There was a lot of patronising about North Korea prior to their opening World Cup clash with the might of Brazil, and while the outsiders ended up losing they won a few hearts and minds.

It was wrong to predict they would get hammered – simply because what we knew about the North Koreans was actually very little.

Nobody knew their strengths and weaknesses and it’s very difficult to get any reliable information on them. But based on their impressive performance against the Brazilians, Portugal and Ivory Coast will be worried.