Yoon Bitgaram shines in Olympic qualifying win over Oman

South Korean midfielder Yoon Bitgaram shined in Korea’s 2-0 win over Oman to start the final round of Asian qualifiers for the London 2012 Olympics on Wednesday.Yoon was sharp and hungry, highlighting the depth of talent manger Hong Myung-bo can call upon. The 21-year-old scored and was involved in

Sept. 22, 2011

Seongnam search for new life

This season once looked like a terrible one for Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma but there is hope that there may just be a happy ending. The Gyeonggi club is the most successful in K-League history and when it comes to Asia only Pohang Steelers have won more than Seongnam’s two continental titles. It is truly

Sept. 20, 2011

Korea set for Oman matchup

South Korea will open the final round of Asian qualification for the 2012 London Olympics against Oman at 8 p.m. Wednesday in Changwon, about 400 kilometers southeast of Seoul.South Korea is in Group A with Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. It will travel to Qatar on Nov. 23 and will be back at home aga

Sept. 20, 2011

Arsenal fall to Blackburn 4-3

LONDON (AP) ― Arsenal’s poor start to the English season worsened Saturday with a 4-3 loss to Blackburn despite leading twice in the first half. Elsewhere in the Premier League, all three promoted clubs won on the same day for the first time since February 2007.Ayegbeni Yakubu scored twice in his de

Sept. 18, 2011

Spain and Italy qualify for Euro 2012

LONDON (AP) ― Spain and Italy sealed their places at Euro 2012 with two qualifying games to spare on Tuesday while England moved closer to next year’s finals after beating Wales in a game at Wembley overshadowed by the death of a Wales fan.David Villa and Alvaro Negredo scored twice as defending cha

Sept. 7, 2011

Korea draws with Kuwait in qualifier

Park Chu-young continues international scoring spreeSouth Korean striker Park Chu-young continued his goal scoring form at international level against Kuwait on Tuesday, but the team was held to a 1-1 draw in the 2014 World Cup qualifier.Park, who scored a hat trick in a 6-0 trashing of Lebanon last

Sept. 7, 2011

Leandro scores as Brazil beats Ghana in friendly

LONDON (AP) ― Ronaldinho made a winning return to the Brazil team as Leandro Damiao’s first international goal earned the five-time world champions a 1-0 victory over 10-man Ghana on Monday, easing some of the pressure on under-fire coach Mano Menezes.Internacional striker Leandro marked his first s

Sept. 6, 2011

Korea looks ahead to Kuwait

Park Chu-young aims to keep up his strong playIt is halftime in South Korea’s two-game opening gambit in its bid to qualify for the 2014 World Cup and the players couldn’t be feeling better. Well, they are sure to be a little jetlagged after playing 90 minutes against Lebanon and then flying to the

Sept. 4, 2011

Park hat trick as Korea thrashes Lebanon

GOYANG (AP) -- A hat trick by new Arsenal signing Park Chu-young lifted South Korea to a 6-0 win over Lebanon in their World Cup qualifier on Friday.Ji Dong-won of Sunderland also scored twice as Korea outclassed the visitors from start to finish to take an early lead at the top of Group B in the th

Sept. 2, 2011

Korea takes step toward Brazil

You may be thinking that the last World Cup has just finished. After all, it is only 14 months since Luis Suarez scored a fine goal for Uruguay to end South Korean hopes in the second round but despite the defeat all were satisfied as reaching the last 16 was the Taeguk Warriors’ best ever performan

Sept. 1, 2011

Arsenal signs South Korea captain Park Chu-young

LONDON (AP) _ Arsenal completed the signing of South Korea captain Park Chu-young from Monaco on Monday and Germany defender Per Mertesacker looked set to follow him as the club strengthens after a dismal start to the Premier League season.The 26-year-old striker is moving to London after three seas

Aug. 31, 2011

Man United drub Arsenal 8-2

LONDON (AP) ― Manchester outclassed north London in a Premier League goal frenzy Sunday, with United thrashing Arsenal 8-2 and City routing Tottenham 5-1.Edin Dzeko scored four goals for City at White Hart Lane. Wayne Rooney responded with a hat trick at Old Trafford as Arsenal allowed eight goals i

Aug. 29, 2011

Mata scores in Chelsea debut

LONDON (AP) ― Juan Mata scored on his Chelsea debut to complete a 3-1 victory over Norwich on Saturday in a Premier League match overshadowed by teammate Didier Drogba being knocked unconscious.Mata, who joined from Valencia this week, netted in the 11th minute of stoppage time, which resulted from

Aug. 28, 2011

Man United canters to victory over Spurs

MANCHESTER, England (AFP) ― Danny Welbeck, Anderson and Wayne Rooney were all on target as Manchester United continued their perfect start to the season with a 3-0 victory over Tottenham at Old Trafford here on Monday.Sir Alex Ferguson once again underlined his confidence in youth with a selection t

Aug. 23, 2011

‘Korean players work very hard on and off the pitch’

Ghanaian striker Asamoah learns K-League cultureHe made an impact in his very first game and as soon as it finished, respected SBS TV commentator Park Moon-sung started tweeting about a new and exciting addition to the K-League called Derek Asamoah. The former Ghana international has spent much of h

Aug. 22, 2011