Beyond the soccer pitch, the win gave South Koreans respite from gloomy political news about a threatened labour strike and a major bribery scandal involving the youngest son of President Kim Dae-jung.
'It was so exciting and unbelievable. I was tired of political news, so it was fresh to me,' said 23-year-old student Cho Sun-young.
The four goals were the most scored since Dutch coach Guus Hiddink took over the team in early 2001 and the star of the night was Perugia's Ahn Jung-hwan, who scored two goals.
'Saviour of the final 16', read the headline on the front page of the Sports Seoul newspaper, reflecting South Korea's hope of a berth in the latter stages of the tournament - something that has eluded them in all five past World Cup appearances.
Ahn, who was dubbed the 'Natural Born Killer' by another South Korean daily, has recently married and kissed his wedding ring after scoring his second goal.
Goals by younger players Lee Chun-soo and Yun Jung-hwan helped raised hopes of South Korea reaching the knock-out stages, although not everyone is confident.
'I am not sure we can reach the final 16,' said 25-year-old Kim Sung-jun, a central bank employee.
'We did well but our competitor played poorly yesterday.'
Scotland, who failed to qualify for the finals, are ranked 54th in the world, while South Korea moved up to 40th in FIFA's latest rankings released on Wednesday.
To advance to the second stage of the finals, South Korea must finish in the top two of group D which also features Portugal, the United States and Poland. |
Soccer Media
