In preparing for two remaining matches in the second round of the Asian qualifying for the next World Cup, South Korean defensive back Kim Min-jae said Monday he wanted to string together two more clean sheets. He may well have been speaking for the rest of his team, with South Korea set to face the heavy underdogs Sri Lanka on Wednesday. It will be the second of three qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup to be staged at Goyang Stadium in Goyang, just northwest of Seoul. The kickoff is 8 p.m

Tributes have been flooding in from around the football world for Yoo Sang-chul, a star of the semifinalist South Korean team at the 2002 FIFA World Cup who passed away Monday night at 49. Yoo succumbed to pancreatic cancer after a battle that began in November 2019. One of the most versatile players in South Korean football history, Yoo made the FIFA World Cup All-Star Team in 2002 as a midfielder after helping the country to the final four on home soil. Yoo scored the insurance goal in South

Two South Korean golfers have finished tied for seventh at the US Women's Open, as the country failed to produce its third consecutive champion at the oldest major tournament in women's golf. World No. 1 Ko Jin-young and second-ranked Park In-bee both finished the championship at one-over 285 at the Olympic Club in San Francisco on Sunday (local time). Ko shot a two-under 69 in the final round, thanks to three birdies against one bogey. Park, a two-time US Women's Open champion, had a 72 on Sun

South Korean player Kwon Soon-woo couldn't get past the third round of the French Open against a top-10 opponent. Kwon, world No. 91, dropped a straight-set decision against the ninth-ranked Matteo Berrettini, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3, 6-4, in their men's singles match at Court Simonne-Mathieu inside Roland-Garros in Paris on Saturday (local time). This was Kwon's first appearance at the third round of a Grand Slam tournament. The 23-year-old is expected to crack the top 80 in the next world rankings.

St. Louis Cardinals' South Korean pitcher Kim Kwang-hyun is on the injured list (IL) for the second time this season, with the same condition that kept him sidelined in spring. The Cardinals placed Kim on the 10-day IL on Saturday (local time) with right back tightness, a day after the left-hander exited his start against the Cincinnati Reds before the start of the fourth inning. Kim also missed time during spring training and at the start of the regular season with the back problem. In Frida

That's more like it. That South Korea defeated Turkmenistan 5-0 in their World Cup qualifying match on Saturday wasn't a surprise in itself. The biggest takeaway is that South Korea, in addition to beating the team they were supposed to beat, looked good doing it. And that hadn't always been the case with the underachieving national team in recent matches. The win at Goyang Stadium in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, kept South Korea at the top of Group H in the second round of the Asian qualificat

It was all of South Korean baseball fans' worst nightmares rolled into one. Two major league starters from South Korea, Ryu Hyun-jin of the Toronto Blue Jays and Kim Kwang-hyun of the St. Louis Cardinals, got the nod on the same day -- Friday evening in America, when it was Saturday morning in their home country. And both took losses, while Kim exited his start early with a lower back injury. They made four regular season starts on the same day last year and both notched victories on Sept. 24.

The first-place team in South Korean baseball this season will lose an ace for the rest of the year to an elbow surgery, with another starting pitcher facing a similar fate. The SSG Landers announced Friday that submariner Park Jong-hun will undergo a season-ending elbow operation in Los Angeles next week. Park flew to the US earlier this week to get a second opinion on his ailing right elbow from Dr. Neal ElAttrache at Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic. A doctor in Seoul initially recommended su

With South Korea set to resume their World Cup qualifying campaign on home soil on the weekend, national team head coach Paulo Bento is metaphorically putting on his noise-canceling headphones. Bento finds himself in the hot seat after South Korea dropped a friendly match to rivals Japan 3-0 in March, a result that led to growing calls for the Portuguese coach's dismissal. Bento hasn't gone anywhere, and he now has a chance to redeem himself and put South Korea back on track. South Korea will

After a pandemic-induced hiatus of more than a year, South Korea will resume their bid for a 10th consecutive FIFA World Cup appearance on the weekend on home soil. The boys in red will also try to redeem themselves after a humiliating loss to rivals Japan in spring. The second round of the Asian qualification for the 2022 World Cup has been on hold since November 2019. South Korea and the rest of Group H were scheduled to return to action in March 2020, but all of their matches scheduled for

South Korean midfielder Kwon Chang-hoon is training with the senior national team this week in preparation for World Cup qualifying matches later this month, but he could be forgiven for thinking instead about the Tokyo Olympics in July. As a 26-year-old, Kwon wouldn't normally be eligible for the Olympic tournament, which is limited to players 23 or younger, though the age limit has been extended to 24 this year after the Tokyo Games got postponed by a year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Bu

Lee Dong-jun and Um Won-sang, both participating in the South Korean men's Olympic team training camp, bring much of the same qualities to the table. As two of the fastest players on the 28-man roster, the two forwards can keep opponents on their toes, find open space behind the defense and provide instant spark off the bench in a tight match. When head coach Kim Hak-bum sets his final, 18-man team for the Tokyo Olympics, he may opt to take only one of Lee and Um, given their overlapping skill

South Korean female golfers will try to crash the party at the American national championship for the third straight year this week. The US Women's Open, the second major tournament of the LPGA season, will tee off in San Francisco on Thursday, with 20 South Koreans in action. The country has produced the past two champions and three of the last four: Park Sung-hyun (2017), Lee Jeong-eun (2019) and Kim A-lim (2020). The Lake Course at the Olympic Club, the par-71 layout at 6,547 yards, will p

The top professional baseball league on Monday announced plans to relax social distancing rules on seating arrangements at stadiums during the COVID-19 pandemic, no longer requiring fans traveling in groups to put unoccupied seats between members of their parties. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said up to four fans will be allowed to sit in a row if they're attending games as a group. The KBO said it reached the decision following consultations with national health authorities and the sp

Could this spell the end of the greatest dynasty in South Korean football? Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, four-time defending K League 1 champions, have tumbled down from first to fourth in the tables over the past two weeks. They were still at the top before facing rivals Ulsan Hyundai FC on May 19. They dropped that match 4-2 and slipped to second place. And their winless skid reached seven matches Saturday, following a 1-1 draw with Incheon United. Only an injury time goal by Takahiro Kunimoto sa