South Korea – Page 2 – South Korea Football Fans

LAST CHANCE

South Korea will play their last friendly match before the start of the 2014 World Cup on May 28 as they play against Tunisia in Seoul and then will be leaving for the final training days in Florida only 2 days later.

The head coach of the team Hong Myung-Bo revealed that he plans on making his choices on who will be getting into the team before heading to Florida for the final round of overseas training.

“If I make the cut midway through training, it could have a negative impact on team spirit, so I plan to decide the final entries before our training in Florida,” Hong Myung- Bo said.

Ecuador, England, Honduras and Spain also have plans on practicing and having training camps in Florida before the start of the 2014 World Cup but South Korea is also planning on having a few last friendly matches with a team that has a similar playing style like Russia.

Russia is the 1st team that South Korea has to face off when the World Cup initiates in Brazil. FIFA establishes all the teams to arrive to their respective base camp, 5 days before the 1st match starts and South Korea has plans of staying in Florida for as long as possible. South Korea will play Russia on June 17, Algeria on June 22 and Belgium on June 26.

South Korea suffered a 4-0 loss against Mexico and a few days later they played against USA at the Stubhub Center and 2 goals from Chris Wondolowski saw the Americans claiming a 2-0 triumph. South Korea wants to avoid any more losses and this is why they will be training in Florida for as long as possible before travelling to Brazil where the World Cup will kick off.

GOOD PERFORMANCE

South Korea manager Hong Myung-bo has revealed that he is happy with the performance of his players despite his team suffering a 2-1 defeat against Russia in a friendly match. This defeat means that South Korea have managed just four wins since July of this year.

This run of matches will undoubtedly put a lot of pressure on Hong Myung-bo, but he is staying confident. The match started in the best possible fashion for Korea after they took the lead in the sixth minute through Shin-Wook Kim.

Russia, however, demonstrated the kind of quality that has seen them automatically qualify for the World Cup 2014 despite being in a very tough group, by coming back with a lot of strength. They did not take long to equalise after Smolov scored in the 12th minute. The winner, though, took a little longer to come about, but it finally came in the second half through Tarasov. Hong Myung-bo has been the coach of South Korea since June and during this period they have managed just three victories, which will undoubtedly ask questions about his quality.

Korea finished second in the qualifying group – two points behind Iran after their defeat to the table leaders in the final group match. They are not expected to be a force at the World Cup.

“I am satisfied with the team’s current style of play. The most important thing is that the players have learned how to take control of a game,” said the manager after the match. Hong has revealed that the last 10 matches have helped him know his starting 11, which will come good in Brazil 2014. Scoring goals has been a major problem for South Korea, but Hong believes that they will be able to find their feet after playing a few matches together.

Chelsea in the Premier League

Chelsea are the popular choice among punters for the Premier League title as fans reminisce on Jose Mourinho’s former successes and believe the Special One – or Happy One, as he now likes to be known – is ready to do it all again. Mourinho won two titles plus the FA Cup during his reign at Stamford Bridge and few fans doubt he doesn’t have the ability and resources to repeat these feats.

However, the resurgence of Manchester City means the Blues are likely to find their title challenge tough next season, while both Arsenal and Manchester United are set to strengthen before the transfer window is out. City look ready once again after Manuel Pellegrini’s arrival blew the cobwebs away from an Etihad Stadium that staged an indifferent season last term. Now, with a new manager and fresh players coming into the squad City are a good shout to win the league.

The same can be said of United and Arsenal but fans should wait to see their transfer dealings this summer before placing a bet. Indeed, sports betting in preseason is a lot like playing in the online casino. You don’t just go head-on into a game but instead consider what you like, maybe play the demo versions and then go for real money. Equally, betting on Chelsea to win the league at this stage is risky because we haven’t seen this team in competitive action yet.

The best thing to do is wait until September to bet on the football, for the big teams will then have had chance to impress in competition. Instead, playing the online slots, such as the popular sports arcade Game On, is a great way to while away the afternoons until the season begins.

The slots boast all the tension found at Stamford Bridge or Old Trafford on derby day and there’s big money to be won if you strike lucky.

QUARTER FINALS

South Korea has made its way into the quarter final round of the U-20 World Cup by defeating Colombia in a nail biting encounter yesterday at Huseyin Avni Aker Stadium. The match got decided through penalty shootouts.

It was really one cracker of a contest. Both the teams put in 100% effort on the ground and provided some great entertainment to the spectators who were out there in the stadium.

At the start of the game, it was Colombia which was looking more aggressive. They were making some good moves and in the 11th minute, they had an opportunity to get ahead. But, the South Korean goalie Lee Chang-Keun didn’t let that happen. With a fine save diving towards his right, he denied Colombia from taking the lead.

Just five minutes later, South Korea opened the scoring against the run of play courtesy of a fabulous strike by Joo-Hoon Song. That goal put some extra pressure on the Colombians. They started looking desperate on the ground.
Colombia came close to equalizing a couple of times in the remaining time of the first half, but, on each of those occasions, they got the placement wrong and the South Korean goalie stopped the ball.

Colombia continued to attack in the second half as well, but, the equalizer wasn’t coming. The Colombian players were finding it tough to slot the ball past the South Korean goalie. Eventually, they managed to do it in the 89th minute, but, the ball came back after hitting the cross bar and the score remained 1-0.

Somehow, in the last minute of the stoppage time, Juan Fernando Quintero scored the equalizer for Colombia and dragged the match into the extra time.

There were no goals scored in the extra time which meant that the game would be decided through shootouts.
Both the teams got their respective first shots right. But, in the second round, both of them missed the target. The culprit for South Korea was Joo-Hoon Song, while, for Argentina, it was Felipe Aguilar.

The next 11 shots were just nailed and in the 8th round of penalties, South Korea was leading by 8-7. The defender of Colombia, Deivy Balanta, missed his next shot and the game was over.

IRAN LOSS

South Korea recently suffered a 1-0 defeat against Iran in the World Cup qualifying, which threatened to derail their hopes of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup 2014 in Brazil. However, they managed to get their campaign back on track with a 2-1 win over Qatar on Tuesday night.

There was a lot of pressure on the South Korea manager Kang-Hee Choi after the team had managed no wins in the last four matches. This includes two World Cup qualifying matches without a victory. However, this win over Qatar means that they are just one point behind leaders Uzbekistan.

Further, South Korea have a game in hand over Uzbekistan. As a result, Kang-Hee Choi has said that he is extremely confident that they can qualify comfortably for the World Cup. However, the result could have been extremely different had it not been for the late goal from Heung-Min Son. South Korea had taken the lead in the second half through a goal from Keun-Ho Lee in the 60th minute. However, it did not take long for Qatar to equalise the match, as Khalfan Ibrahim’s goal in the 64th minute meant that they were back on level terms.

Son has been in great form for the German club Hamburg this season. He has scored nine goals for the club, and the South Korea manager praised his goal. “I didn’t give Son Heung-min much time but he only needed a short time to show we he can do. It was a dramatic victory. Our players kept going right until the end and were rewarded with victory. We know what we have to do to get to the World Cup and our desire to get there is strong. There were five minutes of extra time but they gave six and it was a mistake,” said Korea coach Choi Kang-hee.

CHU-YOUNG LEFT OUT

The South Korean national football team will not be featuring Arsenal striker Park Chu-Young for the next three matches against Spain, Lebanon, and Qatar.

The striker has been left in limbo over the military service issue, which continues to rumble on. The 26 man for the South Korean national football team that will face the aforementioned three national teams was announced recently with the biggest omission come in the form of Arsenal striker Park Chu-Young. It was initially thought that he would play a major role in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, but it now seems unlikely that he will be taking part in it.

South Koreans are expected to serve the military irrespective of their position, but Arsenal striker Park Chu-Young decided to get a 10 year residency visa at Monaco, which will now not require him the need to serve the military. The 26-year-old was not seen anywhere near the announcement area and his current status is unknown.

Choi Kang-Hee has said that focus should be not on the players who will not be involved in the matches, but on those who will be playing against Spain and Lebanon. He also said that a number of European based players will be participating in the qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
“I think he should publicise his thoughts clearly. A national team must take into account not only an individual player’s capability but the atmosphere of the whole team.

What is important is whether a player is willing to sacrifice for the team and whether he has pride in his team,” said Choi Kang-Hee after the announcement of the 26 man squad that did not feature the Arsenal striker. Celtic’s Ki Sung-Yueng is one of the big names being included in the squad that will take on Spain in the first of the three friendlies.

SOUTH KOREA MAKE NEXT STAGE

South Korea managed to booked their place in the next round of the World Cup qualifiers after securing a 2-0 win over Kuwait recently.

Saudi Arabia – who are currently managed by former Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard, though, were not as lucky as South Korea, as they failed to progress into the next round. South Korea have become one of the major sides in the world right now.

South Korea managed to booked their place in the next round of the World Cup qualifiers after securing a 2-0 win over Kuwait recently.

It would have been a major story if they had crashed out of the World Cup at this preliminary stage. The World Cup qualifiers for the Asian teams have begun already. South Korea made it into the semifinals of the 2002 FIFA World Cup under the guidance of former Chelsea manager Hiddink.

They will be attempting to do that once again with the new team. Players like the Manchester United midfielder Park Ji sung are expected to be the main weapons for South Korea at this international stage.

However, it remains to be seen if Park Ji sung will be willing to play for the South Korean national team at the 2014 World Cup, as he has already said that he would like to focus on his club career. South Korea came into the match against Kuwait knowing that they could go out of the World Cup at this early stage with a defeat, but they performed admirably in the second half to secure their passage into the next round of qualifications.

The next round of the World Cup qualifiers will be taking place in June. South Korea will be part of the many teams that will take part in this round. This includes teams like China, Australia, Bahrain, and Iraq. Japan lost in the latest round of qualifiers, but their passage into the next round has already been assured.