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South Korea qualify as Hwang strikes late to stun Portugal

By Jeremy Wilson CHIEF SPORTS REPORTER at Education City Stadium

Shortly before South Korea’s history-making comeback against Portugal, Hwang Hee-chan and Son

Heung-min had a conversation. The two Premier League players knew they needed something approaching a minor football miracle to not just themselves beat Portugal, the group leaders and one of the World Cup favourites, but also hope that the result between Ghana and Uruguay went in their favour.

Son predicted the Wolverhampton

Wanderers forward would create something special. “We trust you,” he told his team-mate. Hwang had not yet played in the World Cup due to a hamstring injury but, with 66 minutes having elapsed and South Korea needing a goal to preserve any hope, he was introduced.

Manager Paulo Bento had asked Hwang to think about how he might affect the game while he was waiting but it was not until the clock had just ticked past 90 minutes that his big moment came.

A Portugal corner had offered South Korea the chance to break forward and, with Son skilfully drawing defenders in his direction, he paused before releasing Hwang.

There was still plenty to do but, with one glorious sweep of his right foot, Hwang directed the ball beyond Diogo Costa and into the goal. Cue a partial pitch invasion and the first of three separate moments of wild celebration in the space of 11 extraordinary minutes.

The second would duly arrive when the final whistle sounded to

confirm South Korea’s victory but, most dramatically of all, they then had to wait while crowding around various mobile phones to watch what was going on between Uruguay and Ghana before knowing that they were into the World Cup last 16 for only the third time in their history.

Hwang later revealed the risk he is taking with his hamstring but will have no hesitation before playing Monday’s knockout match. “Whatever happens to me, whether I aggravated my injury, I just wanted to contribute,” he said.

After Portugal had taken a fifthminute lead through Ricardo Horta, Cristiano Ronaldo had inexplicably turned his back on a South Korea corner, with the ball cannoning for Kim Young-gwon to equalise.

Ronaldo then missed a wonderful one-on-one chance to restore Portugal’s lead and did not hide his frustration at other moments.

Portugal manager Fernando Santos made no attempt to pretend that it had been anything other than a bad day for his players. “We lost focus,” he said. “That serves as a warning for our team.”

South Korea (4-1-2-3) Kim S-g 6; Kim M-h 6, Kwon 7, Kim Y-g 6 (Son J-h 81), Kim J-s 7; Jung 7; Hwang I-b 6, Lee K-i 7 (Hwang U-j 81); Lee J-s 6 (Hwang H-c 66), Cho G-s 6 (Cho Y-m 90+3), Son H-m 7. Booked Lee K-i, Hwang H-c.

Portugal (4-1-4-1) Costa 6; Dalot 6, Pepe 6, Silva 5, Cancelo 7; Neves 6 (Neves 65); Horta 7, Nunes 6 (Palhinha 65), Vitinha 5 (B Silva 81), Mario 6 (Carvalho 82); Ronaldo 5 (A Silva 65).

Referee Facundo Tello (Argentina). 44,097.

the coaching of the national team, as the aforementioned facility in Burton-upon-trent now does for England.

“It’s the first time German football gets its own home,” said Tobias Haupt, head of the DFB Academy, in an interview with The i after a fact-finding trip to St George’s Park. “The difference, if you compare it to St George’s Park, is our new academy is located in the heart of Frankfurt, the heart of Europe.” However, a more direct way in which German football is looking to copy the success of its English counterpart is by ripping up the rule books on player development to try to create flair players such as the ones Gareth Southgate now has in abundance in his World Cup squad.

Shortly after the humiliation of the 2018 World Cup, the DFB announced plans to reintroduce “street football” into the curriculum at youth academies, due to the abundance of flair players in German football, such as Jadon Sancho

at Borussia Dortmund and a young Musiala who Bayern Munich had just plucked from Chelsea’s youth academy, but very few coming through from German academies.

“If clubs prefer to bring in young Englishmen, Frenchmen and Belgians, there is only one solution – the young Germans need to get better,” Oliver Bierhoff, the director of national teams and the academy, said at the time.

This tournament is likely to be the final one for Thomas Muller, Ilkay Gundogan and Manuel Neuer, as the last of the golden generation who won the 2014 World Cup finally hang up their boots. But disaster in Qatar may prove to be a notable bookend on a far larger chapter in German football, as the nation turns to England for inspiration and high hopes of getting back to winning ways.

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2022-12-03T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-12-03T08:00:00.0000000Z

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