 A golden goal from Ahn
Jung-Hwan provided one of the World
Cup's biggest shocks as South Korea
knocked 10-man Italy out of the competition.
The goal proved a wonderful conclusion
to the game for Perugia's Ahn Jung-Hwan
who had missed a fourth minute penalty.
Christian Vieri had given Italy the
lead in the 18th minute, but with
just two minutes of normal time remaining
Seol Ki-Hyeon sent the game into extra-time.
Italy were reduced to 10-men during
extra-time after Francesco Totti was
red-carded.
In 1966 Italy lost 1-0 to North Korea
and 36 years later the Azzurri were
again shaken to their foundations
by a Korean team.
Korea will now play Spain in Kwangju
on Saturday. Thousands of Koreans had congregated
in the Daejeon World Cup stadium and
millions of others had taken to the
streets to show their support for
the co-hosts.
They were soon living on their nerves
when Christian Panucci gave away the
penalty after wrestling Seol Ki-Hyeon
to the ground before and during Song
Chong-Gug's free-kick. But Ahn Jung-Hwan sent his kick low
to Gianluigi Buffon's right and the
Juventus keeper got down smartly to
push the ball round the post.
It was the first time in history
that a country had missed more than
one penalty in a single World Cup
- Eul-Yong Lee had failed to convert
Korea's first against the United States
in the group phase.
Ahn Jung-Hwan was Korea's most potent
attacking player but until that dramatic
end he had endured a frustrating game. No more so than when he swivelled
past Mark Iuliano, only to fire his
shot over the bar.
Just before the interval Ahn Jung-Hwan
saw another speculative effort comfortably
saved by Buffon.
The fact that the Koreans were rarely
able to penetrate the Italian box
for long periods says much about the
Italians' defensive resilience.
Without the injured Alessandro Nesta
and the suspended Fabio Cannavoro,
Paolo Maldini moved to the centre
of the back-four and proceeded to
give a masterclass in defensive play.
Yet to their cost Italy, who paired
Totti and Alessandro del Piero for
the first time in the tournament,
were always reluctant to commit players
forward.
As so often in the past Italy were
content to shut up shop once Vieri's
striking expertise had given them
the lead. Surrounded by a posse of Korean defenders,
Vieri had got to Totti's near-post
corner before everyone else and headed
home to claim his fourth goal of the
tournament.
 In the 88th minute Panucci made a
mess of clearing Hwang Sun-Hong's
cross allowing Seol Ki-Hyeon to rifle
the ball past Buffon. After Seol Ki-Hyeon's equaliser Vieri
had a wonderful opportunity to win
the game but inexplicably he sliced
his shot wide with the goal gaping.
With the game heading towards penalties
Ahn Jung-Hwan redeemed himself and
wrote the most glorious chapter in
Korean football history. Lee Young-Pyo chipped the ball into
the penalty area and Anh Jung-Hwan
climbed above Maldini to head past
Buffon.
South Korea
Lee Woon-jae; Choi Jin-Cheul,
Kim Tae-Young, Hong Myung-bo; Kim
Nam-il, Yoo Sang-chul, Lee Young-pyo,
Park Ji-sung, Song Chong-gug; Ahn
Jung-hwan, Seol Ki-hyeon.
Goals:Seol Ki-Hyun (88),
Ahn Jung-Hwan (116)
Italy
Gianluigi Buffon; Franceso
Coco, Paolo Maldini, Mark Iuliano,
Christian Panucci; Gianluca Zambrotta,
Damiano Tommasi, Cristiano Zanetti;
Francesco Totti; Alessandro Del Piero,
Christian Vieri.
Goals: Christian Vieri (18)
Attendance: 38,588
Referee: Byron Moreno (Ecuador). |
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