Let the countdown begin. The 2012 London Olympics will kick off in 10 days, and South Korea’s sight remains firmly on the numeral 10 ― as in 10 gold medals for a top-10 position in the medal table.The Olympics, set for July 27-Aug. 12, will bring together more than 10,000 athletes from over 200 countries. This year’s Summer Games will also go down as the first Olympics in which every participating country will have female athletes, as Brunei, Qatar and Saudi Arabia broke down their barriers for

(123rf)Rose Barwuah has to polish desks to make a living despite having one of Europe’s highest-paid athletes as a son.The biological mother of multi-millionaire Italian footballer Mario Balotelli is working as an office cleaner, according to British media.While Balotelli makes 120,000 British pounds ($187,000) a week, enjoying a lavish lifestyle of luxury cars, champagne and parties, Barwuah mak

Chivas USA player wants to play in K-LeagueLOS ANGELES ― James Riley is an American footballer of Korean descent who plays for Los Angeles-based Chivas USA of Major League Soccer, a professional league in the U.S. A few months ago, Riley first ran into Lee Young-pyo, a South Korean footballer who plays for Vancouver Whitecaps FC in Major League Soccer. “I addressed Lee by saying ‘My mother is Korean,’” Riley said in a recent interview with The Korea Herald Business, a Korean-language unit of The

GENEVA (AP) ― Former FIFA president Joao Havelange and one-time Brazilian soccer leader Ricardo Teixeira received millions of dollars in a World Cup kickbacks scandal, soccer’s world governing body confirmed on Wednesday.FIFA finally published a Swiss court dossier which detailed that Teixeira received at $13 million from 1992-97 in payments from World Cup marketing partner ISL. The Swiss-based agency’s collapse into bankruptcy in 2001 sparked a criminal probe and exposed the routine practice of

Premier League club Liverpool has joined the race to acquire Korean midfielder Ki Sung-yueng, who is reportedly leaving Celtic ahead of the 2012-2013 season.British newspaper The Sun reported Wednesday that the time-honored Premier League team is keen to land the 23-year-old midfielder.The club is lining up a 7 million pound ($10.8 million) bid for the Celtic star, according to the newspaper, adding that new Anfield boss Brendan Rodgers has Ki “high on his wishlist of summer signings.”Aside from

South Korean midfielder Park Ji-sung will carry the No. 7 on his back for the Queens Park Rangers, according to the club on Thursday.Although Park played for Manchester United with No. 13 for the past seven years, No. 7 holds special meaning for the 31-year-old.The Korean football legend sported the number for his international debut with the Kyoto Purple Sanga in 2000 and carried the number over to PSV Eindhoven in 2003. And for the 2006 and 2010 World Cups, Park represented Korea on the pitch

LONDON (AP) ― Chelsea captain John Terry staunchly defended himself on the witness stand Tuesday, denying prosecutors’ suggestions that he racially abused a black opponent as an “instinctive” reaction to being taunted over his private life.The veteran defender also refused to apologize to Anton Ferdinand as he took the stand on the second day of his trial for an alleged racist slur hurled at the Queens Park Rangers player last October, which led to Terry being stripped of the England captaincy.T

On paper, it does not look like a wise move for South Korean footballer Park Ji-sung. On Monday, the midfielder left the Premier League giant Manchester United, the league’s most decorated club, for Queens Park Rangers, a team that barely avoided being relegated to the second division this past season. Park still had one year left in his contract with Man United and at 31, he forewent a chance to retire as a member of the storied franchise with which he spent seven seasons as the first South Kor

Park Ji-sung (Yonhap News)Amid wide reports of his imminent team transfer, South Korean midfielder Park Ji-sung of Manchester United arrived in London Sunday, but refused to comment on the reports.After leaving from Incheon one day ahead of schedule, Park arrived at Heathrow Airport at around 2:00 a.m. Park had been in Seoul for the special K-League All-star game on Thursday.Earlier British news r

Striker Jung Jo-gook will return home to his original South Korean club after a stint in the top French league, the local team here said Friday.FC Seoul of the K-League announced Jung will rejoin the team after spending 18 months with two teams in France.Jung left for France in December 2010 as a free agent, after helping FC Seoul win the K-League championship. He first played for AJ Auxerre and t