Kim Yong-jun Appointed As New Coach of North Korea

North Korea have decided to bring in Kim Yong-jun as the new coach of the national team. The 35-year-old has been appointed as the coach just ahead of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup. The underdogs have been placed alongside the likes of Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and Qatar. The first match of the group stages will start in January 8. Prior to the actual tournament, North Korea will be taking part in a string of friendly matches that starts with a game against Vietnam on Christmas Day. This match will serve as the debut game for Kim Yong-jun, who is only 35 years old.

Yet, Kim Yong-jun is someone who knows the North Korean national team extremely well after having been part of the team as a midfielder for an extended period of time. He was part of the North Korean squad that created history by qualifying for the World Cup 2010 and he came on as a substitute in a match against Portugal. When it comes to his club career, Kim Yong-jun has largely been part of the Pyongyang City Sports Club in China. He has also played for the likes of Yanbian FC and Chengdu Blades. After having largely been involved in the youth teams of North Korea, he has been groomed for this role for quite a while.
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FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup 2018: North Korea Defeats The United States To Earn Their First Victory

North Korea achieved their first victory in the Women’s World Cup. They have managed to defeat the United States with 3-0 in an encounter of Group C at Uruguay, Colonia Del Sacramento at Estadio Profesor Alberto Suppici.

Even in the wet conditions,North Korea is known had kept on scoring all 3 goals from the situations of these-piece. The American coach, Mark Carr would definitely have to work with the cars in order to counter the set-piece conditions prior to facing Germany in asubsequent encounter.

The country has started with Choe Kum-OK brightly. She was able to force a save from Angelina Anderson. Nonetheless, Stars and Striped have been fortunate since Ko Kyung-Hui did not use the free ball. After a corner, the Americans didn’t clear the ball. This had resulted in a goal-mouth melee. After this, Ri Kum-Hyang received the ballon her path. Then it struck the right corner after diving Angelina Anderson for putting the defending Champions in place of 1-0.

North Korea was probing the American goal on a constant basis. They did this with another long-range effort taken by Ko Jyong-Hui. A close post header from Kim Yun-Ok swooped inside thegoal post for putting North Korea in a position of 2-0 before the following corner. North Korea was able to secure another corner in the second half. This was a strong strike by Kim Kyong-Yong had won the game due to the defending Champions since Sunshine Fonters failed to clear the ball.North Korea has the chance to add a fourth when Kim Ryu-Song has passed on the sliding challenge from the player Michela Agresti. Nonetheless, the goalkeeper of United States Angelina Anderson had thwarted her ultimate effort in the game.

Under-17 Women’s World Cup: North Korea Defeats USA

North Korea achieved their first victory in the Women’s World Cup. They have managed to defeat the United States with 3-0 in an encounter of Group C at Uruguay, Colonia Del Sacramento at Estadio Profesor Alberto Suppici.

Even in the wet conditions, North Korea is known had kept on scoring all 3 goals from the situations of the set-piece. The American coach, Mark Carr would definitely have to work with the cars in order to counter the set-piece conditions prior to facing Germany in a subsequent encounter. Continue reading “Under-17 Women’s World Cup: North Korea Defeats USA”

Juventus and Inter Milan after North Korean Star, Claims Agent

North Korean youngster Han Kwang-song has been attracting a lot of interest from clubs in Europe and his agent has confirmed that Inter Milan and Juventus are some of the clubs who are trying to sign him in the January transfer window. The Cagliari forward was able to come up with seven goals in just 17 games while on loan at Perugia, who play in the second division, when he spent the first half of last campaign on loan at the club. He has since come back to Cagliari for the 2018-19 campaign but did not manage to score a goal in seven league games. As a result, the North Korean youngster has been loaned out back to Perugia.

His agent Sandro Stemperini, though, claims thatKwang-song could soon be playing alongside the likes of Mauro Icardi or Paulo Dybala considering the interest shown by Juventus and Inter Milan in the recent weeks. He has claimed that there have been discussions between Cagliari and Juventus. Prior to making the switch toPerugia,Han Kwang-song had come up with only five Italian top flight appearances for Cagliari. He also became the first player from North Korea to come up with a goal in the top flight of Italian football. He has featured in two games for the North Korean national team.
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North Korea Lose against UAE in Asian Games Quarter-Finals

North Korea suffered a penalty shootout defeat at the hands of UAE in the recent Asian games football tournament. The two teams were facing each other in the quarter-finals of the competition. Both teams were trying to set up a semi-final date with Japan but UAE were able to emerge out on top. The game finished as a 1-1 draw after normal time. UAE do have experience when it comes to penalty shootout and this certainly had its say in this match. This was the second consecutive shootout victory for the Middle East team. North Korea were able to claim a narrow 1-0 win over Junior Whites in the Asian games that happened in South Korea.

Now, UAE have been able to sneak through in yet another round. They were able to reach beyond the group after having finished as the third place runner up. The victory over East Timor is the only success for UAE after defeats against Syria and China. Kim Yu-song was able to give North Korea a major boost in the game when he put them in front after 63 minutes. He was able to convert the cross fromKang Kuk-chol. However, UAE were back on level terms after just four minutes, as North Korea were unable to hang on for much longer. A similar cross led to Ali Yahyaee providing the equaliser.
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Tae-Yong Say South Korea at a Disadvantage against Mexico due to Weather

Shin Tae-Yong has been criticised of coming up with a defensive approach even before stepping into the game against Mexico, as the South Korea coach says that the weather in the game between the two nations will be favouring Mexico. It is expected to be hot weather at the Rostov-on-Don. Mexico and South Korea will be taking on each other in a group match. South Korea are in desperate need of a three-point return in order to stay in the competition. The Asian team lost 1-0 against Sweden in the opening group match and this has put in a lot of pressure on the team to get a positive result against Mexico.

Since South Korea are up against Germany in the final group match, there is little hope of the national team picking up points against the defending world champions. Hence, they have to place a lot of faith on taking points against Mexico, who are certainly not an easy opponent by any stretch of the imagination. Juan Carlos Osorio’s team were able to beat Germany in the opening group match to create in the best result of the competition so far.Tae-Yong says that the hotter climate in the upcoming game will favour a Central American team like Mexico, while South Korea will have to put behind their recent poor form in order to have any chance of getting a positive result.
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Son Heung-Min Names Park Ji-Sung As His Childhood Idol

Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-min has named Park Ji-sung as the player he followed during the early stage of his professional career. The ex-Manchester United midfielder remains a source of inspiration for youngsters learning the game in South Korea, and Son is hoping to have a similar impact with Spurs.

In an interview covered by ESPN, the 25-year-old stressed that he has a long way to go before being compared with Park, but he is hoping to make a similar impression, now that he is in the Premier League, he said: “I can’t compare to Ji. He is a legend and my idol. They are still so proud of him at home. It’s difficult for an Asian to play in the Premier League. It still is. And he was the one who did it first so it was even harder for him. I am still hoping to play like him and bring fans like him and have an impact like him but I am not there yet.” Continue reading “Son Heung-Min Names Park Ji-Sung As His Childhood Idol”

Andersen Leaves Role As National Team Manager

Jorn Andersen left his role as the North Korea national team manager as he was left with little choice to do. North Korea was able to qualify for the Asian Cup finals after a successful with Hong Kong in the recent match. Immediately after the game, Jorn Andersen announced that he was stepping down from his role as he has achieved all of his objectives. However, a string of economic sanctions imposed by several nations on North Korea has prevented him from extending his stay with the communist country.

The Norwegian came to the North Korea national team in May 2016 and his contract came to an end on Saturday. However, he was able to extend his goodwill by helping North Korea reached the Asian Cup finals. The economic sanctions were quite hard when it comes to sports. Continue reading “Andersen Leaves Role As National Team Manager”

Colombians apologise for racist gesture

There was huge controversy recently in the friendly match between South Korea and Colombia when Colombian midfielder Edwin Cardona appeared to make a racist gesture towards a Korean player during the disagreement over a free-kick.

Cardona pulled his face back to make the slant-eye gesture which is offensive to Asians. The incident was captured on film and caused a furore across the game especially among those of Asian origin. Continue reading “Colombians apologise for racist gesture”

WC 2018: CHIEF ORGANIZER VITALLY MUTKO RESIGNS

The Chief Organiser for the forthcoming World Cup in Russia, Vitaly Mutko has left the role, according to reports in Russia. Mutko stepped down from the office barely two days after he temporarily left his role as the president of the Russian Football Union (RFU).

The Deputy Prime Minister of Russia stepped aside to contest his life time ban from the Olympics for a purported state directed doping programme. He stepped aside from the RFU on Monday to be able to contest the ban but he has now left his role as the chief organizer of the World Cup. Continue reading “WC 2018: CHIEF ORGANIZER VITALLY MUTKO RESIGNS”