International Football
NORTH KOREA BOYCOTTS WOMEN’S OLYMPIC FOOTBALL SOUTH KOREA
BY DUNCAN MACKAY
North Korea are set to announce they will not compete in the third round of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament in South Korea in February – ending their chances of reaching Tokyo 2020.
The tournament, featuring two groups of four, is due to take place on Jeju Island between February 3 and 9.
The top two teams in each group are then scheduled to play each other in a two-legged home-and-away playoff on March 6 and 11, with the winners qualifying for next year’s Olympic Games.
But, according to South Korean agency Yonhap News , North Korea has already notified the AFC that they not will be taking part.
They did not give a reason, Yonhap News reported, but relations between the two countries have deteriorated since the Hanoi Summit in February between North Korean chairman Kim Jong-un and United States President Donald Trump ended without a deal on denuclearisation.
It is not expected that North Korea will be replaced in the tournament.
North Korea were due to face South Korea in Group A, which also includes Vietnam and Myanmar.
North Korea, who played at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games in Beijing and London, were the top-ranked team in Group A with a world ranking of 11.
South Korea have never qualified for an Olympic women’s football tournament and have only beaten their rivals from the North once in 19 meetings.
Four other teams in the third round – Australia, China, Thailand and Chinese Taipei – were drawn into Group B and are scheduled to play their matches in Wuhan in China from February 3 to 9.
North Korea also declined to participate in the women’s tournament East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) E-1 Football Championship earlier this month in Busan.
North Korea had won the three previous EAFF titles but pulled out months before the opening kick-off.
It is less than two years since the two Koreas marched together in the Opening Ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang and took part in a joint women’s ice hockey team – events that heralded hopes of a new reconciliation between the North and South.
Trump’s attempts at diplomacy with Kim, which he has made a centerpiece of his foreign policy efforts, have failed to make much progress after positive early signs following Pyeongchang 2018.
Trump became the first US President to meet with his North Korean counterpart at a summit in Singapore in 2018.
Trump said at the time that the pair had “developed a very special bond” and described Kim as “a very talented man”.
The Hanoi Summit was followed by another historic meeting in June, when Trump took an unprecedented step into North Korea.
Recently, however, relations have shown signs of returning to their pre-Pyeongchang 2018 state and Kim has threatened to lift a self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests and resume launches over Japan in the build up to Tokyo 2020.
The two Koreas remain technically at war, because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.
Earlier this month, hopes for a joint North-South Korean FIFA Women’s World Cup ended after South Korea withdrew its bid for the 2023 event just hours before the deadline.
The Korea Football Association claimed strained inter-Korean relations meant a unified bid was not possible.
–insidethegames
A clash of kit colours caused confusion for players and made it difficult for fans watching on TV to tell the teams apart as World Cup co-hosts, the U.S., were accused of being responsible for a mix-up in a 5-2 friendly defeat by Belgium on Saturday.
Both teams used the match to launch the new kit they will wear at the June 11 to July 19 World Cup, which is also being held in Canada and Mexico.
The U.S. sported a design that pulls directly from the red and white stripes in the American flag, while Belgium wore their away kit, which was light blue with pink accents.
“Sometimes you had to look twice, especially if you wanted to play quickly,” Belgian winger Jeremy Doku told his national television afterwards. “I would have preferred clearer colours.”
American captain Christian Pulisic said it was difficult to deal with.
“A lot of times you get the ball, and you look up, you can’t really lock in on something. You can only base it on the colour of the shirt. That’s how it works,” he told reporters. “And when it’s very similar, it’s difficult.”
Belgian television apologised to viewers after the match, with analyst and former Belgian international Marc Degryse criticising organisers.
“Football is a product that needs to be sold. Everything always has to be better and better, yet they still managed to make the match annoying with the jerseys,” he said.
“This goes completely against the whole commercial aspect. This is really unacceptable.”
US Soccer said pictures of both jerseys were sent to match referees before the match, and at no time did they indicate they felt there was a conflict.
Belgian media said on Sunday the fault lay with the hosts, who insisted on playing in their new red and white jerseys, which clashed with both Belgium’s first-choice red strip and also the lighter away kit.
Both countries wanted to unveil their new jerseys for the first time, but after becoming aware of the situation, Belgium proposed to play in their traditional red, the reports said.
However, that was not an option because the U.S. shirt also contains a lot of red. One solution could have been for the U.S. to play in their dark blue kit, but that did not fit into their commercial plan, the reports added.
-Reuters
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Mexico and Portugal played out a 0-0 draw at the Estadio Azteca on Saturday in a friendly to mark the stadium’s reopening ahead of the World Cup.
The match doubled as a test event for the revamped stadium, drawing a festive crowd eager to sample the atmosphere ahead of the June 11 to July 19 global soccer showpiece, which Mexico is co-hosting with the U.S. and Canada.
“It’s the best possible scenario, as I’ve said; to play here, you’ve got to have guts, because the fans are demanding and want to win and see good football,” Mexico coach Javier Aguirre told reporters.
“The players gave it their all right to the end against Portugal, who are not an easy team. They’re a top-10 side, a really solid team.”
Portugal’s Joao Felix went close in the 14th minute before Goncalo Ramos struck the post midway through the first half.
The visitors continued to look the more dangerous side after the break, with Bruno Fernandes firing just wide.
Tensions briefly flared between Pedro Neto and Jesus Gallardo, while the introduction of Toluca’s Portuguese striker Paulinho was met with loud cheers from the home crowd.
“I think we had 10 shots on goal, which isn’t far off what we were aiming for,” Portugal coach Roberto Martinez said.
“What isn’t good is the number of shots on target; we lacked accuracy.
“Success or failure isn’t just about the score. There are many more factors at play these days. I think that, after 90 minutes, the team is better prepared for the World Cup.”
Mexico almost claimed a late winner through substitute Armando Gonzalez but the forward’s header went wide.
Mexico, who were booed by sections of the crowd at the final whistle, face Belgium in another friendly on Tuesday, while Portugal take on the United States the same day.
-Reuters
Portugal’s Goncalo Ramos in action with Mexico’s Erik Lira REUTERS/Eloisa Sanchez
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Amid the controversy over Senegal being stripped of the Africa Cup of Nations title and Morocco being declared winners, the international debut of Issa Diop on Friday proved something of an irony as well as a public relations coup.
The Fulham defender was born in France and played for the country at the Under-21 level, but on Thursday had his application to switch nationality to Morocco approved by world football’s governing body FIFA and was immediately drafted into the starting line-up for the 1-1 draw against Ecuador in Madrid.
Diop, whose father is Senegalese and mother from Morocco, had previously rejected overtures from both countries to play for them while holding out hope he might represent France.
The 29-year-old said several times he wanted to play for Les Bleus, but with no call-up from France coach Didier Deschamps, he has now taken up the opportunity to possibly play at the World Cup for Morocco.
“I was very happy to play in a team with a lot of good players, and I think I’ve made a good choice,” Diop said after Friday’s match.
Diop had talks with Morocco’s new coach, Mohamed Ouahbi and Moroccan Federation President Faouzi Lekjaa.
“They explained their vision to me, and I was taken in with open arms by a cheerful group of players with a great atmosphere in the camp,” he said.
The North Africans have a track record of assiduously courting players with links to the country who they believe can improve their national team, but this is the first tug-of-war over player loyalty with another African country they have won.
Senegal also draw heavily on their diaspora in France, and the 28-man squad which won the Cup of Nations in Morocco in January featured 12 French-born players.
Senegal this week formally contested the decision of the Confederation of African Football’s Appeal Board to take the title away from them.
They were ruled to have forfeited the final in Rabat on January 18 because they walked off the pitch in protest at a potentially decisive penalty awarded to Morocco, but have now referred the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The posturing between the two countries continued on Friday when Senegal held a press conference ahead of Saturday’s friendly against Peru in front of a banner that read “Champions of Africa”.
They are expected to display the Cup of Nations trophy to supporters ahead of the match at the Stade de France.
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