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Tuesday Football
12 February 2008
by Jerrad Peters

North Korea has expressed a desire to fly a common, Korean flag when South Korea visit Pyongyang for a World Cup qualifier on 26 March. The DPR Korea Football Association is also proposing that a single national anthem be played ahead of kickoff.

The endeavor would be rather intriguing as the two occupants of the Korean peninsula remain in a state of war. While the armistice of July, 1953 brought the hostilities of the Korean War to a standstill, no formal peace was ever agreed.

However, the two nations have been represented under a unified banner in the past. During the Opening Ceremonies of the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Summer Games and 2006 Winter Games, they entered the stadiums in Sydney, Athens, and Turin, respectively, behind a flag showing a unified peninsula on a blue and white background. Similarly, they also competed together in the 1991 Table Tennis World Championships in Japan.

The Premier League’s plan to stage ten matches in foreign cities has all but hit the skids. International opposition continues to mount against the venture – joining the already considerable domestic resistance. When the FA board convenes on Thursday, 21 February, they are expected to unanimously rebuff the proposition.

Premier League chief Richard Scudamore unveiled the scheme last week and was immediately confronted with skepticism and outright rejection by the football community. Australia and Japan, two major targets for matches, quickly voiced a common disapproval and the entire Asian Football Conference (AFC) echoed those sentiments shortly thereafter. Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, would only commit to hosting a match which featured two of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester United.

As continent after continent closed their doors on Scudamore over the weekend, the United States remained the lone, viable candidate for staging the fixtures. US Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati, however, has refrained from expressing enthusiasm regarding the idea. In fact, he has stated that the United States will only cooperate with the Premier League if FIFA lends its endorsement. As it happens, both the world governing body and UEFA are vociferously opposed to the overseas matches.

Chelsea will attempt to sign Rafael van der Vaart when the transfer window reopens in the summertime. Frank Arnesen, the Blues’ Sporting Director, fancies the 25-year-old Dutchman and will recommend that club owner Roman Abramovich spends upwards of 20M-pounds on the Hamburg playmaker. In 55-appearances in the Bundesliga, van der Vaart has tallied an impressive 24-goals. He has also scored 12-times in 50-matches for Holland and won two Eridivisie championships while at Ajax in 2002 and 2004.