“When there are usually 30 shots in the game, the USA has about 25 of them. Not today!”

The ESPN commentator wasn’t the only one who was shocked.

Heather O’Reilly scored the last goal of the game, forcing world number one and two-time world champions USA to a 2-2 draw in the opening game of the 2007 Women’s World Cup.

O’Reilly wasn’t surprised by the result, though. Or by how even the game was. She knew it would be tough.

Rather, it was the attitude of the US opponents, who saw the final whistle as a missed opportunity rather than a point won, that caught her attention.

“I remember North Korea seemed disappointed,” O’Reilly says.

“Their body language seemed to say, ‘Oh my God, we were so close to defeating the giant.'”

North Korea is the most isolated country in the world, a state based on the infallibility of Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un and a deep distrust of the outside world.

And although the standard of living there lags far behind most other countries, North Korea is one of the strongest women’s football nations in the world.

When they faced the USA in 2007, they were ranked fifth in the world and had won three consecutive Asian titles within a decade.

Their record at youth level is even better. In 2016 they won the U20 Women’s World Cup, beating Spain, the USA and France in the knockout rounds. That same year their U17 team also won the world title in their age group.

“The 2007 game was challenging, really super difficult,” O’Reilly recalls of her meeting with North Korea’s senior national team. “It was hard to take the ball away from them, they were running like mad, very fast.”

However, there was another challenge that was unique to North Korea.

“There was such a cloud of uncertainty,” says O’Reilly. “The footage we had of her was very limited, even for the time.”

“Every time we played against North Korea, it was a mystery.”

The mystery now is whether North Korea’s women can become a force again after a doping scandal and a four-year absence from international football.