despite the tensions caused by accusations that Kim Jong-Il's regime was behind the sinking of a South Korean warship, there is little enmity when it comes to football.

"The Korean people, especially sports fans, tend to put politics aside. They see themselves as Koreans," said one South Korean journalist.

There is scant sign however of South African fans taking them to heart.

While around a third of the crowd on Sunday were decked out in Nigerian shirts, not one was wearing the red of the Chollimas.

There was one Korean flag on display - but the red, white and blue of South Korea.

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