 South Korea will clash with northern neighbor in a World Cup qualifier in Shanghai. / Korea Times File |
Staff Reporter
South and North Korea will face each other at Hongkou Football Stadium in Shanghai in an Asian third round qualifying match for the 2010 South Africa World Cup on March 26.
The Korea Football Association (KFA) announced Friday that FIFA has decided on Hongkou Stadium as the venue for the two Koreas' match.
Originally, the two sides were supposed to play at Kim Il-sung Stadium in Pyongyang, but the North refused to allow the South to fly its flag and play its national anthem in the capital.
It also suggested using the joint flag used in the Olympics and a Korean folk song instead of the anthem.
Unhappy with the decision, South Korea appealed to the football governing body and decided on the relocation.
The Stadium, which can accommodate 3,5000 people, was built in 1953 and reopened in 1999.
The stadium hosted the FIFA Women's World Cup final in September 2007 and now it is used as the home field for Shanghai Shenhua in the Chinese Super League.
South Korea's national football team has yet to play there, but the K-League's Sungnam Chunma did in 2004 and won the A3 Champions' Cup, an annual football event between the league champions of South Korea, China and Japan.
Two Koreas are drawn into Group C with Jordan and Turkmenistan, each holding one victory.
The South routed Turkmenistan 4-0 on Feb. 6, while the North edged the Western Asians 1-0 on the same day.
The top two team from five groups will advance to the final qualifying round.
ksw@koreatimes.co.kr
