Could lightning have struck the entire North Korean women's soccer team? After the match between the United States and North Korea in the Women's World Cup in 2011 where the USA won the match 2-0, lightning was blamed by the North Korean manager. He is quoted as saying > "During training [in North Korea] our players were hit by lightning, and more than five of them were hospitalized, the goalkeeper and the four defenders were most affected, and some midfielders as well." NPR Is it possible that a lightning strike could have affected so many players in a single strike? Would it require hospitalization, and if so, could they be expected to return to play? Is this a plausible excuse?

Yes, it is possible.

Flash Discharge and ground currents are both means by which an indirect strike by lightning can cause injury.

Additionally, strikes that directly hit multiple people, while rare, apparently are not unheard of (emphasis mine):

> In the contest between people and lightning, lightning wins. **Although lightning rarely strikes more than one person at a time** , over the course of a year the damages, deaths and injuries add up to make lightning a serious threat. By studying the outcome of human-lightning encounters, scientists hope to find more ways to prevent such meetings from occurring in the first place.

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