Saw that coming: Brazil trounces Korea 4-1, eliminating them from the round of 16
I’m not mad, just disappointed. Nominally. I actually had predicted the score would’ve been 5-1, with Korea’s one goal being some garbage time pity goal in the 92nd minute. Not out of pessimism, but a realistic guess based on the fact that Brazil is in a class way above Korea, and the friendly they played back in June ended in a similar score, I saw no reason why it would be any different during the World Cup.
They weren’t playing a Portugal squad who had already secured their position and really had no reason to play their best. They weren’t playing a squad with a bitch of Ronaldo in body protect mode and being more of a liability than a threat. They were playing fucking Brazil, a country routinely ranked 1st or among the top four countries in FIFA rankings, like all the time.
To me, a monumental win would’ve been if Korea could’ve held Brazil to a 0-0 by half, but in reality it only six minutes before Brazil got on the board, and two minutes later, Neymar was notching a PK for a 2-0 score that basically ended the game after it barely started.
The real question was just how much gas was Brazil going to put on the rout? Having won the game in 15 minutes, there was little reason for them to really risk Neymar or any of their starters. But unsurprisingly the topic came up in numerous forums of the complete humiliation Brazil endured in 2014 against Germany, losing 7-1, and taking their history out on Korea seemed like a very realistic possibility, and it looked like my 5-1 score might become a reality.
Fortunately, Korea played with integrity and played out the rest of the game cleanly, not fouling like crazy, while still trying hard, forcing Brazil’s goalkeeper Alisson to really work, deflecting numerous shots. And when Paik Seung-ho crushed his 30 yard smash into the net, that was good enough for me, to be satisfied with the result. At least we went down fighting and didn’t get shut out, and this goal was most definitely no charity, lazy backup GK goal, it was a screamer and it was earned.
Ffrom what my amateur eyes witnessed, Brazil’s in a class of its own with their touch, as in the ability to so perfectly tap the most intricate light passes in between defenders to get them into prime scoring position. Son Heung-min is really the only guy on the Korean team with a similar ability, and it’s that finesse that basically won the game against Portugal with his perfect, between-the-legs pass to Hwang Hee-chon before he kicked the game winner.
Like I said, I’m not surprised or mad about the result, but it’s always a little disappointing to see your teams lose no matter the circumstances. The reality is still that Korea already had a tremendously fine showing in the World Cup that shouldn’t have been in Qatar, by notching a memorable win against Portugal and advancing out of groups. Those alone are huge achievements for a country oft-ranked among the lower quartile of World Cup teams historically, and no matter the result of the Brazil game, I’m so fucking proud of Korea’s World Cup run, and we’ll always have the fine memories of the win against Portugal.
