Three abducted South Koreans have been released three weeks after being abducted by an unidentified armed group in Nigeria, the foreign ministry in Seoul said Saturday.
Flying Eagles head coach, Ladan Bosso has reacted to his team’s ouster at the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Argentina.
According to Bosso, the Flying Eagles lost due to poor finishing.
The Nigerian boys lost 1-0 to the Taeguk Warriors of South Korea in their quarter-final clash on Sunday night.
Choi Seokhyun rose up to nod home the winner in the 95th minute of the encounter and the goal proved to be the decider,
South Korea will now face Italy in the quarter-finals on Thursday.
Bosso eulogized his players for their performance in the game but hinted they were let down by their poor finishing.
“We tried our best but it wasn’t good enough. Our finishing wasn’t good. But you can see we’ve left a group of players for the federation to build on,” he said.
The Flying Eagles of Nigeria have ended their sojourn at the ongoing FIFA U-20 World Cup holding in Argentina after losing 1-0 to South Korea on Sunday.
Both teams ended the encounter goalless after 90 minute but Choi Seok-Hyun goal in the first half of extra-time was enough to send the Koreans through to the semi-final.
Two-time runners-up Nigeria dominated for large parts of the game but were eliminated from the FIFA U20 World Cup by a single goal on Sunday as Korea Republic surged into the semi-finals for the second successive tournament.
The Flying Eagles, who eliminated hosts and six-time champions Argentina in the Round of 16 on Wednesday, created few chances despite passing the ball round the field quite well, with lack of punch in the final third the undoing of the seven-time African champions.
The Nigerians lads came into the game on the back of a shock 2-0 win against hosts Argentina in the round of 16.
While South Korea also ousted another South American team Ecuador 3-2 in the first knockout round.
Just like in 2007 U-20 World Cup in Canada, Ladan Bosso once again failed to take the Flying Eagles beyond the quarter-finals.
The Flying Eagles’ defeat also means Africa’s four representatives (Nigeria, Senegal, Tunisia and Gambia) have all crashed out.
Brazil and now Nigeria from the same group have crashed out of the competition in the quarter-final leaving only Italy in the competition.
The Flying Eagles and their crew are expected back home on Tuesday.
South Korea defeated South American side Ecuador 3-2 to advance to set up a quarter-final clash with Nigeria’s Flying Eagles at the U-20 FIFA World Cup holding in Argentina.
Lee-Young-Jun gave South Korea the lead inside 11th minute before Bae Jun-Ho made it 2-0 on 19 minutes, but the Ecuadorians pulled a goal back after Justin Cuero converted a penalty few minutes before the first half ended.
With six minutes left Sebastian Gonzalez scored for Ecuador to make it a nervy ending but the South Koreans held on to advance.
Flying Eagles versus South Korea U-20 in History
Both teams will be clashing for the third time ever at the U-20 level.
They first met in the group stage in 2005 edition hosted in the Netherlands, where South Korea came from a goal down to beat the Flying Eagles 2-1.
Again, they met at the group stage in 2013 but Flying Eagles won the game 1-0.
Speaking after their qualification for the qurter-final, South Korea U20 manager Kim Eun-jung praised the Nigerian players for their physicality ahead of Sunday’s game, and stressed that they must be well prepared to stand a chance of beating the Flying Eagles.
He added: “We will prepare hard for the match against Nigeria, so please support us from afar. As an Asian team, Korea is the only team that maintains its pride, so I will prepare well for the next game and produce good results with a sense of responsibility and pride as an Asian.
The Flying Eagles quarter-final clash with South Korea comes up on Sunday, June 4, inside the Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades, Santiago del Estero at 6:30pm.
Nine passengers suffered breathing difficulty as a South Korean aircraft landed with its door being open, Yonhap news agency reported Friday.
The entrance door of the plane, which left an airport in the country’s southern resort island of Jeju at around 11:49 a.m. local time (0249 GMT), opened just before landing at the airport in Daegu, about 240 km southeast of Seoul, at 12:45 p.m. (0345 GMT).
The incident was allegedly caused by a man in his 30s who attempted to open the door of the plane.
The airplane landed on the runway of the Daegu airport with the door being open.
Out of the 194 passengers aboard the plane, no one was wounded, but nine were taken to a hospital as they suffered difficulty in breathing.
Former Manchester United captain, Roy Keane says he’s not happy with how the Brazilians were dancing to celebrate their goals against South Korea at the World Cup.
The Samba stars netted four in the first half, before Korea got one back in the second period for the game to finish 4-1.
“Fantastic finish by Vinicius, great start to the game. But I’ve never seen so much dancing,” fumed ITV pundit Keane.
“I can’t believe what I’m watching, I can’t believe what I’m watching, it’s like watching Strictly [Come Dancing].”
“I don’t like this. People say it’s their culture. But I think that’s really disrespecting the opposition,” Keane furiously continued.
“It’s four goals, and they are doing it every time.
“I don’t mind so much the first jig, it’s the one after that, and the manager getting involved.
“I’m not happy about it. I don’t think it’s good at all.”
Brazil delivered an ominous message to their World Cup rivals with a dazzling display of attacking brilliance to dismantle South Korea 4-1 and set up a quarter-final against Croatia.
Neymar made a goalscoring return to action after injury at Stadium 974, but Brazil’s superstar was only one element of a devastating performance that ripped South Korea to shreds and settled this last-16 game well before half-time.
Vinicius Junior set the tone with a composed penalty-area finish from Raphinha’s cross after seven minutes, and Neymar doubled Brazil’s advantage from the spot six minutes later after Richarlison had been fouled.
It was Neymar’s 76th goal for Brazil, leaving him just one behind the legendary Pele’s all-time record.
Richarlison then produced the highlight and another entry into his personal showreel of great goals at this World Cup when he followed up his spectacular volley against Serbia with a real work of art, controlling the ball three times with his head and foot before moving into position take Thiago Silva’s pass in his stride and score.
Brazil went four up with another gem after 36 minutes, Vinicius picking out Lucas Paqueta for West Ham’s expensive acquisition to score with a well-placed volley.
South Korea, to their great credit, continued to compete and forced several fine saves from Brazil keeper Alisson, before substitute Paik Seung-ho pulled one back with a glorious 30-yard strike to add to the night’s collection of special goals.
Brazil coach Tite says Neymar will face South Korea in their World Cup quarterfinal in Qatar
The PSG star will be available for the team’s World Cup quarter-final clash with South Korea on Monday.
The 30-year-old missed two group games after injuring his ankle during Brazil’s opening win over Serbia. However he has returned to training with his teammates, with coach Tite confirming he is fit enough to play.
“He will train this afternoon, and if he trains well, he will play,” said Tite.
“He had a specific training program. I don’t want to get ahead of myself, I don’t give out information that isn’t true.
“Throughout my career I have always had credibility. He will train, and if he is well, he will play. I won’t say anything about the other 10 players.”
Cristiano Ronaldo has denied he swore at Portugal coach Fernando Santos after being substituted during a dramatic 2-1 defeat to South Korea in the World Cup on Friday.
Both teams had advanced into the next round with the result.
But the Portugal captain said the comments he made as he left the field in the 65th minute were in fact aimed at a South Korean player.
Portuguese media said the former Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus player, who left the English club last month, appeared to challenge Santos over the decision to substitute him.
It was reported he used vulgar language towards the coach.
“What happened was before my substitution. The South Korea player told me to get off quickly. I told him to shut up as he doesn’t have that authority.
“There was no disagreement (with the coach),” Ronaldo was quoted as saying by Portuguese reporters.
The 37-year-old is seeking to equal the Portuguese record of most World Cup goals held by Eusebio, who racked up nine in 1966 in England, the only World Cup tournament he played in.
Ronaldo last week became the first ever player to score in five World Cups.
Santos, asked by reporters about the substitution incident, also said a South Korean player had been aggressive in his comments towards the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
“I saw the interaction with the Korean player and I have no doubts about what happened,” Santos said.
Ronaldo was kept largely at bay by South Korea’s defence in the Asians’ last-gasp victory over Portugal that sent Uruguay out of the World Cup.
But he was involved in the South Korean equaliser in the 27th minute when a corner-kick struck him on the back and fell for Kim Young-gwon to score.
Santos made six changes to the side that beat Uruguay on Monday.
He was perhaps mindful of the risk of yellow card suspensions in the next round for which Portugal had already qualified before kick-off against South Korea.
“We’re unhappy. We wanted to go through with a win, we wanted to go through playing good football to keep boosting our confidence,” Santos said.
“We’re not going to lose confidence. This group has confidence, but it’s a warning, a serious warning. Perhaps some positive things could come from this game.”
He congratulated Paulo Bento, his predecessor as Portugal’s manager who is now in charge of South Korea.
“I’ve just given him a hug. I’m unhappy, he is happy. I didn’t facilitate anything but friends are friends, business aside,” he added.
Portugal, by finishing top of Group H, have avoided Brazil —- the winners of Group G —- in the first knockout round.
Ghana’s chances of making it to the second round of the Mundial received a major boost after the Black Stars defeated South Korea in a thrilling encounter in group H.
The Blacks stars led 2-0 in the first half but found a way to conspire to concede two goals to put scores at 2-2 later on in the game.
The luck soon smiled on the Ghanaians after regained the lead after a second-half fightback from South Korea.
The 2010 quarterfinalists impressed in an opening 3-2 defeat against Portugal and went in front in the 24th minute when defender Mohammed Salisu swept home Jordan Ayew’s curling free-kick.
Ghana had another 10 minutes later after
Ayew whipped in another superb delivery from the left and Ajax man, Kudus connected to it and headed in Ghana’s second goal of the encounter.
South Korea began an onslaught against the Ghanaians shortly after the break, and it soon paid off with quick goals from Cho Gue-sung.
However, Ghana regained the lead in the 68th minute when Kudus side-footed home his second after a mis-kick from Inaki Williams saw Gideon Mensah’s cross reach him inside 68th minute.
Gideon Mensah cuts it back from the left flank, Inaki Williams mis-kicks in the middle and the ball falls to Mohammed Kudus, who side-foots it home with his left foot for his second goal of the game.
Recall that Ghana lost to Portugal in the first game against of the group by 3-2.
Ghana has cored five goals so far in the competition.
The Black Stars will face South American side Uruguay in the last group H game next week.