World cup: D-13

The most popular event of the year is about to happen in 13 days. World cup is a humongous event in the world because many soccer fans look forward for the date of the World Cup. Not only it is fun, but the supporters can meet different people from different countries and talk about soccer. This year’s world cup is held in South Africa. World cup is played every 4 years and people cannot wait for 4 years to watch different countries fight for the world cup.

I am looking forward too because I’m a huge fan of soccer. I hope Korea will score a good rank this year so that they will bounce up in the chart of ranking of countries in the world. Korea is placed 48th currently; however, I’m thinking it will raise after the world cup because this years status looks really good. Korea has won most of their games recently and I really hope the players of this year will be excited for the World Cup so that they will score a high rank in the World Cup.

World Cup: Final Entry for Korea Soccer

Today, the most important factor for the world cup is the stats of each soccer team. Korea had 4 practice games before the world cup. Korea won 3 out of the 4 games and lost to Belarus last Sunday. After watching the 4 practice games, the coach of Korea National Soccer team, decided the final entry for the world cup. A famous soccer player called Lee-Gunho got cut for the final entry. This was because he had a really long slump and injury. This lead for him to lack the soccer skills that is needed for the World Cup.

This years Korea National Soccer Team is very strong and many Korean soccer fans are looking for a great year of World Cup. Park Ji Sung, a famous soccer player of Manchester United, will lead the team this year. This is a great year for Park Ji sung because players like Lee Cheong Young will help a lot. The combination of Park Ji Sung and Lee Cheong Young, will lead the Korean national soccer team to rank a good score in the World Cup 2010. The players will be going to South Africa in 10 days, and get ready there for their first game against Greece on June 12th.

Champions League: Finals

The Champions League finals occurred in Madrid in May 23rd 2010. 2 unexpected came up all the way to the finals. Inter Milan and Bayern Munchen came to Madrid for the last game of the Champions league 2010. They were both underdogs which people thought they will never make it to the finals. However, breaking everyone’s imagination, they came up all the way to the finals. The game was pretty even. Both team were attacking and defending really well. However, in the first half, Inter Milan scored a goal off free kick. This changed the whole game. Players from Bayern became more and more worried and anxious, which lead to a great depression as a whole team. They were doing really well before the first goal, however, they lost control and gave up one more goal in the second half.

Inter Milan won the championship game of Champions League. This was the 3rd time for Milan to win the Champions League and it had been 43 years after their last win in the Champions League. The players of Milan celebrated with their fans and went back home with the champions trophy. They were a really bad team in the beginning of the season; however, they improved a lot more and became the Champions of the world.

KIS Soccer: China Trip

KIS boy’s soccer team traveled to Suzhou, China, for the first AISA Tournament. It was a short flight about 2 hours from Incheon Airport to the Suzhou International Airport. Only 4 team participated in this tournament because it was the first ever tournament. The teams were: Osaka Saviors, Korea International School Phoenix, Seoul International School Tigers, and Suzhou International School. The day  of arrival in Suzhou, the boy’s soccer team went out for a delicious dinner in the Times plaza of Suzhou. There were many Korean people traveling to Suzhou, and we met a lot of international people there. After a great dinner, the KIS phoenix team went back to the hotel for a good rest and to have a great game the next morning.

The KIS boy’s soccer team played the first game ever of the AISA Tournament against Suzhou International School. The boys were jet-lagged after the flight; however, it didn’t affect the game. The boys scored an amazing goal in the last 5 minutes and kept the game a win. After winning the first game against Suzhou International School, the boys had a great lunch and got ready for the second game of the day.  The second game was the most challenging game of the tournaments. It was against the Asian Champions “Osaka”. They had won over 25 cups in Asian soccer tournaments. The phoenix boys didn’t play very well after being tired from the first game and scored a lost to the Osaka team. After having one win and one loss on the first day, the boys traveled back to their hotel rooms for a rest and preparation for the second day.

The second day, boys phoenix soccer team had to play 3 games in one day. It was a tough job to do however, the boys fought back after the lost to SIS in the first game. In the semi-finals, the boys met the SIS boys once more. To kick back up the chart, the boys ran all out in order to win the game of semi-finals. After a goal by senior Roger Kim in the first minute, the boys defended their goal and got a win off SIS boys. The boys got into the finals and had to compete the champions, Osaka. The boys were too tired to play after the semi-final’s game; therefore, they lost their concentration and lost the finals game. However, it was great how they got second place. Not being in the top rank in the KAIAC conference, the phoenix boys fought well in the AISA tournament and came back home with the second place trophy. It was a great tournament. Good Job Phoenix Soccer Boys!

Champions League: Semifinals

April 8th, 2010, the champions league is now into the semifinals leaving only 4 soccer clubs to fight for the champion. The quarterfinals ended with a results showing that FC Barcelona, Inter Milan, Lyon, and Munich are in the semifinals for the champions league. For about 11 months of champions league, the four teams showed great efforts to be at the point where they are. They didn’t give up at all and didn’t look down in the past. All four teams had a point where they were in trouble, for example, letting the opposite team score 2 goals in the first half. However, they did not give up with winning the game, and started to push back up in the game. These efforts and giving up time had been shown as a result of letting up into the semifinals.

The predicted champion of this year is FC Barcelona. They are showing great results also in their league, la liga de España. Leonardo Messi is the star player of FC Barcelona and also of the world. Messi is showing great positioning and shooting. He scored 4 goals in the quarterfinals game, leading his team to a great win. Leonardo Messi is the significant player of this years champions league, and the predicted champion is FC Barcelona.

I personally think that it would be FC Barcelona which would win this years champions league because FC Barcelona is showing great improvement as the days are passing by. I am a big fan of FC Barcelona mainly because I am a fan of Leonardo Messi, and he is one of my heros’.

Basketball: College baskteball

April 5th 2010, the annual college basketball event’s championships game was held. The two teams in the championships game were Duke University and Butler University. Both were strong and hard working teams. Throughout the season, they had many wins against colleges around the United States of America. Duke University had won the championships match with 61:59. Surely, it was a very close game; however, the champions position went to Duke University. Gordon Hayward, the starter of Butler, played all 40 minutes of the game and he showed outstanding positioning and passing. However, similarly Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith from Duke University, played all 40 minutes of the game, and leading the team to a very successful win of the championships game.

The Duke blue devils is always a strong team in college basketball. It is known to be the strongest out of the whole basketball league for over 25 years of college basketball. They had won the basketball league 18 times already, showing that they are a very strong team. Because the coaches are making players to do hard practices, they got better and better, and now they are the best team. This shows that motivation and practice is what it takes to become perfect.

Baseball: Major League

This Monday, April 5th 2010, the major league of America started with many games. There was a humongous opening ceremony with many crowds and many significant people visiting a stadium to celebrate the opening ceremony.The most significant game of this day was Red Sox versus New york Yankees. Those two teams are the most famous baseball teams of the whole world. The score was pretty close but the first game went to Red Sox beating the New york Yankees by 9:7.

Major League is very popular in Korea also because there are 4 Korean players that are playing in a major league. This is because of the most famous Korean baseball player, Chan Ho Park, is in the major league’s team. He currently plays for the New york Yankees. On his day of debut, he didn’t play really well, disappointing many of the Korean baseball fans. However, it was just a game and everyone can make mistakes. Therefore, Chan Ho Park should not give up on himself and try his best through out the season for better results.

Baseball: Korean Baseball League

In March 27, 2010, the Korean Baseball League had begun with almost 50,000 people gathering up in a stadium for the first game between last years champion, KIA tigers and Samsung Lions. In Daegu baseball stadium, the opening ceremony of the Korean Baseball League was held. There, the match between KIA tigers and Samsung Lions, was held also.

With almost 50,000 people visiting the stadium, many different Korean top singers were invited to the opening ceremony and also for the first ball of the match. The opening ceremony was large with the head of Korean Baseball Organization visiting the stadium with a large speech. Also there were many different performances by the singers to entertain the crowd.

After the large opening ceremony, the first game of the year started between KIA tigers and Samsung Lions. First with Samsung Lions attacking, the first inning was ended without any scores. However in the second inning, Samsung Lions made a point with home run and started to make more runs and only letting one run in for KIA tigers. The game ended with a score of 4:1 with Samsung lions winning the first match of the year.

Champions League: Quarter Finals

The international competition for the champion soccer club, UEFA Champions League, begun in June 30th 2009. With more than 70 teams competing, only one champion would be made after all the hard works of the players. The champions league is an annual event that all soccer fans wait for the whole year. First almost 77 teams are in for a round league. After only the first 32 teams are qualified to the next stage. The 32 teams compete in groups of 4 and the first 2 teams from the 4 teams group, go to the next stage where 16 teams are placed. By randomly picking, two teams are selected to play each other two games, one at one’s home field and other at others. And now the champions league is in progress in the quarter finals round, where 8 teams compete.

The 8 teams qualified for the quarter finals round are: Lyon, Bordeaux, Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Arsenal, Barcelona, Inter Milan, and CSKA Moscow. These team had been qualified by many matches and a lot of hard work. Last night, the first quarter finals round was held in France. Lyon and Bordeaux had a great match by scoring 4 goals in total. Lyon was down by one point at the beginning of the game. However Lyon stood up and faced their problems, and scored 3 goals in the second half, making a win out of the game. They showed how motivation could get people into good results.

Looking forward to the next games of quarter finals, soccer fans are still waiting for the champions league to proceed in.

KIS Soccer: First Win against DAHS

Phoenix boys traveled to Taejeon and Daegu for an overnight trip on a holiday, March 12, 2010. Giving up their own holiday, the boy’s soccer team met at school at 11 o’clock AM. They practiced for an hour and got on the bus for the way to Taejeon. Against TCIS, boys showed lack of responsibility and lost the game 3:1. However the next day, they forgot about the lost and tried their best to get a win out of DAHS. Sore from the practices and the games, phoenix boys tried their best, and finally got their first win of the season.

Senior Won Jin Chang scored a goal against TCIS and the next day, he scored another one letting the boys win the game. He got a perfect through ball from a junior, Nathan Cho, and finished it with a nice shot to the side of the goal. Senior Won Seok Choi scored from a free kick right out of the penalty box. After scoring two goals in the first half, the phoenix didn’t give up. They tried their best to make more goals and overall, they had the possession over DAHS. They smashed the cross bar 3 times in the second half. Even though DAHS came back with one goal, it was not enough to change the game a lot. The phoenix boys came back with a great win against DAHS.