At the final whistle, the face mask was tossed into the air, and Son Heung-min was freed. It would take eons for South Korea to feel the same. Paulo Bento’s squad kept their end of the agreement by defeating his home Portugal in the 91st minute, but if Uruguay scored one more goal against Ghana, the South Americans would progress in their place.
South Korea waited seven agonizing minutes for Uruguay to complete while huddled around cell phones in the center circle, and then an explosion occurred.
When the agony finally ended, South Korean players raced to their fans behind the goal where Wolves striker Hwang Hee-chan had completed a remarkable comeback by converting Son’s exquisite pass.
The Tottenham striker had been pretty quiet up until the 90th minute, standing out primarily because of the face mask he wore, but then he gathered a clearance from a Portugal corner kick deep in his half and sprinted. And fled.
And continued running until he reached the edge of the Portugal penalty area, where he slipped a pass through Diogo Dalot’s legs to give Hwang a place in the round of 16 and a nation’s dreams on his shoulders.
South Korea advanced to the knockout stage for the first time since 2010 thanks to a goal scored by a forward who was unaffected by a hamstring ailment. Well, almost. If Uruguay had won by three goals, they would have taken second place behind Portugal based on goal differential. Two goals against resulted in tears of misery for Luis Suárez and ecstasy for Son.
“Son informed me before the game that I was going to create something today,” stated the game-winning player. “He stated we have faith in you. When Son received the ball, I was certain he would pass to me, and his pass was superb.
It made my job simpler. As a Korean citizen, I am incredibly proud and would like to express my gratitude to all Korean fans. I’m delighted I was able to give them this gift. After missing the first two games, I just wanted to participate. It was still a risk for me to play today, but I have no bodily concerns.
South Korea needed Ghana or Uruguay not to win by too many points in the other Group H match while ignoring other possibilities. Their objective was simple – just win – and they appeared to have been aided by Portugal coach Fernando Santos’ decision to make six changes from the team that defeated Uruguay, with only one of those alterations being mandatory.
However, a nervous start nullified any advantage that the team sheet may have provided.
Portugal, already qualified and ultimately sealing the first-place result that should put them in a different half of the draw than Brazil, jumped out to a five-minute lead on the strength of a deceptively easy but exquisite goal.
The experienced defender Pepe freed Dalot into space down the right flank, and the Manchester United fullback brushed off a feeble challenge from Kim Jin-Su to stride into the penalty box. Dalot identified Ricardo Horta’s darting run to the near post, and the forward executed a magnificent first-time finish into the far corner.
It was a present that infuriated a Portuguese coach in the crowd. Bento, a former manager of Portugal, was sitting in the stands as a result of his red card following South Korea’s loss to Ghana. He stated that he would perform both national anthems to satisfy both his countrymen and his employers.
Ultimately, he sang neither. Sérgio Costa, Bento’s assistant, was in charge of the technology sector. They watched an encouraging response from South Korea after the early setback, with their threat from set-pieces and Portugal’s weakness in defending set-pieces providing a clear path to victory.
Portugal made a collective mess of attempting to clear Lee Kang-corner’s kick, allowing South Korea to equalize. Dalot and Rben Neves failed to connect with defensive headers at the near post, and Cristiano Ronaldo turned his back for some apparent reason as the ball passed through.
The pass deflected off the back of the Portugal captain and fell to Kim Young-Gwon, who fired past Diogo Costa from close range. It was not Ronaldo’s day, just as it had not been his night in Uruguay.
Ronaldo was denied by goalkeeper Kim Seung-Gyu when clear through, though he also appeared to be offside, and was unable to convert a challenging diving header after the goalkeeper parried Vitinha’s shot.
The superstar was wisely substituted with 25 minutes remaining, to the chagrin of Ronaldo’s fan club in Education City. After the final whistle, a South Korean player also insulted him.
“The Korean player insulted him and told him to leave, which is why he was so angry,” Santos explained. “He was very confrontational when speaking to Cristiano in English, and Cristiano remarked, ‘Perhaps he was having a bad day.'”
For a side needing one goal to qualify, South Korea’s second-half play was remarkably lackadaisical until Son’s galloping run with seconds remaining. Everything would instantly change.
