Two of South Korea's best football imports to Europe, midfielders Ki Sung-yueng and Lee Chung-yong, will have a chance to go head-to-head in the same league for the first time during the 2015-16 Premier League season.The two close friends go back nearly a decade, when they both joined the South Korean club FC Seoul in 2006. Lee, 27, left the domestic league first when he signed with the Premier League club Bolton Wanderers in 2009.Ki, 26, joined his friend on the way out, though he signed with C

South Korea played its long-time rival Japan to a 1-1 draw in the men's East Asian Cup football tournament here Wednesday.   Midfielder Jang Hyun-soo put South Korea on board with a penalty in the 27th minute at Wuhan Sports Center Stadium, before Hotaru Yamaguchi equalized for Japan 12 minutes later.   South Korea still holds the edge in all-time meetings with 40 wins, 23 draws and 14 losses. South Korea had lost the previous three matches against Japan prior to Wednesday.   South Korea, which

South Koreans consider the country's first-ever advance to the semifinals in the FIFA World Cup as the most honorable moment in history since the Korean liberation from Japanese colonial rule, a survey showed Wednesday.Public broadcaster MBC surveyed 3,000 adults via Gallup Korea, and 29.5 percent of the respondents cited the advance to the semifinals in the World Cup co-hosted by South Korea and Japan in 2002 as the nation's top moment of pride.The figure was followed by 19 percent who chose th

South Korean FIFA presidential hopeful Chung Mong-joon said Monday he has met with a potential rival during his trip to the United States.Chung, former FIFA vice president, said he held talks with Michel Platini, head of the Union of European Football Associations, in Philadelphia on Sunday.Chung declared his intention to run for the top football job last week and plans to formally announce his candidacy next month.He is visiting the U.S. to meet football officials from the Americas during the G

South Korea replaced two injured players on its Women's East Asian Cup football squad Friday. The Korea Football Association (KFA) said forward Yoo Young-a will miss the regional tournament with a sprained left knee, while defender Kim Hye-yeong will be sidelined with a torn right quadriceps.The KFA named midfielder Lee Min-a and forward Lee Hyun-young as replacements.Both Yoo and Kim were members of the national team that reached the round of 16 at the FIFA Women's World Cup last month in Canad

Former FIFA Vice President Chung Mong-joon on Tuesday expressed his intent to run for the world's top football job.  "I am thinking of running (for FIFA president)," Chung told Yonhap News Agency on the phone. "I will try to usher in a new era for FIFA."  Chung served as FIFA's No. 2 man from 1994 to 2011. He has been a vocal critic of the world's football governing body since several officials were implicated in corruption scandals.  Sepp Blatter, who was elected to his fifth mandate as FIFA ho

The central town of Hwaseong will host South Korea's World Cup qualifier against Laos this fall, the national football federation said Wednesday.Hwaseong Sports Complex Main Stadium in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, south of Seoul, will play host to Laos on Sept. 3, the Korea Football Association said. The kickoff time hasn't been determined.It will be South Korea's second match in the ongoing second round of Asian qualification for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.South Korea defeated Myanmar 2-

On the surface, South Korea accomplished the goals it had set out to meet at the FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada. The world's 18th-ranked team earned its maiden win at the quadrennial tournament and reached the knockout stage for the first time in the process.The success on paper, however, masked some of the pressing issues South Korea faces going forward.Coached by Yoon Duk-yeo, South Korea lost to France 3-0 in the round of 16 in Montreal on Sunday. Without its star forward Ji So-yun, who sat

South Korea crashed out of the FIFA Women's World Cup with a 3-0 loss to France in the round of 16 on Sunday.France scored twice in the first eight minutes en route to the rout at Olympic Stadium, as the flustered South Korea, ranked 18th in the world, found itself overmatched against the third-ranked opponent.Forward Marie-Laure Delie scored twice and midfielder Elodie Thomis added another for France, which finished fourth at the previous Women's World Cup in 2011.It was South Korea's first tri

SHAH ALAM, Malaysia (Yonhap) -- With strong efforts on both ends, South Korea defeated the United Arab Emirates (UAE) 3-0 on Thursday in its final football friendly before the start of the World Cup qualifiers.Former World Cup veteran Yeom Ki-hun, international rookie Lee Yong-jae and rising striker Lee Jeong-hyeop scored a goal apiece at Shah Alam Stadium in Shah Alam, Malaysia, as the 58th-ranked South Korea edged past the 73rd-ranked UAE for the 12th time in 19 meetings. South Korea will trav

Former FIFA vice president Chung Mong-joon said Wednesday that he would carefully consider running for the top job at the world’s football governing body.“I will decide on whether to participate in an election after consulting with officials in the global football community,” Chung said in a press conference in Seoul.Chung, who served as FIFA’s No. 2 man from 1994 to 2011 and chief of the Korea Football Association from 1993 to 2009, helped Korea co-host the World Cup in 2002 with Japan.By Park

ZURICH, (AFP) - FIFA leader Sepp Blatter said Saturday he was "shocked" at the way the US judiciary has targeted football's world body and slammed what he called a "hate" campaign by Europe's football leaders.In an interview with Swiss television, Blatter said he suspected the arrest of seven FIFA officials on Wednesday under a US anti-corruption warrant was an attempt to "interfere with the congress" at which he was elected Friday.Commenting on the fact that it came only two days before his ele

South Korean club FC Seoul crashed out of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League following an away loss on Wednesday.The K League Classic club lost to Gamba Osaka 3-2 in Osaka in the second leg of their round of 16 series. The Japanese side reached the quarterfinals on the 6-3 aggregate.Last week, Gamba Osaka had prevailed 3-1 in the South Korean capital.FC Seoul needed to win by at least three goals Wednesday to reach the quarters but Gamba Osaka had other ideas. Brazilian forw

ZURICH (AP) – FIFA has banned former vice president Reynald Temarii for eight years for taking Qatari powerbroker Mohamed bin Hammam's money to pay legal costs in a corruption case linked to the 2022 World Cup vote.FIFA says its ethics committee ruled that Temarii accepting 305,640 euros ($343,000) from Bin Hammam in January 2011, breaching five sections of its ethics code.Temarii was then appealing a one-year suspension by FIFA which barred him from voting in the 2018 and 2022 World Cup contest