Korea Lost 2-3, Ending up Fourth

Korea ended up the World Cup with the title to fourth place.

In the 29th match against Turkey, the Korea team barely lost the game to Turkey by one point (i.e.2-3), placing itself fourth among the 32 countries in this World Cup.

Major Korean star players (e.g. Hwang Sun-Hong, Choi Jin-cheul and Kim Nam-Il) had to sit on bench due to injuries. Turkish warriors first hit the Korea’s net just 11 seconds after the kickoff. Thereafter, Turkey scored two more goals, making three in total only in the first half. Korea, with the score by Lee Eul-yong in the first half and that of Song Chong-gug in the latter, tried in vain to reverse the game.

Nonetheless, the Korean team well exceeded the aim originally set: getting into the tournament. It defeated many powerful teams like Portugal, Spain and Italy. Finally, they made it to the semifinal, shocking the world and achieving unbelievable accomplishment.

For the last game of Korea, as before, millions of soccer fans colored the whole country in red, and gave whole hearted support for Korea’s Warriors

The team perfectly performed, satisfying all Koreans. The result itself was more than originally expected. In addition, Korea as a host country of the World Cup demonstrated what it means to host the competition in the 21st century.

In the meanwhile, by the Turkey match, Korea’s Warriors were dismissed as a national team, and would participate in the festival celebrating the successful hosting and performance in the World Cup, which would take place at 6 p.m., July 2, 2002, along the City Hall Plaza and the Seajong Intersection.

Guus Hiddink, the coach for the Korean team, will fly to Yokohama on June 30, along with Jong Mong-joon, chairman of the Korean Soccer Federation, to watch the final match. Then he will return for his participation in many events.