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]
Dejan Damjanovic, a former striker for Beijing Guoan, smiles during a press conference in Seoul on Jan. 7, 2016, on his return to South Korean club FC Seoul. Commonly called Dejan, the Montenegrin came to Korea in 2007 and signed with FC Seoul, launching a successful career as one of the top scoring players. He switched to China in late 2013 but decided to return, accepting a pay cut. (Yonhap)
It looks like whatever team the US military put together for the international military Olympics currently being held in South Korea wasn’t very good:
The K-league football club Sangju Sangmu has defeated the United States 7-0 in its opening match of 2015 CISM World Games Korea, an international sports event for military service members.
Sangmu, the sports division of South Korea’s military, overwhelmed the American team in the first Group A match of football on Wednesday in Moongyeong, North Gyeongsang Province.
Forward Cho Don-gun and midfielder Lee Seung-ki scored two goals each for the host team.
The 2015 CISM World Games officially kick off on Friday and continue until October 11. About 73-hundred soldiers from some 120 countries will participate in the international sports event, which will be held in eight cities and counties. [KBS World Radio]
