SOUTH KOREA: SOUTH KOREAN TEAM LEAVE FOR THIRD-PLACE PLAY-OFF MATCH AGAINST TURKEY

Record ID: 640776

  • Title: SOUTH KOREA: SOUTH KOREAN TEAM LEAVE FOR THIRD-PLACE PLAY-OFF MATCH AGAINST TURKEY
  • Date: 27th June 2002
  • Summary: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (JUNE 27, 2002) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SOUTH KOREAN PLAYERS KIM NAM-IL (YELLOW HEAD) AND PARK JI-SUNG (RIGHT) GETTING ON BUS VARIOUS OF FANS CHANTING PLAEYRS' NAMES AND HOLDING BANNERS SOUTH KOREAN STRIKER SEOL KI-HYUN WALKING OUT OF HOTEL CHA DU-RI TAKING BUS VARIOUS OF FEMALE FANS SHOUTING SEOL'S NAME WITH HIS NAME ON BANNER VARIOUS OF SUPPORTERS CHEERING FOR SOUTH KOREAN TEAM SOUTH KOREAN HEAD COACH GUUS HIDDINK HWANG SUN-HONG AND SOUTH KOREAN CAPTAIN HONG MYONG-BO GETTING ON BUS MORE OF FANS SOUTH KOREAN GOAL KEEPER LEE WOON-JAE MORE FANS BUS LEAVING FOR DAEGU/FANS Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 12th July 2002 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
  • Country: South Korea
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA2SSVU2A48K76SL9UOYFY7844R
  • Story Text: Co-hosts South Korea have one more chance to celebrate as their team prepare for third place play-off against Turkey on Saturday (June 29), in Daegu.
    South Korea shocked traditional World Cup powerhouses by beating Portugal, Italy and Spain to reach the semi-finals, where they were beaten 1-0 by Germany. South Korea play Turkey in Saturday's third-place playoff.
    On Thursday (June 27), hundred of fans bid farewell to the South Korean players and their Dutch coach Guus Hiddink, who left Seoul for the third place play off against Turkey.
    The match on Saturday (June 29) in Daegu will crown South Korea's amazing campaign to become the first Asian country to least the last four in the World Cup.
    During the last four weeks, millions of South Koreans gathered in front of giant TV screens in central Seoul and in town squares across the country, where they sat, clapped, chanted and danced shoulder-to-shoulder in some of the most remarkable scenes ever witnessed at a World Cup.
    The performance of the South Korean team and the solidarity supporters of the team showed, has left more than just pleasant memories.
    Experts said the World Cup soccer tournament, which South Korea is co-hosting with Japan, has delivered not just a boost in patriotism -- of which there was already no shortage in South Korea -- but a valuable sense of communal sharing and the experience of being part of an international society.
    South Korean police said seven million people -- one in seven of the population -- were out on the streets across the country watching Tuesday's 1-0 semifinal defeat to Germany on huge screens. Around half of the 48 million population watched the game.
    At least one million supporters, most dressed in red T-shirts -- the team's colours -- gathered at 10 sites in the capital Seoul alone, including an astonishing 810,000 near the city hall.
    Meanwhile, the South Korean government had announced it wants to intensify soccer links with Japan and China to raise Asia's skill levels and make use of the 20 World Cup stadiums.
    Korean President Kim Dae-jung said this week closer soccer ties between Asian countries should be considered.
    Like Japan, who advanced to the round of 16 in their second World Cup finals, South Korea prepared 10 stadiums, seven of them designed specifically for soccer.
    Many cities, including Seoul, remain in search of a club side to use them after the Cup.
    At the same time, South Korea are still waiting for North Korea's football association to endorse a planned friendly match that would put the divided countries' teams on the same pitch for the first time in nearly a decade.
    The game is scheduled to be held on September 8 in Seoul's soccer-only World Cup stadium -- where the World Cup opening ceremony was held on May 31 and where Germany ended South Korea's incredible tournament run in Tuesday's semi-final.
    Asia also wants a greater role in future World Cup finals after two of their four teams proved their worth in 2002.
    Peter Velappan, head of the Asian soccer confederation, has called for five Asian berths in the 2006 finals in Germany and believes China is likely to become a major power despite a disappointing World Cup debut.
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