JawaPos.com – The 2022 World Cup continues to bring surprises that are almost incomprehensible. This happened again after South Korea surprisingly managed to qualify for the round of 16 after beating Portugal 2-1 in the final match of Group H of the 2022 World Cup.
This result makes South Korea the second Asian country to qualify for the round of 16 of the 2022 World Cup after a day before Japan qualified first as Group E winners.
South Korea’s qualification for the last 16 of the 2022 World Cup was also strengthened by Uruguay’s result against Ghana which ended 2-0 for Uruguay’s victory.
Even though South Korea and Uruguay both share 4 points and both have a goal difference of 0, Korea is lined up as the runner up of the group due to superior goal aggressiveness. with a total of 4 goals during the group phase, while Uruguay only scored 2 goals.
After the score ended 1-1 in the first half, South Korea, who appeared without coach Paulo Bento, who received a red card in the match against Ghana, continued to put pressure on Portugal.
Portugal too. They exchanged attacks during the second half 45 minutes. Both South Korea and Portugal recorded 13 shots, and 6 of them were shots on target.
The South Korean public who filled the Education City Stadium had almost gone home in misery before a surprise finally appeared in the 90+1 minute.
South Korean captain, Son Heung-min counterattacked by running very fast towards the empty heart of Portugal’s defense.
Seeing this, three Portuguese defenders immediately surrounded Son to prevent the Tottenham Hotspur player from scoring.
Because they were too focused on Son, the three players forgot about the movements of the other South Korean players. Escaped from the monitoring of Portugal, striker Hwang Hee-chan quickly moved into the penalty box.
Putra who saw her partner immediately gave a beautiful assist which was performed by the two Portuguese players. In an off guard position, Hwang then stabbed the Portuguese goal with his kick
The stadium exploded with cheers from the South Korean fans. Some spectators were even caught on camera crying with joy because they didn’t expect their favorite team to escape the pins
They are increasingly late in euphoria after Uruguay failed to add points in the match against Ghana.
In the round of 16, South Korea will most likely meet another tough team, namely Brazil who is expected to win Group G.