North Korea’s national soccer team and coach have been reprimanded for losing all three games at the World Cup in South Africa, a news report said.
The team and coach Kim Jong-hun were summoned to a meeting at the People’s Palace of Culture in Pyongyang on July 2, the US-financed Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported on Monday.
North Korean Sports Minister Pak Myong-chol was among some 400 government officials, athletes and others at the six-hour-long closed-door session, the report said.
Team members were forced to reprimand their coach at the end of the gathering, the report said.
EXEMPTED
Forward Jong Tae-se, who recently joined German club Bochum, and midfielder An Yong-hak, who plays in Japan’s J-League, were exempted from the meeting, RFA said. Both were born and brough up in Japan.
Competing in their second World Cup finals after an absence of 44 years, North Korea were knocked out of the tournament at the group stage, beaten 2-1 by Brazil, then losing 7-0 to Portugal and 3-0 to Ivory Coast.
The report cited two unidentified sources in North Korea and a Chinese businessman named Yu, described as knowledgeable about North Korean affairs.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, the country’s main spy agency, said yesterday it could not immediately confirm the report.
NO MENTION
Groups in Seoul that monitor information out of North Korea said they could not corroborate the report, and there was no mention of any such meeting in Pyongyang’s state media.
A veteran of North Korea’s 1966 squad had previously said the team would receive a warm welcome despite losing all three games in South Africa.
“Now when the Korean team gets home, officials and crowds of people will go to the airport to welcome them,” Pak Du-ik, who led his country to a shock quarter-final place in England 44 years ago, said last month.
“We have learned a lesson from the three World Cup matches, we accumulated experience and we found an answer to how to improve our football,” he said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two