The Korea Herald

S. Korea rises to 34th place in FIFA rankings

Jan 17, 2013

South Korea rose one notch to 34th place in the FIFA rankings for January, the world's football governing body said Thursday.The rankings, published on FIFA's Web site, showed South Korea with a total of 687 points this month, up one point from December.The increase was calculated from an adjustment in the weighted average of the country's points in the past four years.South Korea was the second-highest ranking Asian nation after Japan, which ranked 21st.(Yonhap News)
Spain heads unchanged top 10 in FIFA rankings

Jan 17, 2013

ZURICH (AP) -- World and European champion Spain leads an unchanged top 10 teams in FIFA's latest world rankings.Ecuador at No. 12 and Haiti at No. 38 both climbed one place to highest-ever positions as 46 international matches in the past month counted toward the standings.Spain leads from Germany, Argentina, Italy and Colombia. Europe completes the top 10 with England, Portugal, Netherlands, Russia and Croatia.World Cup host Brazil remains at No. 18.Ivory Coast is the highest-ranked African te
Soccer body lifts lifetime match-fixing bans on players

Jan 17, 2013

South Korea’s governing body of soccer announced Thursday it will lift lifetime bans on players involved in a 2011 match-fixing scandal.At a board meeting, the Korea Football Association decided to reduce the penalties on 11 K League Classic players who were either acquitted in court for their alleged roles in match fixing or reported themselves to officials.Dozens of active and former players were indicted or convicted in the first match-fixing scandal to rock the nation’s first-division footba
United, Arsenal advance in FA Cup

Jan 17, 2013

LONDON (AP) ― Manchester United and Arsenal won 1-0 in replays Wednesday night to reach the fourth round of the FA Cup, while Chelsea’s Premier League title chances were set back with a 2-2 tie against visiting Southampton.Wayne Rooney scored in the ninth minute at home against West Ham in his first game in three weeks following a knee injury. United next plays Fulham.Arsenal needed Jack Wilshere’s 86th-minute goal to defeat Swansea and advance to a fourth-round game against Brighton.After third
Korean WC hero recalls racist slurs

Jan 16, 2013

South Korea’s retired 2002 World Cup hero Ahn Jung-hwan says he was cold-shouldered and subjected to racist slurs from Marco Materazzi during his troubled time with Serie A side AC Perugia.In an interview on a South Korean television talk show, Ahn, 36, alleged that Perugia’s then-skipper Materazzi had been particularly intimidating.“He barged into the locker room one day and barked at me in front of everyone, saying that I reeked of garlic,” Ahn said.“I didn’t understand what he was saying but
Bolton sends Sunderland out

Jan 16, 2013

LONDON (AP) ― American midfielder Stuart Holden played his first game in 16 months and only his second in 22 months, returning from knee surgery as Bolton defeated Sunderland 2-0 Tuesday night to advance to the FA Cup’s fourth round.Holden entered in the 74th minute of the third-round replay. The 27-year-old, a member of the 2010 U.S. World Cup team, injured his right knee during a challenge by Manchester United’s Jonny Evans during a Premier League game on March 19, 2011. Holden returned from s
Three more candidates register on deadline to run for top football post

Jan 14, 2013

Three more candidates, including two front-runners, registered themselves in the election for the country’s top football job on Monday, the deadline to officially enter the race.The Korea Football Association, the South Korean governing body of football, said the KFA chairman election, set for Jan. 28, will have four candidates in total.Chung Mong-gyu, the former commissioner of the K League, the governing body of professional football, registered his candidacy Monday, along with Heo Seung-pyo,
Title rivals United, City win

Jan 14, 2013

Lionel Messi shines as Barcelona remain undefeated in 3-1 victory against Malaga
Blues rule at Stoke

Jan 13, 2013

Walters had a day to forget, scoring two own goals and missing a penalty as Chelsea beat Stoke 4-0
Cho to ask arbitration body to settle wage dispute

Jan 11, 2013

Cho Kwang-rae, the former head coach of the South Korean men’s football team, said Friday he will reach out to an arbitration body to settle his contract dispute with the national football governing body.In a phone interview, Cho told Yonhap that he will soon ask the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board to settle his case with the Korea Football Association.“Late last year, I sent the KFA a certification of contents demanding that it pay me the outstanding salary by Jan. 9,” Cho said. “The KFA ha
Hong looks forward to fresh start

Jan 10, 2013

INCHEON (Yonhap News) ― Hong Myung-bo, who coached South Korea to the men’s soccer bronze medal at the London Olympics, said Thursday he was looking forward to a fresh start as he is about to begin coaching training at a Russian professional club under his old mentor.Hong left for the United Arab Emirates Thursday to join FC Anzhi Makhachkala’s training camp during the midseason break in the Russian Premier League. There, he will receive training under the team’s head coach, Guus Hiddink.Hiddink
Swansea edges Chelsea in semis

Jan 10, 2013

LONDON (AP) ― Swansea beat Chelsea 2-0 in the first leg of the League Cup semifinals Wednesday, capitalizing on two defensive lapses by Branislav Ivanovic. The result moved the Welsh team a step closer to its first major final.Michu made the most of Ivanovic’s poor control to open the scoring from the edge of the penalty area in the 39th minute. It was the Spaniard’s 16th goal of a spectacular first season in British soccer.Ivanovic then made a sloppy back pass that was seized by Danny Graham, w
FIFA extends lifetime bans ...on 41 Korean players

Jan 10, 2013

ZURICH (AP) ― FIFA has extended the match-fixing sanctions on 41 players in South Korea to worldwide lifetime bans.The scandal goes back to 2011 when more than 50 players and coaches in the K-League were indicted for accepting money to fix matches.Forty-one players received life bans from the K-League and the Korea Football Association.FIFA said Wednesday that its disciplinary committee extended the sanctions so they take effect worldwide.However, FIFA said it would offer 21 players who admitted
Match-fixing life bans for 41 Koreans: FIFA

Jan 9, 2013

The global football governing body said Wednesday it has extended domestic match-fixing sanctions on 41 South Korean players to worldwide lifetime bans."FIFA can today confirm the extension of sanctions on 41 players from (South Korea) related to a domestic match-fixing investigation dating back to the summer of 2011," the Zurich-based FIFA said in a press release. "All 41 players have been sanctioned with a lifetime ban from all football activity by the K League and the Korea Football Associat
First candidate registers to run for soccer post

Jan 9, 2013

Kim Seok-han, the former head of the Korea Middle School Football Association, on Wednesday became the first to register as a candidate for the country’s top soccer job, officials said.Kim became the first among five hopefuls to formally enter the race for the chairman post at the Korea Football Association, said the country’s governing body of the sport. The middle-school association said Kim submitted the necessary candidature files at the KFA headquarters in Seoul on Wednesday. In November l