{"id":49087,"date":"2022-12-02T14:38:02","date_gmt":"2022-12-02T19:38:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/totfc.net\/?p=49087"},"modified":"2022-12-02T14:38:02","modified_gmt":"2022-12-02T19:38:02","slug":"o-pilsung-corea-motherfuckers-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/?p=49087","title":{"rendered":"O PILSUNG COREA MOTHERFUCKERS"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

On this date, December 2, 2022<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

South Korea 2, Portugal 1<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

As much as I enjoy the World Cup, I didn\u2019t have any grand expectations as far as the Motherland\u2019s chances were.\u00a0 This isn\u2019t eSports or Little League baseball, so my hopes for Korea\u2019s participation in the World Cup is usually along the lines of hoping they don\u2019t embarrass themselves, and be the worst team to get sent packing in the first round.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thanks to the Qatar that didn\u2019t belong there in the first place, and Canada whom I didn\u2019t even know even played futbol in the first place, that\u2019s not going to happen.\u00a0 Undoubtedly, the team that brings the most dishonor to the World Cup is undoubtedly Germany, whom once again was bounced in groups for the second straight World Cup, with 2014 looking like a historical event from the present.<\/span><\/p>\n

But not only did Korea not embarrass themselves on the global stage, they didn\u2019t get bounced in groups.\u00a0 With their incredible 2-1 victory over Portugal, they advance out of groups and into the elimination round of 16, where Brazil awaits, to which that\u2019ll be its own tragedy in its own right, but at least I can have the memories of this day where Korea, once again finishes groups on a high note after starting slow with a draw and a loss in their prior two matches.<\/span><\/p>\n

I kind of had this hope that Korea could beat Portugal on the logic that with two wins already, and advancement already locked in, the Portuguese really didn\u2019t have to play that hard, and would change things up and play backups, in order to save their stars.\u00a0 France and Spain paid a similar price, dropping their third matches, and I was hoping that Portugal would join them.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Cristiano Ronaldo, who made waves just the day prior after signing some absurd, nine-figure deal with a Saudi team that\u2019s anywhere between $220-360 million dollars was the most entertaining part about watching Portugal, because it was flagrantly clear just how much he\u2019s in body protect mode in order to be able to play for his blood money, which was a little surprising to me, because usually non-Americans give more shits about global glory, and Ronaldo looked very much a like a future American MLS player, who will undoubtedly be starting for the LA Galaxy in the near future after his Saudi deal is up.<\/span><\/p>\n

Motherfucker was offsides like 4-5 times always staying on the attacking half of the pitch, waiting for scoring opportunities and contributing nothing on defense.\u00a0 In fact, Korea\u2019s first goal actually ricocheted off of Ronaldo\u2019s back from his weak effort at defense, and I made the analogy to my friends that he was basically late-career Kobe, who only wanted to score but not defend.<\/span><\/p>\n

Regardless, as the second half began ticking down, the only thing that kept my hopes up was the fact that just about every game during this World Cup has seen numerous goals scored past the 82nd<\/sup> minute.\u00a0 All things considered, regardless of my vehement disagreement that the World Cup should be in Qatar in the first place, it\u2019s really turned out to be one of the most exciting Cups in ages, with lots of exciting games, high (for futbol) scores, and a level of parity internationally not seen, like ever.<\/span><\/p>\n

Latin American teams are basically the basketball Team USA of futbol now, with Uruguay, Mexico, Costa Rica, Ecuador all getting bounced from groups, while lots of power has shifted to African and Asian countries, with Senegal and Morocco advancing out of groups, with Ghana and Tunisia notching wins before elimination, while Korea obviously advances, but so does Japan, for the first time since 2002.<\/span><\/p>\n

But in the 91st<\/sup> minute, Korea made my hopes into reality, when they executed a picture-perfect counter to a busted Portugal corner, with Son Heung-min breaking away, drawing the defense, and then feathering the perfect, between-the-legs pass to Hwang Hee-chan who made an entire peninsula explode with his dramatic goal.<\/span><\/p>\n

A tense five minutes later, and the game was over.\u00a0 But before the real celebration could happen, they had to wait out the remaining eight minutes of the Uruguay-Ghana match, where a single goal by Uruguay was enough to break up the goal differential between them and Korea, and would send them to the next round instead.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

During this time, my mind filled with memories of an old neighbor that I used to be good friends with for a minute before we had a falling out and never recovered from.\u00a0 He was of Uruguayan descent and was quite proud of his heritage, which isn\u2019t something I don\u2019t discount.\u00a0 But he was basically white-washed and entitled and spoiled with all sorts of rich family crap, and that\u2019s all I needed<\/a> to feel any sort of prejudice towards the entire country and hopes for their defeat.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I was actually planning on making a post like this had Korea defeated Uruguay earlier in the round, but they unfortunately went to a draw.\u00a0 Thankfully they didn\u2019t lose, and a draw against a team that was supposedly good at futbol like Uruguay seemed kind of like a win, but I\u2019ll just take the fact that they didn\u2019t lose.\u00a0 They saved the L for Ghana instead.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thankfully, their stoppage time didn\u2019t take long, and it was at then and only then was it truly solidified that not only had Korea defeated Portugal, but they were moving onto the next round.\u00a0 Fucking incredible, the whole scene of excitement, elation, and celebration.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been feeling the want and need to feel what a win feels like, because it doesn\u2019t feel like my life is having a whole lot of those lately, and this definitely was just what I needed.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not even going to care if and when Korea gets bounced by Brazil in the next round.\u00a0 It\u2019ll make my Brazilian au pair happy, and any sort of success is just a bonus at this point.\u00a0 Korea didn\u2019t just not embarrass themselves, they achieved a little bit of success.\u00a0 And for a country where futbol is not one of their primary pastimes, that\u2019s a huge win.<\/span><\/p>\n