Amid all the diplomatic wrangling over nuclear weapons, North Korea is on Wednesday night looking to exert its muscle in a different but, for many people, just as sensitive arena - on the football field.

The stakes will be high at the World Cup qualifier being played in the Saitama stadium near Tokyo. Not only is the match being held amid increasingly hostile relations with Japan over the abduction of its citizens decades ago, but North Korea is seeking to regain its status as the top football team on the Korean peninsular. For the players from the impoverished communist state there is the promise of cash and luxury cars if they make it to next year's tournament.