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Korea's LG pours money into European football

LG Electronics, South Korea’s second-largest electronics maker, is promoting an aggressive premier marketing campaign from mobile phones to LCD TVs in Europe in a way to intensify its brand image. "Sports marketing seems another must-win card for LG to raise its brand recognition in European markets," observed Kim Yoo-chul in The Korean Times. In July, the company signed a three-year shirt sponsorship agreement with English Premier League club Fulham. The move is in line with the company’s continued effort to step up its marketing drive in Britain where LG’s monthly sales had exceeded $100 million last year. "The multi-year sponsorship agreement will offer us an important opportunity to strengthen our premium marketing in Britain," said Na Young-bae, an executive for LG’s British business.

The electronics maker also held the friendly football "LG Amsterdam Tournament" in Ajax stadium, the Netherlands, from 2 August bringing together Ajax from the Netherlands, Arsenal from England, Atletico de Madrid from Spain and Lazio from Italy. LG said the one-time show helped the firm raise its brand image to European football fans.

Ghotbi on Asian Cup and South Korean players

Afshin Ghotbi recently left his position as South Korean assistant coach to take over Iranian club Persepolis. Born in Iran, the 43 year-old left his homeland for America in 1977 and went to the 1998 World Cup with the United States and the 2002 and 2006 World Cups with South Korea. He spoke to John Duerden of goal.com (extracts):

Practical problems of the 2007 Asian Cup:

First of all, you have four different countries, four different kinds of politics and different logistics. There are only 16 teams, it makes no sense to have four teams in each country and then have them travel around in the knockout stage. I can give you some examples – when we arrived at the training ground in Jakarta, the training pitch was worse than any amateur pitch. We went to the stadium before any game had been played and it looked like there had been a full season of games played on it. It was very bumpy with different kinds if grass growing on it, maybe five different kinds. They’ve cut it where one stripe as one height and the next stripe is a different height so television cameras could see different colours and that makes absolutely sense for the players because the ball is changing speeds as it travels through the grass at different levels.

Then we were supposed to have a closed training session but there were a 1,000 people watching. Having four teams in the same hotel makes no sense. Then we traveled to Malaysia and then realized that some of the coaches and staff didn’t have enough rooms. So then they had to move us to a different hotel and a two-hour day turned into a 14 hour day for the coaches and a 12-hour day for the players. With only a three-day break between games, this doesn’t help the players.

Having referees referee us for two or three games creates awkward situations. In the Iran and Korea game, having a referee from UAE, this makes no sense as some Iranian players play there and can speak Arabic, so they can influence. We’re playing Iraq with a Kuwaiti referee. These are recipes for questions.

The AFC has to do a better job of managing these tournaments. The sponsorship was fantastic and they did a great job of finding sponsors but what happened to selling tickets? For a top player playing in an empty stadium, it doesn’t motivate them so much. I think pitch conditions, logistics, empty stadiums and the decisions taken with referees needs to improve. If Asia is to be the future of football then we need to be a lot more responsible. The game against Indonesia was fantastic and we need more of those kinds of games but the semi-final in Malaysia, most of the stadium was empty. If you have the tournament in one country, it’s easier to build energy, if we put the tournament in cities attractive for tourists. Our 3/4 place play-off against Japan in Palembang and with all respect to Palembang it was in the middle of nowhere. The players had to fly from Malaysia to Jakarta and then take another flight to Palembang and then take a bus ride through farmland – it makes no sense.

On the South Korean national team:

I feel we have planted a fantastic foundation for the future of Korean football and 2010. The fruit of what we have done will be seen in 2010. We have introduced players that were unknowns – players like Kim Chi-woo, Kim Jin-kyu, Oh beom-seok and Kang Min-soo were fantastic. Son Dae-ho was introduced and he is not very young but based on his experience, you can see a bright future in international football for him in the next 5-6 years.

The Korean team was a young team and achieved much more than people gave them credit for. They played Japan, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq – the top four teams. We didn’t lose a game. With a little bit more luck, more sharpness and innovation in attack, it was a tournament that we could have won. But for the fans and the media, it is difficult to get excited about a team that scores only three goals in six games … We all wanted to score more goals but the reality is who is scoring goals in the K-League? The reality is which Korean player is consistently scoring goals at the top level? As long as in the K-League the best strikers are foreigners, as long as Korean strikers abroad are sitting on the bench, it’s very difficult to produce top goalscorers for the national team when you are getting two, three day and two-week preparations before major tournaments and try to compete with the best teams in the world and Asia.

Take Shin Young-rok as an example. He’s been a very promising striker since he was 16 and I met him at Suwon. It is very difficult for him to get in the first team. If Suwon really have the player’s greatest interest at heart and the development of Korean football at heeart, they can take some decisions to help him –either give him as many opportunities as possible in the first team or loan or sell him to a different club where he can start. I can understand this, they want to make the deepest squad and win things and they think ‘why should we give a good player away to another team?’

We have to use more innovation and ingenuity in attack. It starts at the youth level and the selection of players that are youthful and creative. It starts with a training environment where they are given chances to take decisions. I have worked in the K-League and they are trained to be mechanical, they are trained not to take risks, not to make decisions, follow orders and that is a reflection of the society. Those are things that Hiddink started talking about in 2001, trying to break down the heirachy in football and the relationship between older players and younger players.

South Koreans regain 'World Cup' fever - for U-17s

World football body FIFA has announced that over 600,000 tickets have already been sold for the U-17 World Cup being played in South Korea during 8 August - 9 September. Local organisers are hoping to beat China’s record total attendance of 735,000 for the competition which was set on its debut as an U-16 tournament in 1985.

KBS contracts South Korean TV rights for Brazil

South Korea's state-owned broadcaster, Korean Broadcasting System, has agreed a deal with the Traffic Sports Marketing and Total Sports Asia agencies for the rights to broadcast all nine of Brazil’s home matches of the 2010 South American World Cup Qualifying Tournament. The matches are held over a period of three years starting with the first match on 17 October 2007. The deal covers all media platforms. “Since we have a plenty of experience airing the Brazil’s qualifying matches for 2006 Germany, we strongly believe that this will be another precious chance to meet the expectations of Korean audience“, said Young Moon Park, Head of Sports Business Team of KBS.

Young Socceroos win Weifang Cup in China

Australia's U-19 Young Socceroos have won the Weifang Cup after recording a 1-0 win over Uzbekistan in their match to finish the tournament one point ahead of hosts China. Australia won four of their five matches winning the tournament ahead of second-placed China with Iran in third position. The only defeat for the Young Socceroos was against China who scored a late winner from the penalty spot. The Australians earlier played South Korea (1-0), Iran (4-1), China (0-1) and Shandong Luneng (5-3).

The tournament is the first international outing for the current generation of Young Socceroos, Luke De Vere, Dane Milovanovic, James Holland, Ante Cicak, Daniel Mullen, James Brown, Richard Greer, Tahj Minniecon (AIS/Queensland Roar), Jerrad Tyson, Bonel Obradovic, Milos Lujic, Sebastian Ryall, Andrew Redmayne (AIS/Central Coast Mariners), Matthew Mullen (AIS/Adelaide United), Alex Sunasky, Matthew Theodore, Isaka Cernak-Okanya, Matthew Jurman, Matthew Harper and Jason Hoffman.

Qualification for the 2009 FIFA World Youth Cup will commence in October with the first stage of qualifying to be followed next year by the AFC U-19 Championship.

Korea's Park-Hong team to maintain Pim's style

Former South Korea coach Pim Verbeek’s four-back defense style is likely to be maintained by the Olympic squad. On 3 August, the Korea Football Association named Park Seong-hwa to head the national football team for the 2008 Summer Olympics and he announced his plan to keep current Olympic team coach Hong Myeong-bo. The Park-Hong team will lead the Olympic team for the qualifiers for the 2008 Beijing Olympics starting 22 August. “Park knows the current Olympic team players well since he headed a national youth team in 2003 and 2005. Some wanted to pick Hong as head, but he had a disadvantage because of the fact that he was expelled from a game against Japan in the Asian Cup. We received a notice from the Asian Football Confederation right before our final decision that Hong may not be allowed to attend games,” the KFA’s technical committee chairman Lee Yeong-moo told Donga.

Vieira quits Iraq, may accept South Korean offer

Iraq coach Jorvan Vieira said he will turn down an extension to his two-month contract because of chronic disorganisation in Iraqi football which he said made the job the most difficult of his career. When Vieira took over just two months before the Asian Cup tournament, the team was in disarray, with poor training facilities, players unavailable and rifts between Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs in the squad. "I took this job because it was a tremendous challenge and I have no regrets at all," he said. "But I can't fight against everybody. I'm looking for a club or a national team with good organisation ... here, I'm doing everybody else's job. If my contract was for six months and not for two they would have had to take me to the hospital for crazy people."

Vieira said steering the unfancied Iraqis to their first Asian Cup final was one of the finest moments of his career. "It was very big for me, one of my greatest achievements. I had a gut feeling inside, a message that I should take this job. It was a fantastic experience, it was a gift from god ... The whole world is talking about us. They are talking about the war in Iraq and they are amazed at what we have done as a team and as a group. This team have become stars in the world and not only because of football. I'm very happy that I had the chance to help this team give hope to the Iraqi people. I'm a very organised and meticulous man. It's difficult to work when you are agitated and things don't go as you wish. I have to fight against everything. I'm so tired, this is not good for my health."

And last night he emerged as favourite to take over the newly vacant post of South Korean coach. "The Korean federation contacted me," he said. "If we can work out terms there is the potential that I can become the Korean coach sometime in the future," he told Martin Petty of the Daily Telegraph.

South Korean players ask Verbeek to reconsider

Members of South Korea's returning Asian Cup squad have urged head coach Pim Verbeek to reconsider his decision to resign , saying he was the right man for the job. "There is no one who knows Korean players as well as Verbeek. The players are even saying we should try and stop him," striker Lee Chun-soo was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency. "People are talking about problems with his tactics but they're the same ones we used when Guus Hiddink was coach. We are the problem, not the coach," Lee, a forward with Ulsan Hyundai, said. "Verbeek's tactics and training methods are good. This is not just the coach's responsibility. Rather, it's ours," Striker Lee Keun-ho added. South Korea went into the tournament as one of the favourites but finished second in their group behind Saudi Arabia and lost to eventual champion Iraq on penalties in the semi-finals.

South Korean coach resigns after winning 3/4 Final

South Korea is looking for a new coach following the resignation of Dutchman Pim Verbeek after Saturday's Asian Cup 3rd/4th place playoff against Japan. A spokesman for the Korean Football Association told Reuters that officials were already discussing a possible successor but had not yet made a decision. Verbeek announced his resignation at a news conference in Palembang after South Korea had beaten Japan 6-5 on penalties after the match ended goalless. The victory assured South Korea an automatic place in the AFC Asian Cup 2011 to be held in Qatar.

"I have decided to resign ... It's time for a new challenge," Verbeek said. "I have asked the KFA before today's match to terminate my contract which was for 2008 and they agreed with that."

Saudi Arabia buying support at Asian Cup final

Saudi Arabia has reportedly booked 15,000 tickets for its supporters to attend its Asian Cup final against Iraq in Jakarta on Sunday night. On Friday the Indonesian organising committee of the event confirmed that the Saudi team's management had booked 15,000 tickets costing Rp 50,000 each. Besides this, 10,000 more tickets priced at Rp 100,000 each were also reported to have been booked by World Sport Group, an intimate marketing associate of the Asian Football Confederation.

Indonesian newspapers earlier reported that only about 2,000 tickets had been sold for the match, which will be held at the 88,000 capacity Gelora Bung Karno Stadium and Antara news agency surmised the ticket purchases were made to ensure a fitting finale for Asia's premier football tournament.

The Indonesian organising committee had hoped the final would have been between Japan and South Korea as both countries have a sizeable number of their citizens in Jakarta and had subsequently and unsuccessfully tried to convince the AFC to transfer the 3/4 final between the two nations from provincial Palembang to Jakarta as a curtain-raiser for the main event.

Sth Korea regroups for 'terrible' final against Japan

South Korea's coach Pim Verbeek said his team has regrouped for Saturday's play-off against Japan for third place at the Asian Cup. "We will not give up because Korean footballers never give up. We will go for the third and fourth place match. I think it's the most terrible game there is in football, but we will go for it and we will be ready again Saturday," he told Robert Smith of AFP. "If the Korean fans think we didn't play a good tournament then the fans have to think very deeply about having a real vision of international football. I think a lot of countries would be very proud if their teams got through to the semi-final and fought until the last seconds and two times in extra-time for 120 minutes. I would be proud if I was a fan of Korean football. We were not outplayed once in this tournament, we were fighting like hell to get the good result, if people think it is not enough, then it's okay. I have no problem with that, I think it's a problem for the Korean people, not my problem."

Reading signs three South Koreans for Academy

English Premier League club Reading has reportedly reached agreement with the Korean Football Association to accomodate three South Korean youth internationals, strikers Nam Tae Hee and Ji Dong Won and midfielder Kim Won Sik, at the Royals' Academy for a season. South Korea winger Seol Ki-Hyeon is a star player at Reading, which played in the Peace Cup in Seoul earlier this month and Reading Academy chief Eamonn Dolan said this has given the club "a strong presence in South Korea."

Indonesians hope for Japan v South Korea Cup Final

Asian Cup host Indonesia wants to see South Korea and Japan contest the final in Jakarta, believing the match-up will attract the most supporters to its 88,000 capacity Gelora Bung Karno stadium. Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) General Secretary Nugraha Besoes said he expected Korean and Japanese factory owners in Indonesia would buy tickets for their workers if the sides win their semi-final matches on Wednesday and progress to Sunday's final. "Among the Asian nations, Japan and Korea are the most crazy about football. I am sure they would bring out the masses," he said as reported by AP.

Koreans have "great affinity" to Bolton Wanderers

English Premier League club Bolton Wanderers reached the final of the church-backed Peace Cup in South Korea on Saturday only to be beaten by French club Lyon. However manager Sammy Lee was pleased with his preparations during the 14 day trip to East Asia. "It has been a gruelling trip but the lads have coped well during the heat and humidity. The Koreans were most hospital able throughout our stay. It was a well organised competition featuring some best teams in the world and nit was a great honour to be part of the Peace Cup ... The Koreans love their football and they have shown a great affinity to Bolton Wanderers and the Premier league. This is an area we would love to tap into and we are looking at ways of increasing our awareness going forward in this part of the world," he told the club's website.

Iranians lose 2-3 to South Korea on penalties

South Korea beat Iran 4-2 on penalties after a gruelling 0-0 draw in humid conditions to reach the Asian Cup semi-finals. Kim Jung-woo scored the winning penalty to send the inexperienced Koreans through to a last-four clash against Iraq on Wednesday in Kuala Lumpur. Iran captain Mehdi Mahdavikia and Rassoul Khatibi missed their spot-kicks and only Kim Do-heon failed for the Koreans. Ferydoon Zandi and Reza Eneyati converted for Iran and South Korea got their other penalties from Lee Chun-soo, Kim Sang-sik and Cho Jae-jin. Iran, which practised penalty kicks in training, used substitute goalkeeper Vahid Taliblou for the shootout, replacing Hassan Roudbarian in the 119th-minute.

Global Brand Man Utd focuses on Asia and Africa

"This is Manchester United's first visit to Korea - and I am sure we will be coming back," Sir Alex Ferguson, manager of the English Premier League club said after his Red Devils beat K-League club FC Seoul 4-0 in a friendly. "The reception we have received here has been absolutely excellent. Everything about the trip has been first class. I used to think when we went to Thailand it was almost impossible because we had thousands inside and outside the hotel all night. We have experienced the same thing here. It doesn't surprise me. It is just one of these phenomenons we can create in certain parts of the world, " he said as quoted by PA.

"We consider ourselves a major global brand," said Ferguson."The club is prepared to travel anywhere to promote its image and the game. Even North Korea would not be a problem for us, should the right conditions apply. I understand from a survey that was carried out recently that we have an enormous number of fans in Vietnam, so maybe that is somewhere that we might look to visit in the future. It just seems like the whole of the Far East has a lot of respect and affection for our club and we have to serve that as best we can."

Man United Chief Executive David Gill said that South Korea midfield player Park Ji Sung is part of the United phenomenon, but it is not unique to South Korea. Of the 75 million United fans worldwide, 40.7 million are in Asia and only 4.6 million in “the Americas”. The Asian fans are also willing “customers”, through the traditional merchandising routes and the club’s media outlets. And with a huge following in Asia and Africa, Gill admitted that the club's future touring plans will revolve around the Asian and African markets."Chelsea over the last few years have been having a great time in America, which is fine, but we do what's right for us and we're comfortable with the opportunities with our history, our ground, our heritage, the way we play football. Those are key assets," he said.

“We had a good tour in America in 2003. Clearly there were a few issues in 2004, when we didn’t have a full squad there. I’m sure we will go to America again, whether that’s at the end of the season or a pre-season.Obviously, with having American owners, it makes sense to go there at some stage. But they wouldn’t insist that we go there. They would look at it from a team perspective, a commercial perspective and an overall club perspective. Looking at all those issues, it made sense for us to come here. Is America ever going to be as passionate as the Asian market? I wouldn't have thought so. You see what the following is like over here and you see all the coverage and the amazing support we have. There is huge interest in Premier League football and Manchester United in particular.

"Where next? I think Africa is an interesting one. There's clearly a great following for the Premier League in Africa and we are going back to South Africa next year.There may be issues in certain countries, but nonetheless, there's a lot of money in Nigeria for example.There is a huge following for English football in Nigeria and, as more and more African players come to the Premier League, you can see that getting greater," he said.

United play the third game of the tour when they face Shenzhen FC in Macau on Monday. The team then moves on to southern China for a clash with Guangzhou Pharmaceutical on Friday before returning to England.

South Korea tight 1-0 win over attacking Indonesia

South Korea scraped into the Asian Cup quarter-finals with a nervous 1-0 win over gallant Indonesia in their final Group D game played before 88,000 emotional Indonesian fans at their National Stadium in Jakarta. Kim Jung-woo scored the priceless goal for Korea in the 34th minute, but they were made to sweat in a torrid second half as Indonesia threw everything into attack, leaving gaps at the back for Korea to exploit, but neither team were able to find the net.

Vietnamese ignore politics to get to Bangkok game

The number of Vietnamese booking tours to Thailand to attend the quarter-finals match between the national squad and the Iraqi team has been increasing, despite worries about political uncertainty in Thailand. Saigontourist told VietNamNet Bridge that more than 200 clients had booked tours to Thailand to watch the football match. They will arrive in Bangkok on the afternoon of 21 July and then go directly to San Rajamangala stadium in time for the game at 6.20 pm. They will return to Vietnam on the same night. The fee for the quick tour is offered at US$ 350/traveler. Many young people have organised cheaper trips by bus, car and train. One route is to take a bus to Phnom Penh, go through the Poipet/Aranyaprathet border gate, and then take a train to Bangkok.

South Korea never 'tyred' of Manchester United

South Korea's Kumho Tire has signed a sponsorship deal with English Premier League club Manchester United. The four-year deal, settled for an undisclosed sum, will see Kumho obtain the rights to include the football team’s logo and images of the players in its advertisements. Kumho CEO Oh Se-chul told Tire Review his company expects the sponsorship agreement will help promote its international image. The tyremaker is already sponsor of Man United's friendly at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on 20 July, one of the club's three commercial promotions in North East Asia during the playing of the AFC Asian Cup in South Easr Asia.

Saudi Arabia and Japan 'black out' for 1-1 draw

A controversial penalty earned Saudi Arabia a a 1-1 draw with South Korea in the teams' opening game in Group D of the AFC Asian Cup 2007 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Choi Sung-kuk had given Korea the lead midway through the second half but Saudi Arabia equalised from the spot through Yasser Al Qahtani after a soft penalty award by Australian referee Mark Shield. The game was held up for 25 minutes after a power failure plunged half the ground into darkness with just five minutes to play.