Well-traveled football defender constantly searching for improvement

Nearly a decade into his club football career, South Korean defender Kwon Kyung-won recently joined his sixth club in the fourth different country. There is more to this than wanderlust for the 29-year-old, who signed with Gamba Osaka of Japan on New Year's Day after stints in South Korea, Saudi Arabia and China. Kwon wants to challenge himself in different circumstances in his never-ending search for improvement. "I wanted to play in as many countries as I can," Kwon said in an inte

Jan. 18, 2022

Ex-Barca youth player thriving with extended opportunity in K League

After an ultimately unsuccessful stint in Europe, former FC Barcelona youth player Paik Seung-ho has been penning a much better chapter of his career at home. His success with the K League 1 champions Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors has also led to multiple callups to the senior men's national team. And Paik says there is no secret to his midcareer turnaround. "I have gotten better because I have been playing more," Paik said in an interview clip provided by the Korea Football Association (KF

Jan. 14, 2022

Nat'l football coach holding out hope for return of injured stars Son, Hwang

With South Korea's World Cup qualifying campaign scheduled to resume later this month, the team's head coach Paulo Bento hasn't abandoned hope of having two of his most important players back from injuries. South Korea's only two active Premier League players, Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur and Hwang Hee-chan of Wolverhampton Wanderers, have both been sidelined. Son, who picked up a leg muscle injury, will likely miss the rest of January. Hwang, who suffered a hamstring injury in mid-Decemb

Jan. 14, 2022

K Leaguers to vie for inclusion for World Cup qualifiers in friendly vs. Iceland

With South Korea on the verge of reaching the 2022 FIFA World Cup, players from the domestic league will have a couple of cracks this month at stating their case for inclusion on the national team for upcoming qualifying matches. The first will come in the form of a friendly match against Iceland in Antalya, Turkey, on Saturday. The kickoff at Mardan Sports Complex is 2 p.m. local time, or 8 p.m. in Seoul. This will be the first meeting between the 33rd-ranked South Korea and 62nd-ranked Icelan

Jan. 14, 2022

Pro football season set for earliest start to accommodate World Cup

The South Korean professional football will have its earliest start to a season in 2022 to accommodate participation in the FIFA World Cup in November, the league office announced Thursday. The 2022 K League 1 season will kick off Feb. 19, the fastest opening to a season by eight days. The 2010 and 2021 campaigns both began Feb. 27. The dozen teams in the top flight will play 38 matches. They will first play each other three times and after 33 contests, the top six and the bottom six clubs wil

Jan. 13, 2022

FC Seoul coach appreciative of hard-working veterans

With FC Seoul having gone through a topsy-turvy 2021 season that included a coaching change, new bench boss An Ik-soo decided to give some of his veterans extra rest before the starting of offseason training camp. Conspicuous by their absences at FC Seoul's camp in Namhae, some 500 kilometers south of the capital city, are some of the club's most recognizable names: midfielders Ki Sung-yueng and Go Yohan, and forward Ji Dong-won. "They endured so much more than I did last year, and I want

Jan. 13, 2022

K League scoring champion on nat'l team snub: 'I have to be better'

SEOGWIPO -- One of the great mysteries in South Korean football in recent months has been the continued absence of Jeju United striker Joo Min-kyu on the senior men's national team. Though he won the scoring title in the top-flight K League 1 last year with 22 goals in 34 matches, Joo has been consistently overlooked by national team head coach Paulo Bento. The Portuguese boss has sidestepped questions about not picking Joo on multiple occasions, saying he doesn't just look at a player's goal t

Jan. 12, 2022

Midfielder wants to capitalize on rare opportunity with senior nat'l team

Gangwon FC midfielder Kim Dae-won is training with the senior men's national team for the first time in Turkey this month. He wants to make sure it won't be his last stint with the big boys. The 24-year-old is one of 26 players called up by head coach Paulo Bento for training camp ahead of two away World Cup qualifying matches. They have been working out since Monday and will face Iceland on Saturday and then Moldova on Jan. 21 in friendly matches. Since this camp isn't part of the FIFA inter

Jan. 12, 2022

Barca youth product Lee Seung-woo seeking more playing time on home soil

SEOGWIPO -- After bouncing around multiple European clubs with little success, Lee Seung-woo, a product of FC Barcelona's famous youth academy, has landed with Suwon FC in South Korea's K League 1 with one major goal in mind. He wants to be on the field more. "The biggest motivating factor was that I wanted to play more minutes. I wasn't getting much action with my other teams, and that's why I decided to come home," Lee said at a press conference Tuesday during Suwon FC's training c

Jan. 11, 2022

England-based veterans headline S. Korean roster for Women's Asian Cup

A trio of England-based veterans, including the high-scoring midfielder Ji So-yun, will try to lead South Korea to their first continental women's football title this month in India. The Korea Football Association (KFA) finalized the 23-player squad for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women's Asian Cup on Monday. Ji, South Korean football's all-time leading scorer with 59 goals in 131 matches, will be competing in her fourth Asian Cup. The 30-year-old midfielder for Chelsea FC Women wi

Jan. 10, 2022

2nd-year coach for Ulsan looking to end long K League title drought

ULSAN -- Ulsan Hyundai FC brought in a new head coach for 2021 but ended up with the same result for a third straight season in the K League 1: finishing runners-up to Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. It was a particularly bitter pillow to swallow for the bench boss, Hong Myung-bo, who had his club at the top of the tables in the early going and who, to this day, believes Ulsan were just as good as Jeonbuk. Ultimately, though, Jeonbuk finished two points ahead of Ulsan, 76-74. While Jeonbuk extended th

Jan. 5, 2022

Son Heung-min named S. Korea's top male footballer for record 6th year

South Korean captain Son Heung-min has been named the country's top male football player of the year for a record sixth time. The Korea Football Association (KFA) announced winners of the annual KFA Awards on Wednesday. Son earned the Male Player of the Year honor for the third straight time and sixth year overall. He previously won this award in 2013, 2014, 2017, 2019 and 2020. He netted four goals in seven international matches in 2021. At club level, Son set a career high with 22 goals in a

Dec. 29, 2021

FC Seoul sign midfielder Osmar to 2-yr extension

FC Seoul announced Wednesday they have signed veteran midfielder Osmar to a two-year extension. The 33-year-old from Spain has spent seven seasons with the Seoul-based K League club. In 280 career matches, Osmar has collected 22 goals and 12 assists. In 2015, Osmar became the first foreign-born outfield player to play full time in every match of a season. The following season, he was named club captain, the first non-Korean player to wear the armband. Long known for being a steady on-field g

Dec. 29, 2021

Son Heung-min sees scoring streak end at 4, draws key penalty

A four-match goal scoring streak is over for Son Heung-min, though Tottenham Hotspur's South Korean star still made his presence felt in other ways. Son drew a key penalty late in the first half against 10-man Southampton, as the clubs finished their Premier League match deadlocked at 1-1 at St. Mary's Stadium in Southampton, England, on Tuesday (local time). Harry Kane converted the ensuing penalty to help Tottenham stretch their undefeated run to seven matches, with four wins and three draws

Dec. 29, 2021

Son Heung-min extends scoring streak to 4 matches in Tottenham's win

Tottenham Hotspur's South Korean star Son Heung-min has stretched his goal scoring streak to four matches, helping his London club stay undefeated in their past six contests. Son rounded out Tottenham's scoring in the 74th minute of their 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Sunday (local time). Son has now scored in four consecutive Premier League matches. He has a team-leading eight goals this season in 16 matches in the league and nine goals in all comp

Dec. 27, 2021

Tottenham's Son Heung-min scores vs. Liverpool in return from COVID-19 layoff

Tottenham Hotspur's South Korean star Son Heung-min has extended his goal scoring streak to three matches, helping his club eke out a draw against Liverpool in a return from a lengthy COVID-19 layoff. Son netted a 74th-minute equalizer for a 2-2 draw against Liverpool at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Sunday (local time). It was Son's seventh goal in the Premier League this season and eighth goal in all competitions. He leads Tottenham in that category. This was Tottenham's first match

Dec. 20, 2021

Son Heung-min scores in 2nd straight match for victorious Tottenham

Having recently ended a scoring drought, Son Heung-min has now found the back of the net in the second straight match for Tottenham Hotspur. The South Korean forward had a goal and an assist in Tottenham's 3-0 win over Norwich City at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Sunday (local time). For the season, Son has six goals in 13 Premier League matches and seven goals in 19 games across all competitions. He has scored once in the UEFA Europa Conference League. Son had also scored against B

Dec. 6, 2021

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors make history with 5th straight K League title

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors have now gone where no South Korean football team has gone before: they became the champions of the K League 1 for a record fifth straight season Sunday. Jeonbuk clinched their historic title with a 2-0 victory over Jeju United at Jeonju World Cup Stadium in Jeonju, some 240 kilometers south of Seoul, finishing with the league-best 76 points. Ulsan Hyundai FC, the only other team with a chance to win the title in the top league Sunday, blanked Daegu FC 2-0 but still fini

Dec. 5, 2021

Messi wins 7th Ballon d’Or

Lionel Messi, the legendary 34-year-old soccer player of Paris Saint-Germain, won his seventh Ballon d’Or on Monday. Presented by the news magazine France Football every year, the Ballon d’Or is given to the best soccer player of the year. Since the Ballon d’Or Awards did not take place last year due to the pandemic, Messi has won the trophy a second time consecutively. Messi won the Ballon d’Or for 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019 and now 2021, becoming the soccer pl

Dec. 4, 2021

Son Heung-min ends drought in Tottenham's Premier League victory

A long drought is over for Son Heung-min. The South Korean star for Tottenham Hotspur netted his fifth goal of the Premier League season against Brentford at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Thursday (local time), helping the club to a 2-0 victory. Son was also involved in a first-half own goal by Brentford midfielder Sergi Canos. Son's 65th-minute marker was his first goal in the Premier League since Oct. 17 against Newcastle United. He now has five goals in 13 league matches. Across a

Dec. 3, 2021