It wasn't the prettiest and it wasn't without controversy but South Korea's 2-0 win over Saudi Arabia in qualification for the 2010 World Cup in Riyadh was one of the team's best results in years and a seventh successive appearance at the World Cup looks a good deal closer.

It had been 19 long years since the Taeguk Warriors last defeated the Sons of the Desert in a competitive match but late goals from Lee Keun-ho, his fifth in three games for the national team, and Park Chu-young in the early hours of Thursday morning Korean Time, gave the visitors the three points. Click to continue reading...

Football eyes have been fixed on the K-league in recent weeks but Wednesday's 2010 World Cup qualifier in Saudi Arabia has been casting a large shadow over the domestic scene for weeks. Wednesday's game in Riyadh is the first big test in South Korea's bid to qualify for South Africa.

Until now, the obstacles on that road have been provided by the likes of Turkmenistan, Jordan, North Korea and UAE. Click to continue reading...

First the soccer news, which includes Angela Hucles' 100th cap (in a career year for her) and another win (over South Korea) for the USWNT.  With two more games left in their post-Olympic Tour, it woulds like the team is pleasing Pia! The NESCAC  Soccer Tournament is over for another year.  (Oh yeah, that's the New [. Click to continue reading...

It's day two of what continues to feel like a new era.  Obama faces a plethora of daunting tasks, and we are on notice that for hope to burn bright, we need to roll up our sleeves and help.  That's the difference.  Obama's no white-haired GOP fake Father-Knows-Best, but a competent and inspiring leader who's [. Click to continue reading...

It was a year ago when the news started to break. Reporters from Korean internet company Newsis traveled to Jakarta to visit a ‘room salon' and chat with the female staff. The story soon unfolded of how, during the 2007 Asian Cup held that July, four South Korean national team players visited the establishment on two occasions and drank until dawn - once before a vital game against Bahrain and then once after, following the shock 2-1 defeat. Click to continue reading...

Having been asleep at the switch on the soccer front for awhile, I was pleased to receive a Google Alert about the USWNT's most recent win.  This one coming in Richmond, VA, where South Korea fell to the USWNT.  Vic Dorr, Jr. describes the game in the Times Dispatch.  Sounds like Angela Hucles continues her [. Click to continue reading...

There was a moment during Wednesday's World Cup qualification match between South Korea and UAE in Seoul that may prove to be a turning point in the team's fortunes.

Korea dominated the match at Seoul World Cup Stadium, just like they had numerous times in the past. With 20 minutes of the match remaining, it was 2-0 and really should have been more. Click to continue reading...

A World Cup qualifier against UAE would not usually be a huge game but Wednesday's clash in Seoul promises to be a big, big night for South Korean football.

What should happen in such a situation, and what has usually happened in the past, is that the host enjoys a fairly comfortable victory and takes a step towards what would be a seventh successive World Cup. Click to continue reading...

Autumn has been more fruitful than the summer. As the last European season came to an end in May, the fate of South Korea's overseas stars really hung in the balance. Some were fit, few were playing and none were scoring.

Lee Dong-guk and Lee Chun-soo were soon heading back east after unsuccessful spells in England and the Netherlands respectively. Click to continue reading...

The Indonesian kids have arrived in Tashkent to prepare for the AFC Under 16s which kick off 4 October. The planned friendly in the UAE was ditched when someone discovered the coffers were dry but a game has been lined up against Saudi Arabia tomorrow.

The Indoneisans, who finished bottom of the AFF Under 16s in July, are grouped with Syria, India and South Korea. Click to continue reading...

There was no Shanghai Surprise. The only surprise was that some thought it was going to be any different. It could have been worse though, that was the one consolation for the few South Korean fans who, late Wednesday evening, had sat through a typically turgid Korean Derby. 1-1 was the score between the near neighbors in their 2010 World Cup qualification match in China. Click to continue reading...

On an evening of shock results for away teams in the European zone for qualification for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, England, Scotland, Denmark, and yes, Luxembourg all beat tough teams away.

England, were a different proposition this time around at the Maksimir Stadium in Zagreb, beating Croatia 4-1, thanks to a Theo Walcott hat-trick and a goal from Wayne Rooney. Click to continue reading...

In a world where half the countries just want to get on with each other peacefully and the other half are quite happy being peaceful on their own, football can always be guaranteed to disrupt and maintain the status quo in equal quantities.

Take the qualifying competition for the FIFA 2010 World Cup. Click to continue reading...

After Saturday tossed up a schedule of almost exclusively bad international matchups across the world, Wednesday's World Cup qualifiers actually feature more than a few matches folks might actually want to see. Let's start in of all places, Asia. North Korea v . South Korea in Shanghai - Now this is a politically [. Click to continue reading...

World Cup 2010 Qualification: North Korea are meeting South Korea Wednesday September 10th.Watch Livestream and Highlights from the match at footiedb.com   Pre-register at the NEW football site 11×2 today   LIVESTREAM   Pre-register at the NEW football site 11×2 today Click to continue reading...

FIFA World Cup Qualifier: North Korea are meeting South Korea Wednesday September 10th. Livestream and Highlights from the match at footiedb.com Do not forget to sign up on the next big football site 11×2.com:  Pre-register at the NEW football site 11×2 today LIVESTREAM  Pre-register at the NEW football site 11×2 today Click to continue reading...

South Korea restarts its journey on the road to South Africa and the 2010 World Cup tonight in Shanghai. Pyongyang was supposed to be the location but the qualifier against North Korea has been moved to China as the communist authorities in the DPRK capital refused to fly the Taegukki or play the Aegukga. Click to continue reading...

Something is coming to the mysterious island of faith and melancholy, to the indifferent streets, from the fort to the city, from the sacred waters of the Caribbean, to the Central Park where rest the bones of Jose Marti.
The ancient Chevys that run by a miracle, the balconies where the women watch, the neighborhoods that time forgot, with people who have yet to show much passion for soccer. Click to continue reading...

In a week when the whole of the world is available for Manchester City to buy, the whole of the Newcastle and West Ham teams were available for sale and the whole of the press published daily hypersoaps on these hyperreality television shows, formerly known as football clubs, there was something altogether murkier lurking in the background - match fixing. Click to continue reading...

New coach Mundari Karya has rang the changes to the Under 16 squad that recently underperformed at the ASEAN Championships here in Jakarta as he perpares his side for the upcoming AFC Under 16 Championships to be held in Uzbekistan next month.

A series of friendlies have also been prepared to get the side ready for a tough competition where they have been drawn with India, South Korea and Syria

06/09 v PS Urakan
11/09 v Persija Under 21
13/09 v Pelita Jaya
17/09 v United Arab Emirates Click to continue reading...

Waiting for a replay
7 Countries England Have Played Once And Once Only

1. Bohemia (1908)
2. Canada (1986)
3. China (1996)
4. Jamaica (2006)
5. Kuwait (1982)
6. Malaysia (1991)
7. South Korea (2002)

...and on October 11th, you can add Kazakhstan to that list, too. Click to continue reading...

The most important qualifier for each region during the next week:


AFC: 9/6 - Saudi Arabia vs Iran

Three teams in Group 2 are expected to compete for the two automatic bids; they are these two and South Korea. Iran struggled a bit during the last round, waiting until the final matchday to advance. Click to continue reading...

Until now Japan has not exactly been a common destination for Australia Footballers. Currently only one Australian is listed on a J-League team (Eddy Bosnar at JEF United ) while a further two (Mark Rudan and Ufuk Talay) are plying their trade at second division team Avispa Fukuoka.

This is all about to change however with news last week that the J-league has allocated a fourth foreign visa place on their squads for next year to Asian only players. Click to continue reading...

Film fans of a certain age will always see the three Star Wars movies made in the seventies and eighties as the definitive trilogy and not the one which kicked off in 1999 with ‘The Phantom Menace.' There can be little debate about that.

Not so about South Korean star Lee Chun-soo who has been more of a phantom than a menace over the past year. Click to continue reading...

This has nothing to do with soccer.I was too excited to post this on sambalfootball.I'm proud to tell the world that our table tennis team had cruised to the final after a hard fought victory against South Korea.This could break our medal drought in 48 years.Aganst South Korea,it was a tense match.Feng Tianwei,no doubt the [. Click to continue reading...

Beijing Olympics Highlights: South Korea are meeting Honduras Wednesday August 13th. Watch the highlights here at footiedb.com Pre-register at the NEW football site 11×2 today! Click to continue reading...

He was the surprise call-up to begin with. Everyone looked at Casiraghi's Olympic call-ups and said with a puzzled look, "Rocchi?" (come on, you know you did it). Casiraghi gave his explanation, saying the Lazio hitman was an experienced player, a model professional, and an excellent addition to the Italy side who could score many goals in this Olympic games.

Click to continue reading...

Argentina dominated a defensive Australian side but required a late strike from Ezequiel Lavezzi to ensure them of passage into the quarter finals of the Olympic Games.
Argentina 1 - 0 Australia


Nigeria 2 - 1 Japan

Goals from Anderson, Alexandre Pato, a double from Ronaldinho and substitute Rafael Sobis helped impressive Brazil smash unfancied New Zealand in Sunday's Olympic Games encounter. Click to continue reading...

Park Tae-hwan thrilled South Korea on Sunday with his swimming heroics in Beijing but later the same day, Park Sung-hwa was looking less happy than the teenage sensation.

For the coach of the Olympic soccer team there is not much consolation to be had after a 3-0 defeat against Italy but at least South Korea is faring no worse than hosts China and better than the already-eliminated Japan at the 2008 Beijing Olympics soccer tournament. Click to continue reading...

(Summary is not available.) Click to continue reading...

In 1966 North Korea shocked Italy 1-0 sending Italy home to a barrage of Tomato's.In 2002 South Korea sent Italy home again.Despite the controversy it was a result that should never have been. So when Italy faced South Korea today i had the niggling feeling that the universe had a special lock that Italy could not open when it came to the Korean peninsula. Click to continue reading...

And so to the fourth and final part of our round -up of the May and June World Cup 2010 qualifiers. Today we cover the Asia and Oceania sections...

Asia

Overview
A complicated process here. In Round 1, thirty-eight teams faced each other in nineteen home-and-away matches. Of the nineteen winners, the eleven highest-ranking teams (and by that we think FIFA mean those teams that won by the biggest margins) received a bye to Round 3 while the other eight played out Round 2 as a series of four home-and-away ties. Click to continue reading...

Casiraghi's Under-23 side start the Games with an easy win, thanks to a wonderful goal from Giovinco and penalties from Rossi and Acquafresca. The Central American side missed a chance from the spot: Pavon sent his penalty over the bar. QINHUANGDAO (China) 7 August 2008 - Italy dominated the game with three goals of which two were penalties (though the second was rather generous) and had at least another three clear-cut chances. Click to continue reading...

5:00am EDT
Argentina vs. Australia
Nigeria vs. Japan
New Zealand vs. Brazil
Cameroon vs. Honduras


7:00am EDT
Serbia vs. Ivory Coast
United States vs. Netherlands
Belgium vs. China
Italy vs. South Korea Click to continue reading...

The United States-Japan match was not the only one played on Thursday, though it may have seemed like it. In fact, the US wasn't the only CONCACAF nation to kick off their quest for gold either.

But Honduras didn't fare quite as well as the Americans.

Italy routed Honduras 3-0. Click to continue reading...