South Korea manager Pim Verbeek told reporters Saturday that he resigned prior to watching his team take third place at the Asian Cup with a 6-5 penalty shootout win over Japan in Palembang, Indonesia.
The news ended weeks of speculation that Verbeek would either step down or be sacked after the tournament. A transcript of his post-match press conference follows:
"I decided to resign.

Three moments of brilliance from two star strikers was all it took for Saudi Arabia to pull the plug on Japan's quest for a third-straight Asian Cup title.
Yasser Al Qahtani scored the opener and Malek Maaz bagged a brace as the Saudis somewhat fortuitously knocked off Japan 3-2 in the semifinals in Hanoi on Wednesday.
Japan ebbed and flowed and their passing was so fluid in the first half that many pundits, including this one, suspected the game would soon turn into a rout for the defending champions.

Japan coach Ivica Osim and his players are placing little faith in history ahead of tonight's Asian Cup semifinal against Saudi Arabia in Hanoi.
The two-time defending champions boast a 6-1-2 record against the underdog Saudis, cruising to a 3-1 win in their most recent meeting last year, but insist that the past will have no bearing on the upcoming encounter at My Dinh Stadium.

A 4-1 loss has never been so satisfying.
Co-host Vietnam squeaked into the quarterfinals of the Asian Cup on Monday as Group B runners-up, despite receiving a footballing lesson from defending champions Japan at My Dinh Stadium.
Vietnam booked their ticket to the knockout round in place of Qatar, who crashed out of the competition with a 2-1 loss to the United Arab Emirates in Ho Chi Minh.

I've been in Hanoi for two weeks and I still haven't the faintest clue how to navigate the streets here. So much for my trusty internal GPS. This city has me beat and I concede defeat.
That said, it's not as though I'm in a complete fog. Some valuable lessons have been learned, interesting sites seen, and plenty of beer consumed.
I thought I'd share some of my newfound knowledge with you lest you yourself wind up visiting this city planner's worst nightmare one day.

Urawa Reds manager Holger Osieck remains optimistic about his side's chances of advancing to the semifinals of the Asian Champions League despite losing hold of a stranglehold on the home-and-away quarterfinal clash against Jeonbuk Motors on Wednesday night.
The Reds outclassed the reigning ACL champions from start to finish and were up 2-0 heading into the waning moments of the match at Saitama Stadium when Jeonbuk defender Choi Jin-cheul blazed home through a maze of players to take the glean off a terrific showing by the home side.

Kawasaki Frontale's exit from the Asian Champions League earlier this week proved what many had feared about Takashi Sekizuka's men over the last couple of weeks: they're a spent force whose season has gone the way of a Britney Spears comeback.
Only time will tell how their freefall into irrelevancy in 2007 will affect Frontale in the foreseeable future, but there's no denying that the team has suffered a major setback.