A gold medal at the Asian Games will be extra memorable if the South Korean soccer team wins because they can avoid mandatory military service:
South Korea’s Lee Seung-woo, left, celebrates with Son Heung-min after scoring in the semifinal football match against Vietnam at the 18th Asian Games in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia, Wednesday. Korea won 3-1. Yonhap
South Korea’s soccer team is just 90 minutes away from gold at the 2018 Asian Games and that all-important military exemption thanks to a 3-1 win over Vietnam in the semifinal Wednesday.
On Saturday, Son Heung-min and his colleagues will meet either Japan or the United Arab Emirates in the final in Cibinong, south of Jakarta. If the young Taegeuk Warriors win that then the 20-man roster will not have to perform 21 months of military service. [Korea Times]
This maybe South Korea’s most impressive World Cup win since 2002 even though it was ultimately meaningless since they were eliminated from the knockout stage of 16 teams:
South Korean goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo (R) makes a stop on Timo Werner of Germany (second from L in green) during their teams’ Group F match at the 2018 FIFA World Cup at Kazan Arena in Kazan, Russia, on June 27, 2018. (Yonhap)
South Korea stunned Germany 2-0 while being eliminated in the group stage at the FIFA World Cup on Wednesday, bringing the defending champions down with them.
South Korea needed to beat Germany by at least two goals and have Mexico defeat Sweden in the other Group F match Wednesday. The Taeguk Warriors took care of their own end at Kazan Arena in Kazan, some 800 kilometers east of Moscow, with Kim Young-gwon and Son Heung-min each scoring in second-half stoppage time. But Sweden made it all moot by beating Mexico 3-0 in Ekaterinburg.
South Korea, which earlier fell to Sweden and Mexico, finished third in Group F with three points, while netting three goals and conceding three. Sweden won the group with six points, beating Mexico, which also had six points, on goal difference.
Germany unceremoniously bowed of the tournament with three points, losing to South Korea in goal difference and becoming the third straight World Cup champions to miss the knockout stage in title defense. [Yonhap]
Soccer legend Diego Maradona is being accused of making a racist gesture towards some Korean fans at the World Cup:
Argentinean football legend Diego Maradona, left, in a stand before the FIFA World Cup 2018 group D preliminary round game between Argentina and Iceland in Moscow on Saturday. EPA
Football legend Diego Maradona’s racist gesture toward young Korean fans is drawing a strong backlash in Korea.
Maradona, 57, has been accused of making a “clearly racist gesture” at the Spartak Stadium on Saturday, after Korean fans shouted and waved at him in joy.
ITV presenter Jacqui Oatley, who was there as part of the broadcaster’s coverage of the game between Argentina and Iceland, claimed on Twitter that Maradona “pulled his eyes to the side in a clearly racist gesture. All of us who saw it are stunned.” [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but interestingly no one caught this on film. However, here is what Maradona said happened:
Responding to the accusation in a Facebook post on Sunday morning, Maradona said: “Today, in the stadium, among so many demonstrations of affection from the people, I was struck by a group of people around a fan who filmed us. “I saw an Asian boy wearing an Argentina T-shirt. I, from afar, tried to tell them how nice it seemed to me that even the Asians cheer for us. And that’s all, guys, come on.” [iNews]
I will let everyone make up their own minds if Maradona had racist intentions or not.
North Korea’s women national football team is congratulated in high fanfare on returning to Pyongyang on Dec. 19, 2017, after winning a regional championship in this photo from the North’s Korean Central News Agency. The team won the 2017 East Asian Football Federation E-1 Football Championship with a perfect record of three wins against South Korea, Japan and China. (Yonhap)
It looks like the North Korean women’s soccer team does not need to be concerned with being sent to a reeducation labor camp after beating South Korea:
North Korea women’s national football team players (in red) celebrate after scoring a goal against South Korea at the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) E-1 Football Championship at Soga Sports Park in Chiba, Japan, on Dec. 11, 2017. (Yonhap)
North Korea beat South Korea 1-0 in a women’s inter-Korean football match in Chiba on Monday.
Kim Yun-mi scored the only goal of the match as North Korea collected their second straight victory at the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) E-1 Football Championship at Soga Sports Park in Chiba, Japan.
North Korea, two-time defending champions of the regional women’s competition, beat China 2-0 to open their tournament last Friday. South Korea, however, suffered their second straight loss, having lost their first match to hosts Japan by 3-2.
The two losses mean South Korea can’t win the four-nation tournament. Yoon Duk-yeo’s side was looking to win the regional crown for the first time since 2005. They will try to close out the tournament on a high note against China on Friday, also in Chiba.
There were more than 300 North Korea fans gathered at the stadium on Monday, compared to about 10 people in the South Korean supporters section. [Yonhap]
That last sentence is probably the most amazing thing to me about this game, that South Korea only had 10 fans show up to the game.
I guess the word hasn’t gotten out yet in Columbia that making slant eyes is considered racist:
In this image captured during an MBC telecast of the men’s football friendly match between South Korea and Colombia on Nov. 10, 2017, Colombian player Edwin Cardona makes an apparent racist gesture at South Korean players at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, on Nov. 10, 2017. (Yonhap)
Colombian football player Edwin Cardona made an apparent racist gesture at his South Korean opponents during his team’s 2-1 friendly loss here on Friday.
In a testy match at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, 46 kilometers south of Seoul, Cardona, who came off the bench in the second half, made the mocking gesture toward South Korean captain Ki Sung-yueng, who was standing next to two teammates.
It came after the end of some pushing and shoving that ensued following James Rodriguez’s foul on Kim Jin-su around the 63rd minute mark.
After Kim went down to the ground in pain, James, as he’s commonly known, tried to bring the South Korean to his feet so that the match would resume. Colombia were trailing 2-0 at the time.
South Koreans took umbrage at James’ action, and players from both sides gathered around Kim and James.
As the players were separated, Cardona, who’d come off the bench in the second half, made that controversial gesture, which was caught on South Korean television.
His head coach, Jose Pekerman said afterward that he never saw the gesture. But Ki, who clearly did see Cardona’s action, called it “absolutely unacceptable.”
“I thought the Colombians played a physical, rough game today, but it can happen in football,” Ki said. “But racist behavior is absolutely unacceptable. Colombia have world-class players, and I was extremely disappointed to see such action.” [Yonhap]
North Korea’s women’s football team is welcomed with elaborate fanfare in Pyongyang on Oct. 25, 2016, after winning the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. The North’s Korean Central News Agency, which released this photo, said they were greeted at the airport by senior officials from the government and the ruling party. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
This is a mascot of the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup set to be held in South Korea from May 20-June 11. The event’s organizing committee disclosed the tiger-shaped mascot, dubbed “Chaormi,” on Aug. 25, 2016. (Photo courtesy of the organizing committee)
This has to be considered a disappointing Olympics for Korean soccer fans I would think considering they were knocked out by non-traditional soccer power like Honduras:
Forward Son Heung-min of South Korea looks astray after Honduras scored the match-winning goal in the second-half. Honduras won the game 1-0, knocking South Koreans out of the men’s football quarterfinals in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, Saturday. / Yonhap
South Korea were knocked out of the Olympic men’s football quarterfinals Saturday with a 1-0 loss to Honduras.
Alberth Elis scored the game’s lone goal near the hour mark at Mineirao in Belo Horizonte, some 340 kilometers north of Rio de Janeiro.
South Korea won the bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics. It remains the country’s only Olympic football medal. [Korea Times]
