The women's football team of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) vowed to win the gold medal in the Beijing Olympic Games, a Korean newspaper said on Monday.

The DPRK women's football made resolution to defeat rivals and to create "DPRK women football miracle," captain Ri Kum Suk told the web version of Choson Sinbo, a newspaper run by ethnic Koreans in Japan.

For preparing for the Beijing Olympic, the DPRK women's football has played warm-up matches with domestic football teams, which helped the team "overcome all the previous shortages," said coach Kim Kwang Min.

A total of 12 teams will compete for the crown in the Beijing Olympic Games. The DPRK team was in the second group, which includs World Cup champion Germany and second-placed Brazil.

"If the players give full play to their experience and technique, the team would qualify for the next round," Kim said.

The DPRK team has a brilliant record in recent years. It won the Asian Cup in June and In the qualification matches for the Olympics, it totaled 51 goals and lost none.

"We will win the matches by great willpower, unbreakable fighting spirit and special technique," Ri said. "We will create a miracle."

(Xinhua News Agency July 29, 2008)