North and South Korea meet in Seoul today in a crunch World Cup qualifier as tensions between the countries mount ahead of a planned rocket launch by the communist North.
It is under this cloud that the neighboring states collide on the soccer field in only the second FIFA-sanctioned match between them on South Korean soil. The first was in June last year, with two subsequent World Cup qualifiers scheduled for Pyongyang moved to Shanghai after the North refused to play the South Korean anthem or display its national flag. The players will attempt to put the politics aside as they battle for the top spot in Asian Group B.
The North, who last made the World Cup finals in 1966, have 10 points from five games and lead the group after a gritty 2-0 home win over the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at home on Saturday.
PHOTO: AP
The victory puts pressure on their southern neighbors, who are second on eight points but with a game in hand.
Saudi Arabia have seven points, Iran six and the UAE one with only the top two teams automatically booking their place in South Africa next year.
South Korea are again led by their Europe-based veterans, including Manchester United winger Park Ji-sung and defensive back Lee Young-pyo, who now plys his trade with Bundesliga outfit Borussia Dortmund. Lee and his fellow defenders will be tasked with blanking dynamic North Korean forward Jong Tae-se and his speedy sidekick Hong Yong-jo while Park will look to orchestrate scoring chances from midfield.
The Manchester United star insisted the team was not thinking about reclaiming top place in the group and instead said his side must focus on their own game.
“Everyone just has to show what he has and play with organization but not worry about the fact that North Koreans are the leaders now,” the South Korea captain said. South Korea edged Iraq 2-1 in a nervy friendly on Saturday, but while coach Huh Jung-moo said it was “a fairly good prep before the North Korean match,” he lamented a series of missed scoring chances.
“Our ability to penetrate the opposing defense and our two-on-one passing was working well in the later stages of the game. It was a good preparation match for the game against North Korea,” Huh said. “But we should have scored more goals. We have to do a better job of converting our opportunities.”
South Korea, semi-finalists in the 2002 World Cup, have bagged eight goals in their four qualifying matches, but half of them came against the UAE.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but