Korea-Japan soccer team breaks barriers

For the first time in soccer history, Japanese fans shouted the names of Korean star players in an international match held at Yokohama International Stadium in Japan on Wednesday.

Despite the chilly weather, about 70,000 Japanese soccer fans packed the stadium, the site for the final of the 2002 World Cup, and cheered the Korean soccer stars, as well as their native players, during the game between the Korea-Japan all-stars and world all-stars.

The World Soccer Dream Match, featuring a joint Korea-Japan team, to commemorate the co-hosting by Korea and Japan of the 2002 World Cup was an event to have the peoples of the two neighboring countries develop a closer relationship.

The match ended in a 1-1 draw after the Korea-Japan All Stars slightly edged their world counterparts. The opener of the dream match came in the 17th minute of the first half when Korea¡¯s Ko Jong-Su stepped up and curled a wicked shot on a free kick in front of the penalty box into the top right corner, beating Jose Luis Chilavert of Paraguay.

The world all stars got the equalizer in the 27th minute of the second half through Robert Prosniecki of Croatia (Royal Standard of Belgium), who scored with a long-range shot.