S. Korea coach not letting up after early qualification for FIFA World Cup

With two matches remaining in the final Asian qualifying round for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, South Korea have already claimed a ticket to Qatar for the big tournament. They blanked Syria 2-0 in their latest Group A match at Rashid Stadium in Dubai on Tuesday, and guaranteed themselves one of two automatic berths out of the group, alongside Iran. Iran lead South Korea 22-20 in points, and they will play each other on March 24 in South Korea. With the top seed in the group still up for grabs, Sou

Feb. 2, 2022

S. Korea qualify for 2022 FIFA World Cup

South Korea have clinched an early berth for the 2022 FIFA World Cup with their latest victory in the ongoing qualification phase. Kim Jin-su and Kwon Chang-hoon had a goal apiece to push South Korea past Syria 2-0 in Group A action in Dubai on Tuesday (local time) in the final Asian qualifying round for the World Cup. The match took place at Rashid Stadium in Dubai as the neutral venue, with the war-torn Syria unable to host matches. The victory assured South Korea of at least the second seed

Feb. 2, 2022

Minus key players, S. Korea looking to book World Cup spot vs. Lebanon

With or without their captain and best player, South Korea will try to extend their World Cup appearance streak to 10 with a win over Lebanon when the final Asian qualification round resumes this week. South Korea will travel to Sidon for their Group A match against Lebanon at Saida Municipal Stadium on Thursday. The kickoff is at 2 p.m. local time, or 9 p.m. in South Korea. With six out of 10 matches in the books in the ongoing round, South Korea are in second place in Group A with 14 points,

Jan. 25, 2022

Veteran nat'l team striker welcomes competition from younger teammates

Since Paulo Bento took over as head coach of the South Korean men's national football team in August 2018, no Korean player has scored more goals than Hwang Ui-jo's 13. After years of relative anonymity, the 29-year-old forward for FC Girondins de Bordeaux has emerged as the go-to striker for Bento, the safety valve that can find the back of the net in desperate moments. And as South Korea prepare to resume their World Cup qualifying bid this week, Hwang may finally have some worthy opponents i

Jan. 25, 2022

Men's nat'l football coach demands more from players after resounding friendly win

With one friendly match down and one more to go before South Korea's World Cup qualifying campaign resumes this month, head coach Paulo Bento wants to keep pushing his players. "The goal is to compete as well as possible and improve on what we did in the last game," Bento said in an interview clip released by the Korea Football Association (KFA) on Thursday, the eve of South Korea's tuneup contest against Moldova in Antalya, Turkey. Bento has been running training camp with the natio

Jan. 20, 2022

Veteran forward wants to return favor to coach, help new club to K League title

Nearly a decade after winning a historic Olympic football medal together in London, veteran forward Park Chu-young and longtime coach Hong Myung-bo have been reunited on the perennial K League contender, Ulsan Hyundai FC. After Park left FC Seoul, the only K League club he'd ever played for, in December, Hong and Ulsan reached out and signed him on Sunday. Park, a 36-year-old forward who didn't score in 17 matches in 2021, suddenly had a lifeline to continue his playing career. He'd turned down

Jan. 19, 2022

S. Korea to face Moldova in tuneup for World Cup qualifiers as roster crunch looms

South Korea will take on Moldova on Friday in their final men's football friendly match before their World Cup qualifying campaign resumes, with domestic league players getting their last shot to stake their claim for roster spots. The second-ever meeting between the two countries will kick off at Mardan Sports Complex in Antalya, Turkey, at 2 p.m. local time, or 8 p.m. in South Korea. It will be the last tuneup match for South Korea before they face Lebanon on Jan. 27 in the final Asian quali

Jan. 19, 2022

Blown call aside, S. Korean forward trying to become complete player

South Korean forward Kim Gun-hee thought he had his first senior international goal last Saturday against Iceland, only to have the marker wiped off by a questionable offside call. There was no video assistant referee (VAR) in the friendly match at Mardan Sports Complex in Antalya, Turkey, and the game continued without a review. Television replays showed, however, that it was a borderline call at best that could have gone Kim's way. Kim was playing in his first match for South Korea as a seco

Jan. 19, 2022

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