They’re thinking about it, at least. South Korea is supposedly ready to pass a resolution in September that will create a joint North Korea-South Korea football fan group — and part of that will entail KOR sending 300 fans from PRK to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Both North and South Korea have already qualified for South Africa 2010, making it the first time the two countries have ever competed in the same World Cup.

Source: Associated Press

Tags: Korea, soccer politics, South Africa 2010, World Cup

Ack! So ESPN does a 30-minute preview special (cool) … but I can’t find the game itself on TV. I am up in the Pacific Northwest, with some not-so-soccery friends who don’t have Fox Soccer Channel or Setanta … and the cable here doesn’t carry Telemundo, let alone Telemundo 2. WTF!?

(And some Americans wanna stop the influx of Mexicans into this country? I don’t get it!)

Anyhow, I have found a live stream online in two places — both en Espanol however. Let me know if there’s a place I can find it in English.

Currently watching one of the biggest games in my (short) soccer life here:
http://envivo.terra.com/deportes/live/259-eu/

And I also found the same thing, with just about every other game, too, via the Japanese here:
http://www.oskaya.com/tv/

Meanwhile, here’s a picture of the game from one of mi amigas who is there right now:

photo: Lesley Tellez

UPDATE: Marc in New York writes in with more:

“When all else fails, http://myp2p.eu“

Tags: ESPN, Estadia Azteca, live-stream, mexico men's national team, Soccer on TV, telemundo, USA Men's National Team

Coverage starts at 4:00pm EST on Telemundo, mun2, and Futbol de Primera Radio for USA vs Mexico World Cup Qualifying match. Plan accordingly.

Side note: First time in history ESPN will be doing a live 30-min pre-game show (3:30pm EST) for a soccer match not airing on its network. Interest.

Tags: CONCACAF, el tri, ESPN, mexico men's national team, USA Men's National Team, world cup qualifying

The former English football manager, Bobby Robson, died last night of cancer at age 76. Not to disrespect the recently deceased … but is a World Cup semi-final (in 1990) all it takes to become a sir? Serious question, and I hope this doesn’t make the people of Ipswich hate me, as Robson lead them in their glory days.

Tags: Bobby Robson, england, obituaries

The Wall Street Journal on what an awesome but crushing loss USA vs. Brazil turned out to be.

We Believed, Then Brazil Pounced

(Via Tim, via Facebook)

Tags: Brazil, confederations cup, south africa, USA

US 3-Egypt 0. Brazil 3-Italy 0. And the place goes nuts, only problem is no one here seems to care. It was without a doubt one of the most unexpected wins in the history of the national team. Sure if they only had to score a goal or try for a tie, then the possibility of the team advancing would not have been too implausible. But you had to win by three and hope, hope mind you that Brazil thumps the current world champions by three. In other words you needed everything that could go right to go right, and anything less than that and Bob Bradley is in the unemployment line. And how confident was the Brad Man? He started Brad Guzan in the net, benching Tim Howard for the game.

I’ve said this before, Bradley needs to create some serious waves for him to keep his job. And while beating Egypt may not be akin to beating Spain, the circumstances the team faced may be the spark the team and coach need to make a strong statement for next year’s World Cup.

Tags: Bob Bradley, Brad Guzan, Brazil, Egypt, Italy, Spain, Tim Howard, USA

In a game Iran needed to win in order to qualify for the 2010 World Cup, five members of the Iranian national team wore green armbands. Team captain Ali Karimi and four other teammates wore the armbands as a show of support for Iranian political opposition leader Hossein Mousavi. They wore the armbands for all of the first half, only for the armbands to disappear for the second. Kudos to the Iranians for showing football can have an impact beyond the game itself. Here are the match highlights. I’m rooting for the Iranians to make it to South Africa.

Tags: 2010 World Cup, Ali Karimi, Hossein Mousavi, Iran, soccer politics

Excited about tonight’s game … not only is Costa Rica one of the few teams in CONCACAF that can pose a challenge to the United States, but I’ve also been getting some unusual messages from historically soccer knowledgeable @OliverTse about what the American’s really might face:

Prop bet idea: over/under on the # of urine bags tossed by CR fans at US player when US takes 1st corner kick.

Costa Rica vs USA World Cup soccer qual Wed 6/3 at 7pm PT ESPN. US has never won at Estadio Saprissa, where CR fans toss urine at opponents

Late change: Costa Rica vs USA world cup qualifying soccer will air on ESPN2 instead of ESPN. Pre-game 9:30pm ET, Kickoff 10pm ET

More on the game and the Philadelphia Eagle-ish Tico fans here.

Tags: CONCACAF, Costa Rica, Estadia Saprissa, Oliver Tse, Soccer on TV

Joe’s follow-up on Liverpool vs. Chelsea … with a newfound love of Barack Obama for his FIFA diplomacy initiatives:

Tags: Barack Obama, Chelsea FC, Joe Scarborough, Liverpool

Somewhere in between fighting pirates and watching the world crumble through a window in the Oval Office, Barack Obama found the time this week to reach across one cold, choppy aisle, and try to bring some more footy into our lives. 

That’s right, everyone’s favorite superhero president sent a letter to FIFA president Joseph S. Blatter requesting that ugly Americans be given another chance to view the beautiful game on their home soil. Preferably in 2018 or 2022.

For the record this is 100% what I too would be doing if I couldn’t solve the financial crisis.

Tags: Brazil, new york times, obama, south africa, World Cup