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한국 축구 8강 진출, 뉴욕타임스 격찬!!!
Italy Sees Nothing But Red in Loss
By GEORGE VECSEY
AEJON, South Korea, June 18 — The great pulsating celebration goes on.
The red shirts — the national uniform in this manic month — will be worn again by an entire country, after South Korea's remarkable 2-1 victory over a drained Italy tonight in the World Cup's Round of 16.
Not known for its soccer, South Korea left Italy, three-time champion, lying stunned on the grass. Italy scored early, and South Korea tied the match in the 88th minute. Then, in overtime, Ahn Jung Hwan, who earns his living playing with Perugia in the Italian league, spun a header into the goal in the 117th minute to touch off a celebration around the nation.
South Korea, the home team, will play a quarterfinal match with Spain in Kwangju on Saturday.
Tonight's shocking turnaround was merely the latest upset in a World Cup in which both South Korea and Japan, the co-hosts, reached the second round for the first time, Senegal and Turkey are vying for their first appearance in a semifinal, and even the United States moved to the quarterfinals, against Germany.
No Asian nation has reached the quarterfinals of the world's most popular sports tournament since 1966, when North Korea lost to Portugal, 5-3, in England after having led, 3-2, at halftime.
Suddenly it is 1966 all over again. Despite the bristling confrontation at the no man's land that splits the peninsula into two nations, South Korea was willing to borrow from the greatest moment in North Korean sporting history.
"U Remember? 1966 in England," said one sign held by a red-clad fan.
They remembered. Before the game, the fans behind one goal spelled out "AGAIN 1966" in English, using white cards, to recall the 1-0 upset that sent the Italian team home in shame and the North Koreans on to the quarterfinals.
This time Italy is already seething about the diving call that caused Francesco Totti to be sent off in the 103rd minute with his second yellow card. Within hours, soccer officials and fans back in Italy were charging favoritism to the home team, a controversy that is sure to have legs.
The official, Byron Moreno of Ecuador, saw that Song Chong Gug had not interfered seriously with Totti's lower body, but Moreno missed what appeared to be a right hand to Totti's head. Totti's expulsion left Italy one player down for the rest of the game, and Italy had already lost momentum. The Azzurri started the game as 11 dots of blue in a throbbing sea of red. Coach Giovanni Trapattoni had said this was merely another road game, but few soccer stadiums have ever been so unified.
Banners were hung in Korean, Italian and English: "Porta Dell'Inferno!" (Gate of Hell!) "Fossa dei Giganti!" (Pit of the Giants!) "Corea 5, Italy 0. Korea Team Fighting. Hiddink, Make Our Dream Come True. Welcome to Azzurri's Tomb."
Italy was in trouble right away when Francesco Coco was called for dumping Seol Ki Hyeon in the penalty area five minutes into the match. Ahn, who had scored the tying goal against the United States in a first-round match, took the penalty; goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who plays for Juventus of Turin, read Ahn's move to the left, and stopped the shot with a dive.
Italy was revived, and played prettily for a while. It scored in the 18th minute from a corner kick by Totti. Christian Vieri, the big forward, outjostled Choi Jin Cheul and spun a header into the corner.
"Koreans are short, and we will use that to our advantage," Vieri had said on Monday, although Choi, at 6-foot-1 1/2, is slightly more than an inch taller than Vieri.
They certainly tried sending other balls into the altitude, but the South Koreans were able to stop Vieri after that. The Italians showed style worthy of the champions of the 1934 and 1938 World Cups and the surprise winners in 1982, but could not produce any more goals.
The South Koreans had chances. There was a goal-line save in the 80th minute by Paolo Maldini, the weary Italian captain, who appeared in his fourth, and last World Cup, without ever having won the championship. South Korea kept attacking, even sending in three substitutes, and Italy tried to stagger home.
Italy tried to fritter away time mucking around in the corners, and then Totti took a weak, needless shot toward the goal that Lee Woon Jae handled and sent downfield. Within a minute, the South Koreans pushed the ball to Seol in the box.
Christian Panucci stopped the bouncer with his hand, but the referee did not call it, and Panucci failed to control the ball as Seol recovered and calmly placed a left-footed shot into the right corner past the diving Buffon. Four or five Italians fell to the soft earth as the stadium rocked.
Certainly the Italian players knew their team had been eliminated in the last three World Cups on penalty kicks, the nasty little device for resolving ties. They seemed to try to avoid that impending disaster by sending Vieri lumbering forward, trying to run over people, although he was clearly running out of steam.
"As time went by, we knew Italy's defense would fall apart because we have better stamina," midfielder Yoo Sang Chul said.
Buffon barely stopped a low roller by Hwang Sun Hong in the 99th minute. Four minutes later, Totti had possession in the penalty area and went tumbling to the earth. Moreno showed him the yellow card, his second of the game, bringing an automatic ejection.
"There was an expulsion, but I don't know why," Trapattoni said later, adding, "I think the winner should be Italy."
The end came as South Korea pushed forward and Ahn went high above Maldini and stuck a header into the goal. Buffon lay in the goalmouth, and his teammates could barely drag themselves off the field. After they did, the South Koreans ran laps, hand in hand, and dove chest first on the grass, as flashbulbs went off.
"The dream goes on," said Guus Hiddink, the coach of the South Korean team. "I'm glad we could make it for the Korean people. People must celebrate. People are normal, humble hard-working people."
The hard work may slow down in the next few days. South Korea's raucous party is getting even wilder.