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Category Archives: Sport

KFA 75th Birthday – Top 5 People in Korean Football History

19-Nov-08

KFA 75th Birthday – Top 5 People in Korean Football History

By Aashish Gadhvi All together now... Happy Birthday to you! The Korea Football Association is officially 75 years old, and unlike many 75 year olds, they are just getting going in making Korean football a worldwide force to be recognised as one of the premiere football forces in Asia. It's been a long time coming for Korean football, which boasts a prestigious history and the most successful record of any other Asian footballing nation. Here's to another 75 more! To commemorate this occasion, I have compiled two lists for the ages. The first one being a list of the top 5 most important people in Korean football history, and the second a list of the top 5 most successful moments. Here ...
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Korea at the 2008 Beijing Olympics

05-Sep-08

Korea at the 2008 Beijing Olympics

by Aashish Gadhvi The Beijing Olympics was a fortnight of sporting gold, a plethora of the world’s top athletes going head to head in the greatest show on Earth. This year's Olympics was always going to be major headlines, not just for the sports but also for the tirade of anti-Chinese media which preceded it (Tibet, Pollution, Human Rights, blah blah). But forget all that for now, we’re here to talk about the Korean campaign, which in its own way, got off to a pretty controversial start. First came the news that the North and South Koreans were not going to walk together under a united Korean flag at the opening ceremony, something which they had done previously. Different issues resulted in ...
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Olympics opening ceremony

19-Aug-08
For sports fans, admirers of spectacle and connoisseurs of lipsynching techniques, the footage of the Olympics opening ceremony has been released on DVD. I didn't see the ceremony, but can imagine that aspects of it must be rather like Pyongyang's mass games. Related posts:IBK celebrates London Branch opening Industrial Bank of Korea celebrated the opening of its London...Delay in opening up Korean legal market As was inevitable, the collapse of the Doha round of...“Experience” the mass games without leaving London Andreas Gursky: new work [1] White Cube Gallery, 23... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
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New Kim on the block

17-Jun-08

New Kim on the block

Aashish Gadhvi introduces Kim Do-Heon, the new Korean star in the Premier League. After an impressive season, West Bromich Albion were great contenders to be beamed up Star Trek style to the Premiership, and by the end of the year they were crowned champions of a very tight, highly competitive Coca-Cola Football League. Whatever can be said about the quality of football in the league, the Championship is one of the tightest leagues around, and any one of four or five teams could have won been crowned top dogs. Make no mistake, West Brom thoroughly deserve to be in the best league in the world. West Brom’s promotion to the Premier League next season also sees the introduction of Kim Do-Heon, ...
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The Return of the King

03-May-08

The Return of the King

Aashish Gadhvi deconstructs the return of Park Ji-sung In case you don’t know, my birthday’s coming up, and what I want is a Man United shirt, with printed number 13, ‘J.S. Park’ on the back. The reason I ask is because the damn shirt doesn’t even exist in Manchester United’s Megastore in Old Trafford. Upon visiting the store I noticed shirts with Rooney, Ronaldo, Nani, Tevez and Giggs, but not one sign of my Korean hero. Surely, if anywhere there was to be merchandise of Park it would be in United’s own Megastore? Apparently not, as I wondered around and the absence of Park merchandise became more and more apparent. I had taken my photo with the giant United team photo at ...
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Koreans and Handball

27-Dec-07
A message recently received from a visitor to this site. Do Koreans in London play Handball or want to play? Thames Handball in Kingston upon Thames need players of all standards- men and women or children. see website http://www.thameshandball.com Also NEW The South Korean movie, "The Best Moment of Our Lives," will be released in South Korean theaters late 2007 / early 2008 and a promotional preview is now available for viewing online. http://www.veoh.com/videos/v1437437MYtc95T7 The movie revolves around the 2004 South Korean Olympic Team which lost to Denmark in the Gold medal final in Athens. The match was notable for going through 2 overtimes before being settled in a penalty shoot-out. The preview mixes scenes from the Gold medal match with training and preparation for the Olympics. ...
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Korean football in crisis?

16-Dec-07

Korean football in crisis?

Aashish Gadhvi has some issues to get off his chest about the state of Korean football. Its time to face facts, people. The golden generation is finished. The players are all overpaid, high-ego celebrities with more money than talent. The fans don't get behind the team and no manager in their right mind would take the vacant position. Now enough about England, let's talk about Korea. Over the past few days both Mick McCarthy (above left) and Gerrard Houllier (above right) have turned down the vacant managerial position of the South Korean national team, and this has led to the Korean team being something of a joke amongst factions of the English media. They claim that the Korean national team is a ...
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Where next for Samsung and Chelsea?

04-Oct-07
The departure of Jose Mourinho from Chelsea is not good news from the perspective of Samsung's multi-million, multi-year sponsorship deal (which still has a couple of years to run). I don't pretend to be able to judge Avram Grant's ability to keep the team's performance up -- though an obvious comment would be that the abrupt change at the top could have an unsettling effect on the players. Clearly Samsung gets better value for money the better the team's performance in the league and competitions, but a team's fortunes come and go. Mourinho's departure brings to an end any hope of a repeat performance of a rather serendipitous sponsorship arrangement, whereby a year or so ago Mourinho could be seen on countless ...
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Korea and the Asian Cup 2007 - A Bittersweet Life

27-Aug-07

Korea and the Asian Cup 2007 - A Bittersweet Life

Aashish Gadhvi analyses the performance of the Red Devils in the recent Asian Cup The 2007 AFC Asian Cup passed under the eyes of the world's media almost unnoticed, probably down to David Beckham's summer transfer to LA Galaxy. Barring the sensational victory by Iraq, which made headline news, the tournament was hard to track down without the aid of the internet on this side of the globe. Neverthless, some hardcore Asian football fans, such as myself, were following it from day one, and it has to be said, this was one of the most exciting Asian Cups in recent memory. Then again, for those in the know, Asian football is always exciting! The Korean Campaign Korea had an indifferent run leading up ...
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PyeongChang beaten fair and square?

12-Jul-07
So Korea is not to host the 2014 winter games. Beaten by Sochi in Russia. Cynics will say that the real winners from PyeongChang's energetic campaign were CNN, who gave PyeongChang's campaign global reach by screening the commercials (HT to Tom Coyner). Despite the optimism (above), did Korea ever have a hope? A cutting article in the Asia Times says no. According to James Card there were a number of holes in PyeongChang's arguments. Chief among them were lack of snow lack of apres-ski lack of decent ski runs and the list goes on. Never having been there I can't comment (though one day a visit to the Great Mountains Music Festival could be on the cards). But it's puzzling that the article seems to ...
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Support the SlowPokes

27-Jun-07
An enthusiastic team from the Korean embassy will be competing in the Standard Chartered Great City Race on 19 July. Calling themselves the Slowpokes, the all-female team are aiming to complete the arduous 5km road race in record time thanks to their kimchi-rich diet. They are also aiming to raise £2,500 for the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Charity. So visit their fundraising website and make your online pledge now. Links: The Slowpokes' fundraising page News item on the Korean Embassy website Korean Embassy home page Map of the race Related posts:Come & support the SamulNori stars of tomorrow. Or at least come and have a laugh at your...July events Here’s what I know about: Visual Arts The big news...Your input is valued Towards the end of last year ...
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South Korea 1, Greece 0

07-Feb-07
It was a lacklustre first half, in which neither side looked like scoring. Greece were the more impressive side, but that was not saying much. They were first division, Korea were second division, and we were all expecting a bit of premiership sparkle. Fortunately, though, the half slipped by very quickly. As I had been expecting, there was more entertainment to be had off the pitch than on it. The Red Devil fans were hysterically enthusiastic. Every time the ball entered the Greek half, or when Park Ji-sung got anywhere near it, the volume increased. Behind me was a couple of Korean girls who, when they become ajummas, will make very fine fishwives. With vocal chords of something stronger than steel, ...
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Next week’s football

30-Jan-07
Next week's friendly between Korea and Greece will be my first ever football match, would you believe. I know many of the Korean supporters will be behind the goal at the Putney end, but I'd rather get a better overview of the game and sit as near the half way mark as I can, and as close to the touch-line as possible. I'll be buying my tickets on Thursday. Anyone want to form a small LKL contingent? Let me know by end of day tomorrow, Wednesday. 대한 민국 ! Related posts:Traditional Korean dance at Asia House next week Details below: DANCE PERFORMANCE An Enchanting Evening of Korean Traditional...Think Korea 2006 draws to a close - with some free tickets The closing ...
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South Korea meets Greece in Fulham

17-Jan-07
Come and support the Red Devils in a friendly against Greece at Craven Cottage on February 6th. Judging by the seating plan, they're expecting more Korean fans than Greek. 대한 민국 ! Links: Fulham FC website Team profile during 2006 World Cup (CNN) Related posts:South Korea 1, Greece 0 It was a lacklustre first half, in which neither...Watch all the South Korean footie matches for free I just received this from Hyun-ho. Sounds like fun. I...Next week’s football Next week’s friendly between Korea and Greece will be my... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
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The London Korean Links Awards 2006

31-Dec-06

The London Korean Links Awards 2006

In the year-end spirit of reviewing the highlights and lowlights of 2006, here are the winners of the first LKL Awards - a personal and unscientific selection. The awards are in the following categories: Man of the Year Woman of the Year Best cultural promotion: Briton in Korea Best cultural promotion: Korean in Britain Best cultural promotion: Non-Korean in Britain Best photo Best album Best book Best film London event of the year Headline of the year and some miscellaneous awards... Man of the Year I don't think there's any competition. Rain, Rain, Rain. Time's most influential entertainer, Seoul's tourism goodwill ambassador, a starring role in Park Chan-wook's latest film, a sell-out concert in New York, a Christmas eve gig in Las Vegas, a good selling album (below). What have I missed? He hasn't ...
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The financial pulling power of Korea’s soccer stars

30-Nov-06
Readers may recall that during this year's World Cup I spotted a couple of news items reporting how Korean banks were using football to get in new business. But it's not just the national team which pulls in the financial punters. Park Ji-sung, the sportsman with the biggest brand power in Korea, has been used to launch a Man Utd branded credit card issued by Shinhan Bank. The Chosun reports that according to a Shinhan official, an incredible 600,000 cards have been issued in Korea since its launch in February this year. What's even more incredible is that, according to the Chosun, overall there are 60 million Man Utd credit cards in issue globally. That's a lot of fees the club will ...
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New Malden’s role in Reading’s success

22-Oct-06
From the FT on 13 October Reading fly high on the wings of Seol By Jonathan Wilson As explanations for a good start to the season go, the fact that your ground is less than an hour's drive from New Malden rarely features. There can be little doubt, though, that the main reason Reading approach Saturday afternoon's game against Chelsea sitting a happy seventh in the table is the form of Seol Ki-Hyeon, and the winger has made it clear that his adjustment to life in the Premiership has been helped by the large South Korean community in south-west London. "You can get whatever you need for cooking there," he said. "If I go for a haircut they don't charge me, or if I order ...
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Samsung chief visits his favourite football club

06-Oct-06
The boss was over from Korea, so there was a Samsung management team outing to see Chelsea draw 1-1 with Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge last Saturday, according to the JoongAng Daily. Lee Kun-hee used the occasion to compare a successful business with a successful football club. "The premier league is where the best athletes in the world play and is the competition stage for creative players. Companies should also apply creative management styles," he said. "Above all, it is important to acquire and cultivate excellent talent." Careful not to mention the backhanders which are allegedly an integral part of the player acquisition process in the premier league ((and which, according to Transparency International, are a feature, albeit declining, in the Korean business ...
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The picture that says it all

27-Jun-06
A South Korean soccer fan protests against what he considers to be the referee's unfair judgment after South Korea's national soccer team lost to Switzerland in their World Cup Group G match as they watched the match on a screen in Seoul, Saturday, June 24, 2006. Switzerland defeated South Korea 2-0. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon). It's a great picture, and regardless of any refereeing decision it sums up the feeling of let-down after the earlier euphoria. Now it's all over, here are a few links: Two stories from the BBC on Korean world cup fandom: the high initial expectation and the girl who had mum send her hanbok over for the occasion. Independent observers, while enjoying the general enthusiasm of Red Devil fandom had ...
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대한 민국 !

23-Jun-06
대한 민국 ! 대한 민국 ! I give in. Good luck against Switzerland. No related posts.
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Park’s equalizer costs Woori Bank millions

20-Jun-06
I'm still running this as a business story. It's a follow up to my post a few days ago. The Korea Times today provides more detail on banks' exposures to the world cup. As well as Hana Bank's Red Devil Reserve Account, Woori Bank has opened 19,000 "I Love Park Ji-sung" time deposits. Every goal scored by Park increases the interest rate by 20 basis points. Korea Exchange Bank has also launched similar products. A Woori spokesperson said: A goal from Park costs us millions of won, but that doesn't matter. We drew many more customers by selling the product. The full story is here. Related posts:Foreign bank first half results Korea’s foreign banks had a rosier first half of 2006,...Why Koreans have ...
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Korean banks gamble on world cup results

12-Jun-06
I know I promised that this site would be a world cup free zone. So I claim that this is a business story, not a sport story. Tom Coyner's excellent Korean Economic Reader service sent me the following editorial from the Korea Herald a couple of days ago. As it was a sports story I almost deleted it, but then I saw the final paragraph. Related posts:Chaebols owning banks: should we be concerned? One of the ideas to surface in the run-up to...Park’s equalizer costs Woori Bank millions I’m still running this as a business story. It’s a...The financial pulling power of Korea’s soccer stars Readers may recall that during this year’s World Cup I... Related posts brought to you by Yet ...
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Watch all the South Korean footie matches for free

04-Jun-06
I just received this from Hyun-ho. Sounds like fun. I promise I won't post anything more about the World Cup or I'll be breaking my pledge to you. Watch all SOUTH KOREA World Cup Matches LIVE for FREE at this big London venue. This venue can take 1000 Korean fans so invite all your friends. Watch all World Cup matches on the biggest screens in the country. There will be bars and food stalls and the best atmosphere anywhere for watching live football. 8 minutes walk from Liverpool Street station. The Truman Brewery, next to the Vibe Bar 91-95 Brick Lane, E1 6QL No booking required. FREE on the door. Location map courtesy of Streetmap.com Related posts:South Korea meets Greece in Fulham Come and support the Red Devils in a ...
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Football fever grips Seoul

24-May-06
An image from the BBC's website (above) and one from the Chosun (below). Related posts:Seoul the most expensive city after Moscow A story from the Chosun from a few weeks ago....The Seoul Magazine photo challenge One of my minor complaints with Seoul Magazine is their...A seriously cool thing about Seoul Having made a couple of recent posts about how expensive... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
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Wake Up for the World Cup

19-May-06
Good luck to the Red Devils as they prepare for football's ultimate tournament. May their metatarsals remain intact. To cheer them on their way, ZiNi has written a theme song. Just go to ZiNi's blog to hear it. The song's title, Wake up for the World Cup, reflects the fact that because of the time difference with Korea many of the games will be screened in the early hours of the morning. Related posts:Korean banks gamble on world cup results I know I promised that this site would be a...Of The Outer World at I-MYU Of The Outer World 10 — 29 April 2008 Zadok...Banish your Monday blues Two little items to brighten your Monday. First, if ever... Related posts brought to ...
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