Soccer: South Koreans cling to fairytale

By STEVE TONGUE in Gwangiu

Those who live by the penalty shoot-out risk dying by it. So it was with Spain, who had eliminated the Republic of Ireland in the cruellest fashion last Sunday, but found a second shoot-out in a week beyond them.

The astonishing South Koreans, outplayed for all of the first half and much of the second, forcing Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas into just one save in two hours, refused to lose hold of their dream, and ensured that it will continue at least as long as the semifinal against Germany tomorrow night.

The co-hosts had already proved their fitness, pace, athletic ability and spirit. Here they added nerve to that list in converting five successive penalties without a hitch.

Without Raul in attack, Spain were still much the more threatening side, Fernando Morientes missing what would have been a winning golden goal for them in extra-time by hitting a post. Like Italy before them they also suffered from several marginal decisions, and finished the day in bitter and almost physical protest, a furious Ivan Helguera having to be dragged away from the officials by his coach, Jose Antonio Camacho.

Spain had two goals disallowed. Helguera headed in the first, which was chalked off for pushing. The second, a header by Morientes, was ruled out because the ball was judged to have gone over the byline before being crossed to him by Joaquin, who was dumbfounded by the decision. "The ball didn't even touch the line, let alone go over it," he said. "It was a big surprise when the flag went up. That's football. If that goal had been given we'd be looking at the semifinal now." Then again, without the flag the Koreans might not have allowed Morientes such a clean header.

Camacho was equally upset and said complaints were not sour grapes.

"We expected the officiating to be better. This was a quarter-final match, after all," the former international defender said.

The Koreans, meanwhile, were going through what has become a regular celebration routine in front of a crowd that seemed not to contain a single Spanish follower. Gwangju, 500km south of Seoul, was a less intimidating venue, with its open spaces and two uncovered ends, but the noise of the home supporters was still relentless, a testament to faith. They refused to let the dream die.

Guus Hiddink, the coach, is reported to be heading home to Holland for a second spell with PSV Eindhoven, where Bobby Robson originally succeeded him in 1990. But he will not be going anywhere just yet.

"Thank you the Kingdom of the Netherlands" said one of the banners behind the goal. The Dutchman handed the thanks on to his team and his adopted nation: "I cannot describe how I am feeling. I am so happy for the boys, who fought until the end. It's a tremendous achievement by the boys. This is a complete dream, even more dreams have come true now.

"The mentality of this team to recover, even when it is getting tougher and tougher, is so outrageous and almost without limits. I am so proud of these guys. I'm happy for them and for the people. It was a 50-50 game, the Spanish caused us some problems, but we took the penalties well. We had less rest than Spain and now we have one day's less rest than Germany, so the schedule is not favouring us."

Spain recalled the veteran Nadal alongside Fernando Hierro who, with Helguera in front as a defensive screen, worked well in subduing Ahn Jung-hwan and Seol Ki-Hyeon, South Korea's scorers in the thrilling victory over the Italians.

As a result, the crowd, despite shrieking at every threatened approach to the Spanish goal, had only one moment of genuine excitement to enjoy.



If the second half was more even, it was still difficult to agree with Hiddink's view of the proceedings as "50-50". Even in extra time, when the fitness he has instilled into his charges shone through, Morientes had his header chalked off and then hit the post from a quick throw by Joaquin.

So to penalties; and then, for a team who were a 9-1 shot even to win their group, the World Cup semifinal. Spain 0 South Korea 0 after extra time. South Korea won 5-3 on penalties.

nzherald.co.nz/fifaworldcup

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