Kim shoulders the blame

North Korea manager Kim Jong-Hun has taken responsibility for his side's 7-0 thumping by Portugal.

Manager accepts responsibilty after Cape Town rout

North Korea manager Kim Jong Hun has taken responsibility for his side's 7-0 thumping by Portugal. Portugal ran riot in Cape Town after North Korea had tested them early on, and there were six different scorers for Carlos Queiroz's side. The Asian side lost their opening match of the World Cup narrowly, falling 2-1 to Brazil, but they began their second game with a more positive outlook. At times they were causing Portugal problems and they went in at half-time only 1-0 down. But after the break they collapsed and coach Kim is shouldering the blame for adopting an attacking mentality. "I think our players played to their full potential but tactically speaking it fell apart and we could not block their attacks and that's why they scored so many goals," he said. "As a coach, it was my fault for not playing the right strategy. "As the game went on, Portugal became more aggressive and after we conceded the first goal, the desire and wish to equalise led to my team's collapse." North Korea are now out of the South Africa tournament but will still have a say in the Group G qualification race, as they play Ivory Coast in their final game.