Asia

On May 22, 2020, NWSL side OL Reign announced the signing of Japanese standout Yuka Momiki. The 24-year-old was born in New York City but grew up playing in Japan with Nippon TV Beleza’s youth side before reaching the senior team.

 “Yuka is a young, dynamic player with tremendous potential that we believe will play an important role in our club this season and far into the future,” said OL Reign CEO Bill Predmore in a team press release. 

Broadcasters have not been getting "bang for their buck" from Australian soccer in recent years and creative solutions are urgently needed to revitalize the game, former Socceroos defender Craig Moore has told Reuters. 

Moore, who is spearheading the "Golden Generation" group pressing for change in Australian soccer, said COVID-19 had heaped more pressure on administrators already battling to reverse declines in ratings and crowds. 

FC Seoul, the club that brought you sex dolls in the stands, is now fielding dummies on the pitch.

The South Korean club made global headlines when it used sex dolls instead of mannequins to fill up the stands in a recent K League match. The club was fined about $80,000 for the incident, which honestly was probably worth the free publicity and most likely a calculated risk.

On this day 10 years ago — May 21, 2010 to be exact — Sam Kerr made her mark for the Matildas. 

Australia was playing in the 2010 AFC Women’s Asian Cup final against North Korea where she scored her first international goal at the age of 16. 

SEOUL — South Korea's K League said on Wednesday its disciplinary committee decided to impose a 100 million won ($81,454.45) fine on FC Seoul for using sex dolls instead of mannequins to fill empty seats in their stadium.

The club placed dolls in seats during a K League match on Sunday to make up for the absence of fans due to COVID-19 restrictions.

FC Seoul’s 1-0 victory over Gwangju was a steamy and sultry affair at Sangam Stadium on Sunday. With K League matches being played behind closed doors, the 66,000-seat facility was left empty — except for the handful of sex dolls that greeted Han Chan-hee’s winner with expressions of titillated euphoria.

The Bundesliga has taken center stage this weekend, but although we’re asleep for it, we shouldn’t sleep on the K League. In the early hours of Sunday morning, Ulsan’s three-goal comeback allowed the visiting side to escape Suwon’s Big Bird Stadium with all three points.  

Suwon took the lead right before halftime thanks to this sensational strike from midfielder Ko Seung-beom. Ko took possession inside his own half, nutmegged his marker, took off on a 40-yard run and — with the defenders backing off — dialed up an unstoppable drive from 25 yards out. 

Chinese Super League (CSL) team Tianjin Tianhai, which once employed World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro as coach and signed Brazilian forward Alexandre Pato, has declared bankruptcy and folded, the club announced on Tuesday. 

A shy village boy who could not bear to leave his parents' bed, Andrés Iniesta may have seemed an unlikely candidate to become one of the best footballers of all time, but anyone who saw him play rarely had serious doubts. 

Iniesta, who turns 36 today, weaved his magic for Barcelona for 16 years and was one of the architects of the club's greatest era, playing a defining role as they won 32 trophies including nine Spanish titles and four Champions League crowns. 

The latest news from the Bundesliga — which committed to a May 16 restart but has since seen the entire Dynamo Dresden squad placed in a two-week quarantine — showcases just how complicated the entire process is for returning to the pitch. But the good news is that South Korea’s K League kicked off on Friday and rolled through the weekend.

On Sunday, Gangwon defeated Seoul 3-1 and you need to see the match-winner.