South Korean Defender Wants to Join Galaxy
South Korea’s World Cup captain, defender Hong Myung-Bo, has said that he wants to join the Galaxy “as soon as possible,” despite the fact that his contract with the Pohang Steelers of the Korean league runs through the end of 2003.
Major League Soccer and Galaxy officials will meet with their K-League and Steeler counterparts in South Korea this week in an effort to bring Hong, 34, to MLS, if not this season then next year, when the Galaxy moves from the Rose Bowl to its new stadium in Carson.
“This is the most crucial moment in my football life,” Hong recently told Radio Korea in Los Angeles. “Personally, how much money I’m going to receive is not a big matter.
“I want to remain in club football, while learning English to build my career as a coach in the future. At this point, MLS is one such solution.
“I want to join the Galaxy as soon as possible, if I can.”
Hiddink’s Return
Guus Hiddink, the Dutch coach who led South Korea to the World Cup semifinals, will return to Seoul on Sept. 4 to sign an agreement as national team advisor, the Korea Football Assn. said Sunday.
While in Seoul, Hiddink will attend the match between South Korea and North Korea on Sept. 7, the first game between the two countries since 1993.
Korea’s Turkish Gain
The soccer ties between South Korea and Turkey that first surfaced during the World Cup have been further strengthened by the appointment of former Turkey national team coach Tinaz Tirpan as coach of Bucheon in the K-League.
Tirpan, 61, will earn a reported $20,000 per month.
Bucheon also has reached an agreement with the Turkish club Genclerbirligi under which 25 young Korean players with potential will train in Ankara, Turkey. More than 500 have asked to be considered.
Libyan Adventure
Italian champion Juventus won the Italian Super Cup by beating Parma, 2-1, in an unusual locale Sunday--the match being played in Tripoli, Libya.
Goals by Italy national team striker Alessandro Del Piero in the 37th and 74th minutes were enough to earn Juventus the victory, although Parma’s Marco Di Vaio did tie the score briefly with a 64th-minute goal.
More than 45,000 fans turned out at the June 11 Stadium and included Joseph “Sepp” Blatter, FIFA’s president, and Al-Saadi Gadhafi, the son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.
Deportivo Claims Cup
Deportivo Coruna won the Spanish Super Cup on Sunday by defeating Valencia, 1-0, in Valencia on a 90th-minute goal by midfielder Victor to complete a two-game series sweep of last season’s Spanish league champions.
Deportivo, winner of the Spanish Cup last season, won the first game at home, 3-0.
Valencia played most of the game with only 10 men after Argentine defender Roberto Ayala was ejected for elbowing Deportivo’s Dutch striker, Roy Makaay, in the third minute.
The game is the traditional curtain-raiser to the Spanish season, which begins Saturday.
Bagheri Heads Home
Iran national team striker Karim Bagheri has signed a one-year contract with Iranian league champion Pirouzi, after spending the last two seasons with clubs in Qatar and England, respectively.
Friedel, Keller Shine
American World Cup goalkeepers Brad Friedel and Kasey Keller both earned shutouts over the weekend for their respective English Premier League teams.
Friedel, who a week earlier had blanked Claudio Reyna’s Sunderland, this time held Birmingham scoreless, making key saves against former MLS leading scorer Stern John. Trinidad and Tobago’s Dwight Yorke scored the lone goal in a 1-0 Blackburn victory.
Keller, meanwhile, made his second consecutive start for Tottenham Hotspur, where he had been benched much of last season, and shut out Aston Villa, 1-0.
Asprilla Sets Sights Low
Colombian striker Faustino “Tino” Asprilla, a World Cup player in 1994 and 1998, has agreed to join Darlington of the English third division, the lowest of England’s four professional divisions.
Asprilla, 32, whose former clubs include Newcastle United in England, Parma in Italy and Palmeiras and Fluminense in Brazil, said he was doing so out of friendship for Darlington’s chairman, George Reynolds.
“I want to work with the team and help them win promotion,” he said. “I’ve kept good links with England. I have good friends there and it would be great to play again in the Premier League.”
Asprilla apparently is hoping to catch the eye of nearby Newcastle, the team he joined from Parma for $11.4 million in 1996.
USA Falls to Brazil
The U.S. under-20 national team was edged, 2-1, by Brazil in its opening game of the XIX Torneo Internacional de Futbol de l’Alcudia in Valencia, Spain. Midfielder David Johnson of Venice scored for the Americans, who play Italy today and Ukraine on Tuesday in the same tournament.
Women’s Roster Named
Coach April Heinrichs selected 24 players for the U.S. women’s national team that will play Scotland in Columbus, Ohio, on Sept. 7.
Among those named was goalkeeper Siri Mullinix, who has not played for the U.S. in more than a year, and defender Christie Pearce, who is coming off surgery last year to repair torn knee ligaments. Both players were silver medal winners at the Sydney 200 Olympic Games.
The full roster:
Goalkeepers: Mullinix, Hope Solo and Briana Scurry.
Defenders: Pearce, LaKeysia Beene, Jenny Benson, Thori Bryan, Brandi Chastain, Jena Kleugel, Heather Mills, Nandi Pryce, Danielle Slayton and Kate Sobrero.
Midfielders: Lorrie Fair, Julie Foudy, Angela Hucles, Kristine Lilly, Tiffany Roberts and Stacey Tullock.
Forwards: Danielle Fotopoulos, Mia Hamm, Shannon MacMillan, Cindy Parlow and Abby Wambach.
New Zealand Invited
The Asian Football Confederation has proposed that the winner of the soccer tournament at the Sept. 27-Oct. 13 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea, play Oceania Football Confederation champion New Zealand in 2003.
If the proposed match goes ahead, it would be the second AFC/OFC Challenge Cup. Japan won the first, defeating Australia, 3-0, in 2001.
Beckenbauer Blasted
Franz Beckenbauer’s criticism of former Bayern Munich and German national team midfielder Stefan Effenberg was met by a stinging response from the player Sunday.
Beckenbauer had suggested in print that Effenberg appeared so out of shape when playing for his new club, VfL Wolfsburg, on Saturday that his puffed cheeks made him look like “an angel blowing a horn.”
Effenberg was not amused.
“I haven’t been taking seriously his remarks or commentaries for the last two years,” Effenberg said. “He is always blabbing away in the media. If it makes him feel good, then let him keep going. But he should know that he’s going to run into some resistance from me.”
MetroStars Prevail
Clint Mathis scored his first goal since the World Cup, connecting on a pass from Rodrigo Faria in the first minute of injury time to lead the MetroStars past D.C. United, 1-0, Sunday at East Rutherford, N.J.
Mathis, whose only other MLS goals this year were against New England on March 23 and San Jose on April 27, had not scored since spraining and tearing the meniscus in his right knee on July 6 against Columbus.
Heralded as a potential star before the World Cup, Mathis’ condition was criticized by U.S. Coach Bruce Arena. Mathis scored one goal during the tournament, giving the Americans a 1-1 tie against South Korea in the first round.
The MetroStars (10-11-2) stopped a three-game losing streak and moved within two points of Chicago and Columbus (10-10-4), tied for first in the Eastern Conference standings.
United (6-12-5) had its best opportunity to score off a header by Eddie Pope in the 58th minute. But goalkeeper Tim Howard stopped the shot for his fourth shutout of the season.
