Fi(Go! And Be Done With Ye…!)

Ahh, I remember this game well, mostly because it brought back memories of playing with all the Portuguese guys I grew up with back in Kingston, Ontario. The fact is, based on either team’s history of success in past World Cups, either team could have won. The reality hit me after the initial 15 minutes of play. Portugal figured that all they had to do was show up, failed to take Korea seriously until the final quarter of the game, and by then they were down two men. I stuck the fork in them pretty early on.

At this point, Portugal had lost to the United States and was in a must-win situation. Korea had four points going into this match, so granted, they had a little more breathing space. And yes, Korea a ‘number’ of fans in the stadium rooting for them , but I’ve always contended that home teams have the most pressure and that visiting teams can play as crappy as they want and blame it on the atmosphere. Check out the photos here.

Anyway, the streets of Pusan were ablaze yet again, as Korea managed to top the group and head into the ’sweet 16′ against a very talented Italian squad.