National team gearing up for final Asian qualifying round The 2014 World Cup still seems a long way away, but the South Korean national football team is already gearing up for the final Asian qualifying round. Korea, aiming to qualify for its eighth consecutive appearance in the world’s most prestigious football event, is grouped with Kuwait, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates in Asian qualif...

Korea tied Poland 2-2 in an international friendly match held at Seoul World Cup Stadium on Friday, ahead of its World Cup qualifier against UAE next week.

“Lee has been in great form of late. He will show younger players how to play and his presence and attitude will help boost the morale of the team.” Cho also said he will try to test as many players as he can against Poland so that he will have a better idea of who will start the qualifier against the UAE. There are five groups of four teams in the third round. Teams play each other twice until...

It is true to say that in soccer, the strikers are the ones who get the goals and get the headlines. Goalkeepers can play fantastically well for a full 89 minutes but one mistake at the end and all know what the Internet and newspapers will focus on. Of the local stars who score the goals in the local league, much attention is currently coming the way of Lee Dong-gook, one of the biggest names o...

Red Devils break long-held mark for home wins LONDON (AP) ― Manchester United broke a century-old club record by winning its 19th straight league home game, 2-0 over Norwich, and Manchester City moved on from the turmoil of Carlos Tevez’s apparent refusal to play with a resounding 4-0 victory at Blackburn on Saturday. Anderson put United ahead in the 68th at Old Trafford, and Danny Welbeck clin...

Lionel Messi moved into a tie for second place on Barcelona’s career scoring list, getting a goal in each half Wednesday night to lead the defending champions to a 5-0 victory at BATE Borisov of Belarus in the European Champions League. Messi scored in the 38th and 55th minutes to give him 14 goals in 10 games this season and 194 in his career, matching Laszlo Kubala. Just 24, Messi is closing i...

When coaches talk to the media between the first and second legs of knockout competitions, the clich used is used by both those who won as well as lost. “It is only halftime in this tie,” goes the refrain, which continues, “And there is still a lot of soccer to be played.” It is a big week for Korean soccer in the Asian Champions League with all three clubs in the quarterfinal of the competition...

BARCELONA (AP) ― Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo each scored his second hat trick of the season, leading Barcelona and Real Madrid to victories in the Spanish league on Saturday night following draws in midweek. Messi scored on brilliant individual moves in the 26th and 78th minutes, and added a goal in second-half stoppage time, leading Barcelona over visiting Atletico Madrid 5-0. Messi also...

VALENCIA, Spain (AP) ― Cesc Fabregas scored for the fourth straight league game to salvage a 2-2 draw for Barcelona at Valencia as the defending champions avoided defeat on a night when top rival Real Madrid had a 0-0 draw at Racing Santander. Lionel Messi continued his prolific partnership with the former Arsenal player by setting him up for the 77th-minute equalizer as the Catalans twice ralli...