An Italian Serie A benchwarmer scored a golden goal as South Korea stunned three-time champions Italy 2-1 to advance into the World Cup quarterfinals on Tuesday.
Ahn Jung Hwan, cold-shouldered by his club AC Perugia, rose over Italian veteran defender Paolo Maldini to head home a center cross by Lee Young Pyo in the 117th minute.
For Italy, it was a repeat of the dramatic loss to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the 1966 World Cup, which remains one of the event's biggest upsets.
South Korea Guus Hiddink said the win was amazing.
"I think it's unique what the Korean players have done here," he said.
Asked who were his standout players, Hiddink said: "They're all best players. The players who came on and the players on the bench. We're all the best."
"The people must celebrate. They're normal, hard-working people," he added.
The historic victory is all the more sweet for South Korea as their long-time rivals Japan crashed out of the second round on a 1-0 loss to Turkey Tuesday afternoon.
The tenacious South Koreans made it 1-1 in the 88th minute, taking the action-packed and bad-tempered second round game into extra time.
Seol Ki Hyeon dashed in to find the net after Italian defender Christian Panucci failed to make a goalmouth clearance.
One-minute later, Italian striker Christian Vieri missed a sure shot, hitting a cross from the left over the bar when he was unmarked and just 2 meters away from the goal.
Vieri had opened for Italy in the 18th minute. The Inter Milan striker scored his fourth goal of this tournament - ninth of the finals - as he rose high to head home Francesco Totti's corner kick despite a tug at his shirt by South Korean Choi Jin Cheul.
Vieri ran for the dugouts with his right forefinger to his lips, gesturing to the fervent crowd, who turned the stands red by donning South Korea jerseys, that the Italians were going to silence their critics.
Ahn missed a penalty awarded after Francesco Coco pushed down Yoo Sang Chul and Panucci wrestled down another South Korean player in the area when a crowd jostled for a free kick just 4 minutes into action.
Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon dived to his right to hit out Ahn's low shot, the second missed penalty by the co-hosts after U.S. keeper Brad Friedel denied Lee Eul Yong's spot kick in a group game.
The 26-year-old Ahn, hugely popular with South Korean women because of his movie-star good looks, then struck an angled shot wide of the goal after dazzling footwork in the area.
At the 37th minute, Damiano Tommassi forced a brilliant save from South Korean keeper Lee Woon Jae when he struck from 5 meters. Lee fisted out Tommassi's shot and Choi Jin Cheul was quick enough to clear the threat.
Coco saw blood at the 42nd minute when Yoo Sang Chul elbowed at his forehead while jumping high to connect a pass. The Barcelona defender sagged to the ground with blood all over his face.
Alessandro Del Piero, who fired a late equalizer against Mexico to lift the Italians into the second round, blasted a shot from a close range, which slammed at a South Korean defender standing at the near post.
Italy was one man short since the 105th minute when their midfield engine Totti was expelled for a second offense.
Italian coach Giovanni Trapattoni said his team deserved to have won.
"This is football, but if one of the teams should have advanced to the quarter-finals it should have been Italy," he told reporters immediately after the match.
"We had more goal chances," Trapattoni said. "Korea played with their hearts.
"The World Cup for Italy went downhill because of a lot of things.
"We have a lot to reproach ourselves for."
South Korea, who had never won a game in their previous 5 World Cup appearances, have made tremendous progress since December 2000, when Hiddink took over.
The Dutch coach has raised the level of the team through tough warm-up matches against topsides such as Croatia and England.
For most of 2001, the results were unimpressive, but this year, South Korea have begun to shine, helped by months of club-like daily practice as South Korean club teams released players for World Cup preparations.
In the group round, they beat Poland 2-0, tied 1-1 with the United States and shocked Portugal 1-0 to reach the round of 16.
Editor: Ronnie
Source: Xinhua
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