Ex-Leipziger Hwang with a golden goal
Outsiders South Korea thwarted superstar Cristiano Ronaldo’s hopes of Eusébio’s goal record and surprisingly made it into the World Cup round of 16. The two-time Asian champions defeated favorites Portugal, who had already qualified for the knockout stages, 2-1 (1-1) in the final group game on Friday, taking second place ahead of Uruguay and Ghana. For the South Koreans, who made the next coup by an Asian team the day after Japan’s victory over Spain, it was only the third round of 16 in eleven World Cup appearances.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who stumped off the field when he was substituted in Qatar, has failed to score again and is a goal behind his legendary compatriot Eusébio in the World Cup tally. However, winning the group was not in jeopardy for Ronaldo and company, which means that the Portuguese will take the supposedly easier route in the knockout stages of the finals in Qatar.
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Young-gwon Kim (27′) equalized the early Portuguese opening goal by Ricardo Horta (5th minute), before former Leipzig player Hee-chan Hwang (90’+2′) brought the South Koreans, who lacked penetrating power over long stretches, ahead of them 44,097 spectators at Education City Stadium late in a frenzy.
Uruguay beat Ghana after missing a penalty, but both out anyway
Luis Suárez was crying on the bench minutes before the final whistle. Like Ghana, Uruguay failed in the fight for the World Cup round of 16. The South Americans won again after the Africans missed a penalty, but nobody was happy about it. Twelve years after the legendary quarter-finals in Johannesburg, the Celeste won this time 2-0 (2-0) in Al-Wakra against Otto Addos Ghanaer, but that brought her nothing. After being substituted, Suárez was stunned by South Korea’s 2-1 winning goal against Portugal, and his own team couldn’t do better.
In front of 43,443 spectators Giorgian de Arrascaeta of Flamengo Rio de Janeiro fired a brace (26th and 32nd minutes) for the previously winless and goalless Uruguay to an ultimately meaningless victory. Ghana, on the other hand, missed the great opportunity to make World Cup history as the third African team after Morocco and Senegal by reaching the round of 16.
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In fact, history repeated itself a bit. André Ayew, like Asamoah Gyan in 2010, missed a penalty conceded by Uruguay goalkeeper Sergio Rochet against Mohammed Kudus. Ayew was visibly unsettled by the long delay before the penalty – Rochet dived into the corner quickly enough and saved. The German referee Daniel Siebert had initially wrongly ruled offside and had to be pointed out by the video referee about the foul.
Otherwise, Siebert didn’t seem very confident in leading the emotional and intense game. At the end of the first half, after an hour and just before the end, Siebert denied Uruguay a penalty kick.
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