After a very long wait, the 2022 FIFA World Cup commences on Sunday, November 20 in Qatar, and one of Ghana's group opponents- South Korea tagged as underdogs in Group H by most pundits can boast of an interesting and remarkable tale you may have forgotten or never thought of.
Kickgh.com digs deep into some of their unimaginable achievements in the biggest global football competition and the havoc they could cause, if history is something to heavily nip on in this year's edition.
The World Cup makes a stunning return on Asian soil after 20 years- Guus Hiddink's men then, got many a football faithful nonplussed, having cruised into the semi-final, leaving the home fans in complete elation- the best ever performance the continent has ever displayed.
The biggest football competition on earth, saw a co-hosting in 2002 for the first time since its inception- in a beautiful tournament which was co-hosted by Japan and South Korea with 20 different cities- the highest in the competition's history.
Proceeding from the last paragraph, a bizarre start it was initially for the Tigers in Group D, who looked like hitting the sack but Park Ji Sung's 70th minute strike propelled them to a precious victory over Luis Figo's Portugal in a 'make or break' tie to seal a round of 16 spot.
An 88th minute equalizer from Seol Ki-Hyeon cancelled Christian Vieri's early lead and left the Italians in total dispair- after an initial thought of running into quarters and stretch the game into extra time.
Their heartbreak was subsequently exacerbated thanks to Ahn Jung-Hwan's 117th minute golden goal after outwitting legendary Paolo Maldini to beat Gianluigi Buffon, creating a complete rapture in Daejeon.
Ahn, would have never netted that golden header, if he had known it was prone to a catastrophic consequence to his spell with then Serie A side Perugia, after suffering a huge backlash from the Italian fans with his wish for a permanent stay at the Stadio Renato Curi then brought to an abrupt end.
From winning their first World Cup game after 12 years to moving up with a 5-3 on penalties win over Spain, to make history by becoming the first Asian country to reach the semi-final thanks to the heroics of goalkeeper Lee Woon-jae and Hong Myung-bo's winning kick.
And unsuccessfully, they lost the road in their own capital- Seoul after Michael Ballack's 75th minute goal powered Germany to send them packing out of the competition and subsequently lost the third-place spot to Turkey in a game that produced the fastest World Cup goal in history. Turkey's Hakan scored in just 10.8 or 11 seconds from kickoff.
Led by Portuguese gaffer Paulo Bento this time, the Warriors secured their tenth World Cup ticket since their first ever appearance in 1954 in Switzerland, marking their sixth straight qualification but lost the top spot to Iran in a herculean Group A battle in the qualifiers with just two points separating them.
Tottenham Hotspur's Heung min Son handed the two-time Asian conquerors a huge boost with a quick recovery to an injury of which many thought would rule him out of the competition- a report which was even made by some European tabloids.
Their final squad is dominated by local players with few foreign-based comprising of Real Mallorca's Lee Kang-in, Olympiacos duo of Hwang in-beom and Hwang Ui-jo.
After a switch from Salzburg to the Premier League, Wolverhampton Wanderer's Hee-Chan Hwang continues to excel in Molineaux and will make the journey to Qatar so as German-based duo of Jeong Woo-yeong and Lee Jae-sung.
Their backline in this year's edition will definitely be led and commanded by Napoli's Kim Min-jae- following his stupendous display so far in the Serie A, and is expected to offer more than what the 2002 Bronze ball winner Hong Myung-bo' displayed.
South Korea are in Group H alongside four-time African champions Ghana, 2016 European winners Portugal and two-time World Cup winners Uruguay.
They will battle it out with the Sky Blues in their opening fixture of the 2022 FIFA World Cup on Thursday, November 24, at the Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan.
By: Iddriss Abdul Rahim
