The Korea Herald

S. Korea set to greet N. Korea's youth footballers

The South Korean government on Friday approved a visit by North Korea's teenage football players next week to join an international competition to be held in a border town in the South. A group of 32 athletes and officials is scheduled to arrive here on Sunday via Beijing and participate in the inaugural U-15 football games in Yeoncheon, 62 kilometers north of Seoul, according to the unification ministry.The three-day event slated to open Friday will draw five other teams from South Korea, Uzbek

Oct. 31, 2014

Chung to run for FIFA Executive Committee

Chung Mong-gyu, president of the Korea Football Association, has formally announced his intention to run for a seat on the FIFA Executive Committee, the domestic football governing body said Monday.The KFA said Chung, 52, has sent letters of intention to member associations of the Asian Football Confederation, expressing his gratitude for their “unending efforts in the development of Asian football.” Chung also said he would “explore more ways to enhance the level and marketability of Asian foot

Oct. 27, 2014

Chung to run for FIFA Executive Committee

Man United gets last-gasp equalizer to thwart Chelsea

Robin van Persie rescued a point for Manchester United to keep Chelsea from moving eight points clear of defending champion Manchester City in the Premier League.Chelsea looked to have sealed the win thanks to veteran striker Didier Drogba’s header, but van Perise leveled in the fourth minute of injury time to secure a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford.In Italy, league leader Juventus beat Palermo and in France Marseille missed the chance to notch a club record ninth straight win when it lost at Lyon, wh

Oct. 27, 2014

Real beats Barca in Suarez’s debut

Real Madrid’s Pepe (third from left) celebrates his goal against Barcelona on Saturday. (AP-Yonhap)Luis Suarez set up Neymar’s fourth-minute goal in the Uruguayan forward’s first competitive debut for Barcelona following a four-month biting ban, but Real Madrid rallied to beat Barcelona 3-1 Saturday night in the first “clasico” of the season.On a subdued night for Barca star Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo started Real’s comeback in the 35th minute when he converted a penalty kick for his 21st g

Oct. 26, 2014

Belgium breaks into top four

ZURICH (AP) ― Belgium has moved into the top four of the FIFA monthly rankings for the first time and former World Cup winner Spain has dropped to 10th following a loss to Slovakia in a European Championship qualifier.The top three positions remained the same. Despite a tough start to its Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, World Cup winner Germany was first ahead of runner-up Argentina, then Colombia. Two-time defending European champion Spain slipped two places. Belgium’s rise coincided with the Ne

Oct. 24, 2014

Would soccer be richer without small clubs?

FREIBURG, Germany (AP) ― From a corner office of Freiburg’s homely stadium, club chairman Fritz Keller gazes over one of the loveliest views in football. Autumn’s reds, browns and golds streak the surrounding Black Forest. Buzzards wheel in the air above.But from a football business perspective, this beauty is sterile desert. Black Forest boars make for fine stews, but they don’t buy tickets to games. Thick woods aren’t good places to find young players who could become football’s next superstar

Oct. 24, 2014

Ronaldo scores 70th as Real win

PARIS (AP) ― Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 70th Champions League goal and Mario Balotelli again failed to deliver as Real Madrid cruised to a 3-0 win at Liverpool on Wednesday to take complete control of Group B with a third straight win.While Tuesday night’s 40-goal bonanza never looked like being matched, there was still drama elsewhere as Arsenal scraped a 2-1 win at Anderlecht with late goals from defender Kieran Gibbs and forward Lukas Podolski ― a peripheral player this season.German sides

Oct. 23, 2014

Son hopes Euro spirit returns for Leverkusen

LEVERKUSEN, Germany, Oct 21, 2014 (AFP) - Bayer Leverkusen's South Korea striker Son Heung-Min says his team must forget their stumble in Stuttgart when they host Zenit St Petersburg in the Champions League on Wednesday.Son scored two goals in the opening nine minutes at Stuttgart on Saturday as his side finished 3-0 up at half-time, only to concede three goals and throw away two valuable league points.There is all to play for against the Russians at the BayArena with just a point separating joi

Oct. 21, 2014

Son hopes Euro spirit returns for Leverkusen

Liverpool wins a thriller

LONDON (AP) ― Liverpool beat Queens Park Rangers 3-2 on an own goal in the fifth minute of injury time Sunday in the Premier League.Liverpool pulled out the road victory thanks to the mistake by Steven Caulker ― QPR’s second own goal of the day.Four goals were scored in a pulsating final eight minutes ― the last unwittingly netted by Caulker, who redirected the ball past his own goalkeeper.A madcap finale began in the 67th minute when defender Richard Dunne put Liverpool 1-0 ahead with his recor

Oct. 20, 2014

Ronaldo breaks record, Southampton soars 8-0

LONDON (AP) ― Cristiano Ronaldo rewrote the record books with another two goals in Real Madrid’s latest big victory in the Spanish league.Southampton crushed Sunderland 8-0 in England while Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero scored four goals and Premier League leader Chelsea escaped with a gritty victory.Ronaldo netted his 14th and 15th goals to set a record scoring start in a Spanish league season as Real Madrid eased to a 5-0 win at Levante, while Lionel Messi scored to move one goal from the co

Oct. 19, 2014

Ronaldo breaks record, Southampton soars 8-0

Messi eyes record on anniversary of debut for Barcelona

MADRID (AFP) ― In the week that he marked the 10th anniversary of his competitive debut for Barcelona, Lionel Messi could become the all-time top scorer in the history of La Liga.The Argentine made his bow as a 17-year-old in a 1-0 win at city rivals Espanyol on Oct. 16, 2004. Now he is preparing to face Eibar at the Camp Nou on Saturday needing just two goals to equal Telmo Zarra’s all-time Spanish top-flight record of 251, set in the 1950s.Messi, who told fans he was “constantly trying to impr

Oct. 17, 2014

Ronaldo, O’Shea bag late goals

Cristiano Ronaldo scored in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time to give Portugal a 1-0 win over Denmark in a European Championship qualifier Tuesday night and put his team’s campaign back on track after a 1-0 loss at home to Albania.John O’Shea scored in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time of his 100th international appearance, lifting Ireland into a 1-1 tie at World Cup champion Germany, which lost 2-0 at Poland in its previous qualifier last weekend.In Belgrade, a small d

Oct. 15, 2014

S. Korea falls to Costa Rica in final football friendly of '14 at home

South Korea fell to Costa Rica 3-1 in their football friendly match on Tuesday, unable to contain the FIFA World Cup quarterfinalists in its final contest at home this year. (Yonhap)Midfielder Celso Borges scored twice and defender Oscar Duarte had another for the visitors, while forward Lee Dong-gook netted one for the home side before some 39,000 fans at Seoul World Cup Stadium.This was South Korean head coach Uli Stielike's second match; South Korea defeated Paraguay 2-0 in his debut here las

Oct. 14, 2014

S. Korea falls to Costa Rica in final football friendly of '14 at home

Trouble at the top

ROME (AP) ― The Netherlands fell to another surprising loss and fellow continental powers Italy and Belgium also struggled in European Championship qualifying Monday, while Croatia showed off its goal-scoring credentials.Meanwhile, Wales stayed atop Group B with a 2-1 win over Cyprus and is on course to qualify for its first major championship, with the 2016 tournament in France expanded to 24 teams for the first time.Swansea midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson scored both goals as Iceland beat the Neth

Oct. 14, 2014

Korea looks to make it two in a row

On paper, South Korea, ranked 63rd in the world, will be overmatched against the 15th-ranked Costa Rica in its football friendly scheduled for Tuesday in Seoul.Yet Uli Stielike, head coach for the home side, said on the eve of the match that he has confidence in his players to come through against the favored opponents.“Based on FIFA rankings, it may seem easy to see who will win this match,” Stielike said at a pre-match press conference Monday at Seoul World Cup Stadium, the venue for the match

Oct. 13, 2014

Poland makes history with first win over Germany

In front of a sell-out crowd in Warsaw, Poland finally did it.The Poles beat World Cup winner Germany 2-0 for their first win in 19 meetings with the Mannschaft to move three points clear of its powerful rival in European Championship qualifying on Saturday.It was Germany’s first defeat after 18 competitive games, and its first loss in qualifying after 33 matches.Also in Group D, Robbie Keane’s hat trick helped Ireland thrash Gibraltar 7-0, taking his international goals tally to 65 and becoming

Oct. 12, 2014

Spain loses qualifier for first time in 8 years

Defending champion Spain lost a qualifying game for the first time in eight years Thursday, while England left nothing to doubt in the European Championship.Spain fell 2-1 at Slovakia in Group C for its first loss in a qualifier for the European Championship or World Cup since 2006.Paco Alcacer appeared to have sparked Spain’s comeback in the 82nd, only for Miroslav Stoch to catch its defense off balance with a counterattack with three minutes left.England had no such trouble against minnow San

Oct. 10, 2014

UEFA bans Italian chief for 6 months for racism

NYON, Switzerland (AP) ― UEFA banned Italian football federation president Carlo Tavecchio for six months on Tuesday following a racist comment during his election campaign.Tavecchio, a long-standing executive in Italian football, was elected president in August despite causing a stir over a reference to bananas when discussing the presence of foreign players in Italy.“Mr. Tavecchio will be ineligible for any position as a UEFA official for a period of six months starting from the communication

Oct. 8, 2014

Coach Stielike calls for a ‘new journey’

The new head coach of the South Korean men’s football team called for “a new journey” Tuesday as he opened his first training camp in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, ahead of two friendly matches.Uli Stielike, a former German international named South Korea boss last month, called up 23 players for training at the National Football Center in Paju, north of Seoul. They’re preparing to first play Paraguay on Friday in Cheonan, about 90 kilometers south of Seoul, and then face Costa Rica in the capital ne

Oct. 7, 2014

Coach Stielike calls for a ‘new journey’

Park becomes Man U ambassador

Retired Korean football star Park Ji-sung has become the ambassador of his former club, Manchester United of the English Premier League, the club announced Sunday. Marking his appointment, the former midfielder stepped onto Old Trafford’s hallowed turf once again, before the kick-off at the team’s home fixture against Everton on Sunday. Joining him at the stadium was his former coach and another club ambassador, Alex Ferguson. Former Manchester United midfielder Park Ji-sung (left) shakes hands

Oct. 6, 2014