Steve Han • 한만성
@realstevescores
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🇰🇷 football writer since ‘08 | ✍️🗣️ @BBCworld , @Guardian , @talkSPORT , @FourFourTwo , @Goal | Translated Özil, Modrić, Carrick biographies
Joined May 2009
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In his last public appearance as Korea manager in 2018, eggs were thrown towards Shin Tae-yong and his players after they beat Germany in Russia. The KFA left him hanging for the call to renew his deal before parting ways without any contact. Six years later, TODAY happened.
Spoke with
@firzieidris
about the consequences that the KFA could suffer if Shin Tae-yong and Indonesia end Korea's hopes of reaching their 10th straight Olympics. Chung Mong-gyu has survived MANY failures, but a failure to qualify for the Olympics may just be the final straw.
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Son on Hwang Hee-chan’s penalty: “He really wanted to take it. The coach wanted me to take it, but I saw how much Hee-chan wanted it. As the captain, rather than being greedy, I wanted to show how important Hee-chan is to our team. Now I thank him for scoring.”
#AsianCup2023
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Son on his relationship with Ange after beating Australia: "I'm constantly exchanging text messages with him. Before every game for Spurs, I text him to wish him luck. He's doing the same before our games here. We keep sending each other good luck messages."
#AsianCup2023
“It’s a win-win for me. I’d love Sonny to win the Asian Cup. I know what it would mean to him, I know what it would mean to his country.” 🇰🇷
Australia v South Korea in the
#AsianCup2023
quarter-finals 🔜
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Indonesia manager Shin Tae-yong after losing to Japan: "Congrats to Moriyasu. I told him that Japan are such a good team, and he said Indonesia played well for a young team and that we're improving. I'm grateful for his kind words, but I hope Korea beat them if they play."😂
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Tottenham would be lucky to have them around for another four years.
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For the first time since 1984, Korea won’t be playing football at the Olympics. With Korea failing to reach their 10th consecutive Olympics, Japan will hold the record for the longest streak of Olympic appearances with their eighth straight qualification if they make it through.
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Son Heung-min will fly to London on a private jet provided by Tottenham about two hours after Korea’s friendly vs. Qatar today. The rest of the Korean players based in Europe will return to their respective clubs on the following day after facing Qatar.
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I still don’t understand why the public in Korea feel that Lee Kang-in owes them an apology. It’s like your neighbors want you to apologize to them because they found out later that you once fought your brother inside your own house. None of this makes any sense to me.
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Made my Sky Sports debut. I’ve dreamed of being on Sky Sports since I had made up my mind to become a football writer.
I’d trade this moment any day of the week and twice on Sundays to get a healthy Son Heung-min back within the next three weeks. 🇰🇷❤️⚽️🙏🏻
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In 2022, Paulo Bento had this to say about the KFA’s management of the players: “They think the players don’t need to rest, because the most important is the money and sponsors. The national team is for sure not the most important in Korea.”
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Celtic’s Oh Hyeon-gyu on speaking with Son Heung-min since Spurs appointed Postecoglou: “He asked me about Ange’s style—what he emphasizes, his style of play. I’ve only played for Ange for half a year, but I already know that he’s tactically exceptional. I believe he’ll succeed.”
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People like this are dumber than Bentancur, who was also dumb in his own right to say such a thing. Bentancur being Son’s friend doesn’t do anything to justify his stupidity. He was being dumb. There’s nothing you can do to defend his comment. He sparked this backlash on himself.
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Working on finding out more about Son's injury as we speak, but it's suspected that he has sustained an orbital fracture on the left side of his face. These injuries could, potentially, take months for a full recovery.
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Hwang Hee-chan on his penalty: “I wanted to take it. I’m grateful that Heung-min let me have that opportunity. I wanted to take the responsibility in a moment that was so important for all Korean people.”
#AsianCup2023
Son on Hwang Hee-chan’s penalty: “He really wanted to take it. The coach wanted me to take it, but I saw how much Hee-chan wanted it. As the captain, rather than being greedy, I wanted to show how important Hee-chan is to our team. Now I thank him for scoring.”
#AsianCup2023
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Former Korea boss Shin Tae-yong on the recent controversy surrounding the national team: “I know both of them. Once they meet again and Heung-min, as the big brother, embraces Kang-in, and Kang-in admits his mistake to Heung-min, there will be no problems at all between them.”
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His growth in three seasons hasn’t been insane, actually. He was already pretty close to being as good as he is now since more than four years ago. He’s proof that until 2021, European clubs refused to accept that Kim Min-jae has world class abilities based on his nationality.
🇰🇷🔝 Kim Min-jae (26) has had an incredible journey into European football:
➤ Playing in Asia until 2021
➤ Signs for Fenerbahçe for €3m
➤ Signs for Napoli for €18m
➤ Now, Serie A winner
Class defender, the growth within 3 seasons is insane!
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Son on playing 120 minutes in two straight games in just four days: "We're playing for our country. To say that this is hard would be an excuse. Only four teams left to fight for a trophy. No excuse or pain is acceptable. We keep going with only one goal in mind."
#AsianCup2023
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The pingpong-gate is hardly a newsworthy story to me. Stupid arguments amongst 26 egotistical men are common. That's my opinion.
Just remember that this is a direct attempt from the KFA to use their own players as a shield to deflect attention from themselves and Klinsmann.
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Every Korean player I've spoken to over the last 16 years told me that the "unwritten rule" within the national team camp is: "Whatever happens here, stays here." The KFA has voluntarily broken this promise now. Why should the players continue to remain silent to shield the KFA?
It's too coincidental that this story broke NOW when there's a series of meetings at the KFA to decide the future of the national team. The KFA could've easily ignored the report in the UK media without consequence. Yet, they chose to openly contribute to fueling a controversy.
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Spurs flew out of Marseille after the game and are now back in London. Son’s camp remains cautiously optimistic that he has avoided the worst, which would be surgery. Pain apparently subsided for him since being taken off as he awaits full evaluation in the morning in London 🇰🇷🤞🏻
Working on finding out more about Son's injury as we speak, but it's suspected that he has sustained an orbital fracture on the left side of his face. These injuries could, potentially, take months for a full recovery.
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Iker Casillas to his Porto teammate Suk Hyun-jun. Insensitive, regardless of whether or not he was "joking."
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Playing through sports hernia all season sounds bad enough, but we’re actually overlooking what he endured to just be on the pitch for Korea at the World Cup. Orbital fracture, mask on his face AND sports hernia?! That glorious run against Portugal just became more legendary.
Son on undergoing sports hernia surgery: “I wondered a lot if I should even make this public, but I struggled with pain all season. I played through it for eight to nine months, but couldn’t go on anymore, so I made the decision finally and underwent surgery.” (🎥: TV Chosun)
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Spoke with
@firzieidris
about the consequences that the KFA could suffer if Shin Tae-yong and Indonesia end Korea's hopes of reaching their 10th straight Olympics. Chung Mong-gyu has survived MANY failures, but a failure to qualify for the Olympics may just be the final straw.
Direct from
@realstevescores
thanks for your time, mate!
Steve membahas soal ekspektasi besar ke timnas Korsel utk mengalahkan Indonesia. Target mereka adalah lolos ke Olimpiade utk 10x beruntun. Bahkan, Presiden KFA bisa dapat tekanan turun jika gagal.
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Before leaving the mixed zone, Son added this to the reporters: "I wanted to ask you one thing. Our players are under a lot of spotlight. After a game like this, it'd be great if you could put some of that spotlight on our players who didn't get the chance to play."
#AsianCup2023
Son on Hwang Hee-chan’s penalty: “He really wanted to take it. The coach wanted me to take it, but I saw how much Hee-chan wanted it. As the captain, rather than being greedy, I wanted to show how important Hee-chan is to our team. Now I thank him for scoring.”
#AsianCup2023
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Hey
@Wolves
, can you unleash Daniel Podence again
Official statement regarding yesterday's incident during our friendly vs. Wolves:
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No he shouldn’t and he won’t.
South Korea can win the Asian Cup without Son comfortably. Tottenham can't play the football they've been playing without Son and Romero . Hate to say it but Sonny should consider staying in this time of emergency
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That embarrassment of a dive from Cho Gue-sung is the sad reflection of Korea’s
#AsianCup2023
campaign that looked more impressive on paper than what it really has been on the pitch. You cannot rely on drama to win a tournament. You gotta play football, which Korea haven’t done.
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We did it for you. Now go get to that fifth game.
@ArnoldcommaJon
@cesarhfutbol
@mexicoworldcup
@AztecaAmeliaaa
🇰🇷🇲🇽
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Klinsmann is reportedly paid $2.2m a year by the KFA. At
#AsianCup2023
, he was supported by a 35-man support staff. That is Korea’s biggest staff ever at a tournament. There were data analysts and scouts, handpicked by Klinsmann. Yet, not ONE complete performance from Korea.
It took Korea 30 minutes against Bahrain to get their first shot on goal at
#AsianCup2023
. Since then, they were outshot in the second halves to Jordan and Malaysia in the group stage, had no shot on goal in the first half vs. Australia, and no shot on goal at all vs. Jordan.
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Good job, guys 🥹
This was all bound to happen behind closed doors without any drama…until the KFA voluntarily publicized it. What a world.
Son Heung-min posted on Instagram that he had reconciled with Lee Kang-in and asked people not to criticize Lee any more.
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Congratulations to Kim Pan-gon and Malaysia for a truly inspiring performance against all odds in a game that they could’ve easily given up. Also played a critical role in reminding Korea that there’s a huge gap between our ambition and reality. Thank you 🫡
#AsianCup2023
Our exclusive interview with former KFA technical chief Kim Pan-gon, who appointed Paulo Bento and overhauled the culture around the team to help them reach the World Cup last-16. I’ll share more Korea-related quotes that from the Korean version later.
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It has been agreed that Son Heung-min will fly to Abu Dhabi to join Korea’s camp for the Asian Cup after Spurs play Bournemouth on 31 December. Korea will play a friendly (opposition TBD) on 6 January. The Asian Cup takes place from 12 January to 10 February in Qatar.
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Daniel Podence just became my favorite player.
🚨Hwang Hee-chan allegedly racially abused by Como defender in tonight's training game. Daniel Podence given straight red card for throwing a punch at the defender in the aftermath. Full details and quotes from Gary O'Neil here.
#wwfc
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Celtic’s £1.7m offer for Suwon Bluewings striker Oh Hyeon-gyu is still on the table. So far, communication between Suwon and Oh is transparent. Suwon have informed Oh about Celtic’s offer. In response, Oh communicated to Suwon that he wants to join Celtic to “follow his dreams.”
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Shin Tae-yong is in Indonesia to finalise a 3-year deal as their national team boss. Goalkeeper coach Kim Hae-won, fitness coach Lee Jae-hong will join his backroom staff. Both worked with Shin at the World Cup last year. They’re joined by ex-Korea U-20 assistant Gong Oh-kyun.
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All about Son, hardly anything about Bentancur. The conclusion is essentially that Spurs officially "support Son to draw the line" under an incident that involved racism. Why can't they draw that line as a club? It looks like Son plays for TWO organizations that hide behind him.
Following a comment from Rodrigo Bentancur in an interview video clip and the player’s subsequent public apology, the Club has been providing assistance in ensuring a positive outcome on the matter. This will include further education for all players in line with our diversity,
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It’s still early days in this current cycle for 2026, but it’s safe to admit that Japan are far and away the strongest team in Asia at the moment. Yes, this is a friendly, but a result like this doesn’t happen by coincidence or accident.
🔹️試合終了🔹️
🏆国際親善試合
🇯🇵SAMURAI BLUE 4-1 ドイツ代表🇩🇪
⌚️3:45KO(🇯🇵)
📺
#NHK
総合テレビにて全国生中継
🔗
#夢への勇気を
#SAMURAIBLUE
#jfa
#daihyo
#サッカー日本代表
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Jurgen Klinsmann has left Korea yesterday to return to his home in sunny Southern California, per OSEN.
The KFA will hold a technical committee meeting next week to assess Korea’s performance at
#AsianCup2023
. How they do that without the head coach is completely beyond me.
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AET Australia 1-2 Korea. Goal in stoppage time in four straight games. Whether it’s desperation or belief, I’m not sure, but my suggestion to you all is to stop analyzing this. Sit back and support these boys. Their heart is in the right place to rewrite history.
#AsianCup2023
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Lee Seung-woo is filing a lawsuit for defamation against local Italian commentators who accused him of eating "dog rolls" on live TV after his goal vs. AC Milan earlier this month. Finally, a Korean player who's refusing to sit back and take racist remarks...
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Son after 2-2 draw with Malaysia: "I actually wanted to speak with the media before the tournament. I wanted to say, 'Please protect our players and not try to shake us up [mentally], but I never had a chance to speak with you. I'm thankful to have that chance now."
#AsianCup2023
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Red Devils’ message against China: “Welcome home, Son Jun-ho❗️”
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I'd read
@FourFourTwo
cover to cover every month as an aspiring football writer. I'd mark my calendar every month to buy the latest issue on the first day it's out. It's an honor to report for them, especially for a cover story featuring a Korean footballer for the first time🙏🏻
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Official statement from Red Devils, official Korea supporters’ group: “When there’s an internal conflict amongst the players, the federation’s role is to protect them, but for the federation to contribute to yellow journalism shows their lack of responsibility.”
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What you saw from Korea at the
#AsianCup2023
were products of decisions ultimately made by this man. When will he stand in front of the media and answer tough questions? I’ve yet to see him in a proper press conference in ages. At what point does he take his head out of the sand?
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Son on undergoing sports hernia surgery: “I wondered a lot if I should even make this public, but I struggled with pain all season. I played through it for eight to nine months, but couldn’t go on anymore, so I made the decision finally and underwent surgery.” (🎥: TV Chosun)
Son Heung-min had surgery after Spurs' season ended and has asked his international team-mate and Celtic player Oh Hyeon-gyu all about Ange Postecoglou. The response was as expected. More below. Thanks to
@Sungmo_Lee
and
@realstevescores
for the info.
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Sports Chosun reporting Ji So-yun has signed a “lucrative deal” with Seattle Reign FC, becoming the third Korean player in the NWSL after Jeon Ga-eul and Lee So-dam.
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Korea U-23 assistant Myung Jae-yong: "It was always going to be difficult for us to regain the lead after we made it 2-2. The only way we were going to score was through counterattacks or set pieces. If those didn't work out, we figured we'd decide the match in penalties."
🙄
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Lee Kang-in after 2-0 loss to Jordan: “What I want to ask a lot of people is to avoid singling out one person to criticize. If you want to criticize, just criticize me. It’s not fair to criticize the manager. We failed as a team. To the manager and coaching staff, I’m sorry.”
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Potential big news for Indonesia. Jeon Kyung-jun played a critical role as a tactician whilst serving as Shin Tae-yong’s assistant. He was a big part of the technical staff that guided Korea’s win over Germany in 2018. Indonesia should push for a Shin-Jeon reunion.
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Son Heung-min told the reporters at the airport that he has already reached an agreement with Tottenham to play in the Asian Games in August.
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Win or lose, let’s show the world that Korea can play proactive football ⚽️🇰🇷❤️🙏🏻
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My interview for FIFA last year* with Kim Pan-gon, who seems to be on his way to Ulsan. I've handpicked some relevant quotes from the man who brought Paulo Bento and his staff to Korea. Kim Pan-gon's thoughts on his legacy, the KFA structure, and Hong Myung-bo. 🧵
*December 2023
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What you see in this photo is what I found when I visited the grave of Cha Tae-sung, Korea’s first and last Asian Cup winner from 1956 and 1960, and also our captain at the Olympics in 1964. After retiring from football, Cha moved to the US, where he soon became Thomas Cha.
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Asian Cup is a damn jungle. No other way to put it. Jordan vs. Qatar final. Crazy. Considering all the noise around Korea, Japan and even Iran going into the tournament, makes it even crazier that Jordan and Qatar actually deserve to be in the final.
#AsianCup2023
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Played like a superstar that he is on the pitch, and also behaved like one off the pitch too throughout his one-week stay in Korea. It pained me deep down to see him get a standing ovation after Korea lost 5-1, but it was a well deserved appreciation. It was a pleasure,
@neymarjr
Neymar making sure the Korean child mascot had his left hand instead of his right on his chest during the national anthem has to be one of the cutest interactions I’ve seen in a while.
🇰🇷❤️🇧🇷
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Within hours after Spurs beat Marseille, the KFA sent an official request to the English club for further information on Son’s head injury. Perhaps Spurs will only announce the extent of Son’s injury, but expect the KFA to provide the update on his availability for the World Cup.
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The majority of the KFA executives during the meeting earlier today reportedly agreed that sacking Jurgen Klinsmann is the most necessary option as Korea prepare for World Cup 2026.
KBS is reporting that Michael Muller was one of the few officials who did not take a stance.
The KFA executive meeting without its top executive and head coach of the national team was apparently held today. KFA PR: “It was a free discussion to review the Asian Cup. An evaluation meeting will take place this week, and a final decision will be announced in due course.”
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FT Korea 3-3 Malaysia. Wow. The expectation is still to lift the trophy after 64 years, but for the first time since 1996, Korea concede more than five goals in the group stage at an Asian Cup. In 1996, they lost 6-2 to Iran and were eliminated in their first knockout stage game.
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After so much needless criticism from both Korea and China for his decision to play in Beijing, it must be such a pleasant experience for Kim Min-jae to have this kind of backing already from his fans at his new club Fenerbahce. He's actually getting the support he deserves now.
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Klinsmann's refusal to reside in Korea is not the problem in itself, but his reasoning is what's puzzling to me. He claims it's because he must be with Kangin, Sonny, Minjae and the coaches at their clubs, and that he needs to "talk to them all day."
Why does he have to do that?
Klinsmann is reportedly paid $2.2m a year by the KFA. At
#AsianCup2023
, he was supported by a 35-man support staff. That is Korea’s biggest staff ever at a tournament. There were data analysts and scouts, handpicked by Klinsmann. Yet, not ONE complete performance from Korea.
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FT Korea 1-4 Brazil. For what it’s worth, Korea went and won the second half. Could they have played better? Sure, but I hope that these boys get the heroes’ welcome that they deserve when they land in Incheon. Korean football… we’ve taken a step towards the right direction 🇰🇷❤️
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FT Jordan 2-0 Korea. The frustration is too familiar. It’s now debilitating. At best, it was a pretentious run to the semi-final for Korea whose
#AsianCup2023
campaign was poor in truth. To say they’ve underachieved would be disrespectful to Jordan. They were the better team.
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Congratulations to Iran, but I’m truly disappointed that Japan are out. I wanted to assume that Korea vs. Japan final was destiny.
#ASIANCUP2023
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Paulo Bento, Sergio Costa, Filipe Coelho, Vitor Silvestre and Pedro Pereira will leave Korea tonight. No longer our coaches, but forever friends. Thank you. You’ve elevated our standards. The legacy and memories you’ve left will live on. I’ll be supporting you all forever🇰🇷🇵🇹⚽️❤️
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Son Heung-min on Korea’s last-16 opposition at
#AsianCup2023
: “If the aim is to win the tournament, who we face shouldn’t be any issue. We should be ready to face anyone at any stage, and beat them.”
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A human story here as Korea and Iraq will battle in a must-win game to start
#AsianQualifiers
for
#Qatar2022
. The game will be a reunion for Hwang In-beom and Ali Adnan, former teammates at
#VWFC
. A quote from Adnan on his relationship with Hwang from my interview last year.
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Hey, we worry about Australia later. I’m out. I need a smoke break and some nap.
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Park Ji-sung visits his former club Kyoto Sanga, who gave birth to him as a professional footballer in 2000, when they were relegated to the Japanese 2nd division. Two years later, Park led Kyoto back to the J.League and won the Emperor’s Cup in his last game before joining PSV.
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Jo Hyeon-woo on his two penalty saves: “As coach said, we believed. I was confident that I can make stops in the penalties. I trained it a lot and our goalkeeper coach trusted my decisions. That’s how I was able to make those saves.”
#AsianCup2023
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A nightmare of a news from the Korea camp. Goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu has sustained a torn ACL in his right knee in training and will return to Korea in the coming days, according to the KFA.
Lee Kang-in has also sustained a minor knee injury. His availability remains day to day.
Hwang Hee-chan has returned to team training, but is unlikely to be ready for Jordan. Kim Jin-su has started running for the first time in two weeks, and is aiming to be fit by the start of the last-16.
Kim Tae-hwan, Yang Hyun-jun both ruled out of training with muscle fatigue.
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Lee Dong-gook on his goal celebration yesterday: “This is a worldwide issue. I’ve also been a victim when I was playing abroad [in Germany and England]. This is something our children shouldn’t have to deal with, and I wanted to join the efforts by celebrating my goal this way.”
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FT Korea 2-1 Portugal. We never stopped believing. I love you all.
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This legend will make his 100th international appearance for Korea against Brazil next week.
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Five points out of possible nine. Eight goals scored and six goals conceded. Scored first in all three games, but threw away the lead every time. All against Bahrain, Jordan, and Malaysia. Klinsmann said
#AsianCup2023
will be his “benchmark.”
So, what do we do with him, guys?
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It just gets better and better. A nonprofit organization in Korea has failed a lawsuit against KFA president Chung Mong-gyu for coercion, business obstruction, professional malpractice. The case claims that his appointment of Klinsmann has caused harm to the KFA’s operation.
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Colombia’s Edwin Cardona expressing his idiocy with a racist gesture during the game against Korea.
#smh
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I'm neither downplaying the bust-up nor manipulating the narrative, but this isn't the first time this happened. There was a similar altercation in the dressing room at the Asian Games 2018. The Son vs. Minjae saga last year is another example. These guys are human. Shit happens.
The pingpong-gate is hardly a newsworthy story to me. Stupid arguments amongst 26 egotistical men are common. That's my opinion.
Just remember that this is a direct attempt from the KFA to use their own players as a shield to deflect attention from themselves and Klinsmann.
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Cho Gue-sung on his 99th minute equalizer: “Earlier, I thought, ‘This is it,’ when Kangin played the cross, but I hit the crossbar. When Youngwoo played the cross, I knew it was a goal. When I was going into the game, we were already down 1-0, so I had to score at all cost.”
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Before losing 2-1 to Indonesia in U-23 Asian Cup quarter-final, the KFA held a "job interview" with Hwang Sun-hong in Qatar with a plan to make him the manager to lead Korea to World Cup 2026. Internally, the KFA's belief was that Olympic qualification is a foregone conclusion.
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Our exclusive interview with former KFA technical chief Kim Pan-gon, who appointed Paulo Bento and overhauled the culture around the team to help them reach the World Cup last-16. I’ll share more Korea-related quotes that from the Korean version later.
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Guus Hiddink shares a fascinating anecdote on Diego Maradona whilst he was managing Australia.
(Source: Voetbal International)
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Jeong Sang-bin will arrive in Minnesota tomorrow to finalize a deal that will make him a Young Designated Player for
#MNUFC
for the 2023 season. Wolverhampton have agreed to send Jeong, who has been on loan at Grasshoppers, to the MLS club on a permanent deal.
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The last line of this “apology” is an absolute gem: “Please give them a pat on the back, hug them and chant their names at games so that they can overcome their mistakes and become players that we can be proud of.”
They still don’t get it, man… 🫠
Ulsan Hyundai just posted a second apology for the racist incident. The club said they had apologized directly to Sasalak.
#kleague
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Korea’s No. 10 Hwang In-beom, currently playing for military side Asan, will return to his parent club Daejeon immediately thanks to the Asian Games gold medal. He’ll also be joining the senior national team next week to prepare for the friendlies against Costa Rica and Japan.
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Cho Gue-sung: “It’s very disappointing. This tournament made me realize how much I lack as a player. I thought I had prepared well for the tournament, but everything has been a disappointment. It’s not just one area. It’s everything.”
#AsianCup2023
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A friend dropped off my quarantine gear earlier today. Not bad!
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Hwang Hee-chan today on Son's injury: "I was watching the game and saw his injury. I texted him immediately. He replied to me saying that he’s fine. He’s staying positive as he always does. I’ll be waiting for him, thinking that he’ll be going to Qatar with the rest of us."
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Kwon Chang-hoon, Hwang In-beom, Lee Dong-jun, Cho Hyeon-woo and one team staffer have tested positive for COVID-19 at the Korean camp. The rest of the squad will retake the test in an hour, and the decision on whether or not to cancel the Mexico friendly will be made afterwards.
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So much for the KFA creating a "bubble" for the Korean players at their hotel in Austria as they were preparing for Mexico. Their training ground was helplessly vulnerable. Take a look at this stranger running on the track around the pitch whilst Korea were training yesterday.
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Notable Korean footballers who’ve earned their military exemptions thanks to Korea’s 3 successive Asian Cup triumph since 2014:
Son Heung-min
Kim Min-jae
Lee Kang-in
Lee Jae-sung
Hwang Hee-chan
Hwang In-beom
Hwang Ui-jo
Hong Hyun-seok
Jeong Woo-yeong
Kim Jin-su
Park Joo-ho
FT Korea U-24 2-1 Japan U-22. From football standpoint, I’m more impressed by Japan’s display of such a quality performance given the age and experience of their players compared to Korea’s. But hey I guess all is well in Korea if Lee Kang-in doesn’t have to go to the military 🤷🏻♂️
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For someone like me who often lived abroad since a young age, a player like Yoo Sang-chul, who’d score a 90th minute winner with a power header whilst nursing a broken nose, is the reason why I can’t give up on Korean football. Yoo did not lose to cancer. His legacy will live on.
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Korea's run at the
#U20worldcup
is no longer an upset or an underdog story. Since 2009, Korea have made it past the group stage in every
#U20WC
they've played in, went to the quarter-final twice and semi-final twice. Korea have become one of the world's best teams at this level.
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Cho Gue-sung when an Aussie reporter asked if Korea will be looking for a revenge atter losing to the Socceroos in the 2015 final: “I didn’t even play in that game and that was a long time ago.”
#AsianCup2023
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In an exclusive interview with football writer Hong Jae-min, Klinsmann has revealed that even as he was being appointed, the KFA has neither informed him about the military exemption issue tied to the Asian Games, nor the expectation that he should be primarily based in Korea 🫨
I keep reading that Korea’s winless streak will jeopardize Klinsmann’s job in Korea. I disagree. When and if Klinsmann is sacked, it has to be made loud and clear that the reason for the decision is his lack of commitment for the job, which the KFA has to take responsibility for.
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Key detail: The person who revealed to the media what Klinsmann said about the Battle of Pingpong during the meeting is the KFA’s technical chief Hwangbo Kwan. Again, there’s no reason for the KFA to uncharacteristically reveal these details 🙂
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Ex-captain Ki on state of Korean football: "This isn't something you can solve by hiring one person. Everyone in Korean football, on and off the pitch, has to stick together and make an endless effort. We need a long term strategy. If I can help, I'm willing to do anything."
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