The Korea Herald

[Newsmaker] Despite loss, Korea gets sets for World Cup

FOZ DO IGUACU, Brazil (Yonhap) ― Players on the South Korean national football team have put their recent big loss to Ghana behind them as they get ready for a more crucial task ahead.On Wednesday, head coach Hong Myung-bo and his 23-man team arrived in Foz do Iguacu, their base camp during the FIFA World Cup in Brazil, after wrapping up an earlier camp in Miami.South Korea has struggled mightily in its preparation for the tournament. It lost to Tunisia 1-0 in Seoul on May 28 and fell to Ghana 4

SoccerJune 12, 2014

[Newsmaker] Despite loss, Korea gets sets for World Cup

[World Cup] China Panda pundits red carded by authorities

BEIJING (AFP) -- A team of Chinese baby pandas lined up to predict World Cup scores have been given the red card by authorities hours before kick off, the animals' keepers told AFP Thursday.The pandas were billed by Chinese media as China's answer to deceased soccer soothsayer Paul the Octopus, after they were originally set to predict match results by picking food from a choice of baskets and by climbing trees.But representatives at the pandas' breeding base in southwestern Sichuan province sa

SoccerJune 12, 2014

Defender Hong tries to get over mental hump

FOZ DO IGUACU, Brazil (Yonhap) ― South Korean defensive back Hong Jeong-ho, who recently came down with a bruised foot, has been cleared by team doctors to play and is doing relatively well physically.It’s the mental block that needs to be cleared, the 24-year-old said Wednesday.“When I try to make quick turns, I become conscious of the pain, and I can’t make plays I normally do because of that,” Hong said after he and his teammates held their first practice at their World Cup base camp in Foz d

SoccerJune 12, 2014

Defender Hong tries to get over mental hump

Reds stymie Ryu, Dodgers

CINCINNATI (AP) ― Johnny Cueto was striking out batters. Joey Votto and Jay Bruce were driving in runs. For one night, the Cincinnati Reds felt like themselves.It hasn’t happened that often this season.Cueto matched his career high with 12 strikeouts in six innings, and Votto and Bruce ― the missing core of Cincinnati’s batting order much of the season ― each drove in runs Wednesday night, leading the Reds to a 5-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.Cueto (6-5) followed his shortest start of t

BaseballJune 12, 2014

Korean translation program hits WC

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) ― Say you’re one of the 600,000 foreigners expected to attend the World Cup in Brazil, where hardly anyone speaks a language besides Portuguese, and you find yourself in the hospital and unable to communicate with the doctor. What do you do?A Korean nonprofit company has a solution: A phone number where foreigners can get real time language assistance in seven languages.Called the Before Babel Brigade, the service was developed during the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Jap

SoccerJune 12, 2014

Blatter wants to let managers challenge referee decisions

SAO PAULO (AP) ― FIFA president Sepp Blatter has proposed that soccer team managers should be allowed to challenge referee’s decisions during games.Blatter’s surprise announcement at FIFA’s Congress on Wednesday reverses an earlier pledge that goal-line technology was the only camera review of decisions that he would support.The FIFA boss suggested that managers could be given two challenges per match.A similar challenge system was introduced in Major League Baseball this season for a limited nu

SoccerJune 12, 2014

[World Cup] Injured defender Hong trying to get over mental hump

South Korean defensive back Hong Jeong-ho, who recently came down with a bruised foot, has been cleared by team doctors to play and is doing relatively well physically.It's the mental block that needs to be cleared, the 24-year-old said Wednesday."When I try to make quick turns, I become conscious of pain, and I can't make plays I normally do because of that," Hong said, after he and his teammates held their first practice at their World Cup base camp in Foz do Iguacu in southern Brazil. (Yonhap

SoccerJune 12, 2014

[World Cup] Injured defender Hong trying to get over mental hump

[World Cup] Big loss behind them, S. Koreans set sights

Players on the South Korean national football team have put their recent big loss to Ghana behind them as they get ready for a more crucial task ahead, the squad's head coach said Wednesday.Earlier in the day, Hong Myung-bo and his 23-man team arrived in Foz do Iguacu, their base camp during the FIFA World Cup in Brazil, after wrapping up an earlier camp in Miami.South Korea has struggled mightily in its preparation for the tournament. It lost to Tunisia 1-0 in Seoul on May 28 and fell to Ghana

SoccerJune 12, 2014

[World Cup] Big loss behind them, S. Koreans set sights

Team tensions emerging at World Cup

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) ― The World Cup hasn’t even begun and already there’s been a training ground run-in between two Dutch players and Cameroon’s entire team delayed its flight to Brazil in a dispute over their tournament bonus.Prodigious talent often goes hand-in-hand with oversized egos and managing them can be a fulltime job for team leaders in the pressure-cooker environment of the sport’s showcase event.Sometimes, players’ feelings need as much massaging as their muscles.“Conflict is inevita

SoccerJune 10, 2014

Indians rout Rangers 17-7

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) ― Lonnie Chisenhall had nine RBIs and three home runs in a five-hit game, Michael Brantley scored five times and the Cleveland Indians beat the Texas Rangers 17-7 Monday night.The only other nine-RBI game in Cleveland history was by Chris James in a 20-6 victory for the Indians on May 4, 1991, against Oakland.Chisenhall had two-run homers in the second and fourth innings before hitting a three-run shot down the right field line in the eighth to give the Indians a 17-6 lead.

BaseballJune 10, 2014

Was it a goal? Debate should all end at Brazil World Cup

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) ― Was it a goal, or wasn’t it?The question shouldn’t need to be debated in the next five weeks in Brazil, where goal-line technology will be used for the first time in a World Cup.Fourteen cameras ― seven trained on each goalmouth ― have been hung up in all 12 World Cup stadiums. The cameras will record 500 images per second, and a computer will digest the frames. Within a second of a ball crossing the line, the referee’s special watch will vibrate and flash “GOAL.”End of the

SoccerJune 10, 2014

Ghana wins warmup before World Cup opener

Marseille striker Jordan Ayem scored a hat trick after entering the game as a substitute Monday as Ghana won its warmup match for next week's World Cup by beating South Korea 4-0.Ghana plays the United States next Monday in Natal, Brazil. The Black Stars eliminated the Americans from the World Cup in 2006 and 2010.Forward Abdul Majeed Waris left the game in the fourth minute with a left leg injury and was replaced by Ayem, who scored in the 13th minute when his shot from 15 yards deflected off d

SoccerJune 10, 2014

Brazilian police crack down on pre-World Cup protest

Police in Sao Paulo fired tear gas Monday to disperse protesters supporting a subway strike that has unleashed transport chaos three days before the Brazilian mega-city hosts the World Cup kick-off.A group of about 150 protesters set fire to piles of garbage to block a central avenue in the Brazilian business hub, prompting some two dozen riot police to fire stun grenades and then tear gas to disperse them.The demonstrators were backing a five-day-old strike by subway workers that has posed a ma

Olympic GamesJune 9, 2014

Korea to face Ghana in final test before WC

MIAMI, Florida (Yonhap) ― In its final test before the upcoming FIFA World Cup, South Korea will take on Ghana in Miami on Monday.The kickoff at Sun Life Stadium will be at 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, or 8 a.m. Tuesday in South Korea.Both South Korea and Ghana will play in the World Cup in Brazil. South Korea is paired with Russia, Algeria and Belgium in Group H. Ghana has drawn Germany, Portugal and the United States in Group G.South Korea is ranked 57th in the latest FIFA rankings, 20 spots

SoccerJune 9, 2014

Korea to face Ghana in final test before WC

Host Korea looks to hold off Japan at Asian Games

With the clock ticking down to the start of the 2014 Asian Games in the South Korean city of Incheon, the host nation will look to maintain its edge over archrival Japan once again.The countdown will reach 100 days on Wednesday for the Sept. 19-Oct. 4 Asian Games in Incheon, a metropolitan city just west of Seoul. Incheon is the third South Korean host of the largest multisport competition on the continent, after Seoul in 1986 and Busan in 2002.An estimated 14,000 athletes and officials are expe

More SportsJune 9, 2014

Nadal wins 5th-straight French Open

PARIS (AP) ― Trying to beat Rafael Nadal at the French Open is, without a doubt, the toughest task in tennis. Indeed, must be among the greatest challenges in all of sports.The pressure he applies, from set to set, game to game, point to point, shot to shot. That bullwhip of a high-bouncing, topspin lefty forehand. Those quick-reflex returns that help him break an opponent’s serve ― and his will.Doing what he does so well on the red clay of Roland Garros, a surface and site he dominates so compl

More SportsJune 9, 2014

Park back on track

WATERLOO, Ontario (AP) ― A week after losing the No. 1 ranking, Park In-bee found her putting touch.Park won the Manulife Financial Classic on Sunday for her first LPGA Tour title in more than 11 months, matching the course record with a 10-under 61 for a three-stroke victory over Cristie Kerr.“Definitely, the putter is definitely the key,” Park said. “I’ve been hitting the ball consistently all year, just my putter’s just not been wanting to do its job. This week, obviously, it did its job.” Pa

GolfJune 9, 2014

Football: Maradona slams FIFA 'bribes'

Argentina legend Diego Maradona lashed out at "bribes" within FIFA, demanding action against those involved in corruption claims linked to Qatar's World Cup bid, in remarks published Sunday."There are huge bribes" in the world football governing body, UAE-based Maradona told Abu Dhabi daily, Al-Ittihad. "Those behind them must be held accountable, especially in regards to the latest events related to awarding Qatar the 2022 World Cup."Where has this money gone, who received it, and why," must al

SoccerJune 8, 2014

Stars out of WC action

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) ― Elite professional footballers may be pampered like royalty, but near constant training and grueling club and country commitments are taking their toll on the World Cup before the tournament even kicks off in Brazil.Germany midfielder Marco Reus on Saturday became the latest player to pull out of the global football showcase, joining the likes of Frank Ribery, Radamel Falcao, Theo Walcott and several other big names who will be watching the World Cup in between trips to the

SoccerJune 8, 2014

New allegations of corruption in 2022 WC vote

LONDON (AP) ― FIFA’s decision to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar came under further scrutiny as a British newspaper published new allegations that Mohamed bin Hammam used his wealth and top level contacts to buy support for the oil-rich country’s successful bid.The Sunday Times, which last week claimed that the former FIFA vice president made payments totaling $5 million to senior football officials to seal support for Qatar, also accused Bin Hammam of using $1.7 million to secure key Asian vo

SoccerJune 8, 2014