North Korea edge UAE in a friendly

UAE trailed 0-1 to North Korea in a friendly at the Chinese city of Shenzhen on Thursday. The North Korean struck the all-important goal of the clash from the spot into the 44th minute of the first half. The Gulf champions are preparing for their 2015 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers opener against hosts Vietnam in Hanoi on Wednesday.
The UAE head coach Ali Mahdi started with keeper Ali Khusaif, defenders Muhanad Al Enazi, Abdul Aziz Haikal, Waleed Abbas, midfielders Mohammed Fawzi, Amir Abdul Rahman, Haboush Saleh, Habib Fardan with Ahmed Khalil and Saeed Al Kathiri upfront.
Both sides did nothing to show any offensive intentions and no real threat to either goalies was witnessed throughout the first half with the exception of the penalty kick which resulted from a handball against UAE defender Muhanad Al Enazi one minute before the break.
Meanwhile, the UAE strikers were only unlucky to miss the target on at least two occasions after having virtually controlled the game. Ahmed Khalil saw his hot hitting the cross-bar and saved by the Korean defenders while he was with the keeper only to beat.
At this stage, Mahdi Ali interfered by sending in keeper Khalid Essa, Ismail Matar, Majid Hassan, Abdulla Mosa, Ali Al Amri, Omer Abdul Rahman and Ismail Al Hammadi to replace keeper Ali Khusaif, Saeed Al Kathiri, Amir Abdul Rahman, Hamdan Al Kamali, Waleed Abbasm Habib Fardan and Haboush Saleh respectively.
The UAE lads missed the efforts of injured players Mohammed Ahmed, Abdul Aziz Sanqoor, Khamis Ismail and Ali Mabkhout as Mahdi opted to take any risk that could delay their recovery and trained separately with the fitness coach.
And apart from the defeat, Mahdi said it was a useful test for the players because they have face a well organised side who play total football.
However, this was the second defeat for the boys in white since Mahdi Ali took over last August. The first defeat was 0-1 received at the hands of Japan in a friendly.

UAE FA website

Laos to Play North Korea in a Friendly

As part of their preparations for the AFC Challenge Cup Qualifier, Laos is going to play North Korea. The match will be played at Tuodong Sport Center Stadium, Kunming, China.

Goal Afghanistan

North Koreans win Phuket FC friendly

FOOTBALL: A pre-season friendly match between Phuket FC and a top North Korean League team ended with a narrow victory for the visitors.

The game at Phuket’s Surakul Stadium ended with a 1-0 win for 4.25 SC, also known as the April 25 Sport Club – a leading Pyongyang league club funded by donations from the North Korean Army.

The visiting North Korean captain, #9 shirt Kim Kam-Il, scored the winning goal. 

The squad that played Phuket FC included 12 players from North Korea's national football team, which played in the Thailand King's Cup  tournament in Chiang Mai last week.

Phuket News

North Koreans to play Phuket FC in football friendly Thursday

FOOTBALL: A North Korean football team will play a friendly game against Phuket FC at Surakul Stadium on Thursday.



The kick-off is at 6pm, and admission to the game is B100 (children free.)

The visiting team, 4.25 SC - also known as the April 25 Sports Club - is one of the top teams in the North Korean league and includes 12 footballers from the national squad.

The Phuket FC team features two star South Korean footballers - twin midfielders Boas and Ya Gin Chun. It's not known yet known if the pair will play in the friendly against the North Koreans on Thursday.

Phuket News

King`s Cup - Thailand 2-2 North Korea

King`s Cup - Thailand vs North Korea , third place match


FT score : 2-2

King`s Cup : North Korea vs Sweden , Sweden win on PK`s

King`s Cup in Thailand

North Korea Drew Sweden 1-1 after full time but lost 4-1 on Pk`s

FIFA has not accepted the matches in King`s Cup as "A" matches.

North Korea face Thailand in third place match

King`s Cup : North Korea vs Sweden !

BANGKOK (10 Jan 2013) – The FA of Thailand (FAT) will host the historic Thai King’s Cup in the northern city of Chiangmai later this month. The event is slated for 23-26 January with Finland, Sweden and DPR Korea taking part.



The first match day will see Thailand taking on Finland on 23 January with Sweden playing DPR North Korea on the same day. The winners of each match will advance to the final with the losing teams playing in the third-place play-off three days later.


Thailand last won the tournament in 2008 when they beat Iraq B in the final while last year, the King’s Cup was won by the South Korean Under-23 team.

Source : Aseanfootball

Comment :  Sweden will field a home based team because the matches are not on FIFA match days