한국 월드컵 대표팀
<#296 View of Foreign Press>
South Korea at World Cup 2010
How the World Saw Us
By Jeon Joo-hee, Tribune Reporter
The FIFA World Cup 2010, one of the world’s most passionate festivals, was started on June 11th in South Africa and 32 qualifying teams will compete in the World Cup until July 12th. Many South Koreans who are called 'Red Devils' looked forward to the start of the World Cup. On June 12th, the South Korean national soccer team beat Greece 2-0 in the World Cup qualifying match in group B. The first game of the South Korean national soccer team against Greece was a successful victory far beyond many Koreans’ expectations. Korea’s victory produced a deep impression in the foreign press.
The New York Times, an American daily newspaper, reported that “South Korea disbanded the Greek team and South Korean fans now have reason to be optimistic about advancing to next round from group B that also includes Argentina and Nigeria.” AFP, Agence France-Presse, stated that “The Korean national soccer team played better than the Greek team.”
However, such positive estimations could not last long. The South Korean soccer team was defeated 4 to 1 by Argentina in the second game on June 17th. The foreign press became negative. The Reuter News Agency, the international news agency in the U.K., cited one of the top strikers in the world, Argentina’s Messi, saying, “I also had several chances but, no problem, I want to score but I am not going to go crazy because I have not.” And it praised the Argentine for “making the others play, from deeper against South Korea to overcome their tight, scaled marking.” AS, one of Spain’s daily newspapers, reported that Korean soccer players’ containment tactics about Lionel Andres Messi poisoned the game. They pointed out that “Coach Huh Jung-Moo has declared that they are determined to block Messi. Eventually, he did not score a goal. But, he made an assist on a goal.”
The remarkable play of the Korean soccer team is enough to encourage soccer teams of other Asian countries. Some foreign presses reported the game between Korea and Nigeria on June 23rd, too. BBC News, a department of the British Broadcasting Corporation, reported that neither Korea nor Nigeria gave an inch of ground. Kicker, a site devoted to the joys of soccer in German, rated that the game was very interesting and exciting and that the Korean team showed better structure than before. In an interview with the BBC, the captain of the Korean national team, Park Ji-sung said, "Our goal was to reach the last 16. I am very happy we accomplished this. All of the players know how important this is."
Unfortunately, the South Korean national soccer team lost to Uruguay on June 26th and failed to advance from the round of 16 at the World Cup 2010. However, this report is proud of our soccer players. Their games impressed the world and they showed Korean football is good enough to compete with other strong teams from around the world. I hope they achieve a better result in the next World Cup in 2014.
전주희 기자
grinb7@naver.com