Among other things, North Korea is a strange place when it comes to sports.  Its leader, Kim Jong Il, once claimed he shot the best round of golf in recorded history, and after North Korea men’s soccer team had an unsuccessful run in the 2010 World Cup they were forced to stand on a stage where they were berated by 400 government officials.

Perhaps it is in this context that we can best understand North Korean soccer coach’s Kwang Min Kim’s bizarre excuse as to why his team lost to the United States 2-0 in the Women’s World Cup Tuesday.

According to Min Kim, “more than five” of the players on the team had been hospitalized after being stuck by lightning during training last month, and the lingering effects made them perform poorly in the second half of a game that had been scoreless at the break.

“It’s the first we have heard about it,” said American striker Abby Wambach of Min Kim’s novel explanation.

 

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