Hello, I am Freddie Cotton and I will be taking you through today’s World Cup round of 16 match between South Korea and Italy.
South Korea have been the surprise package from the group stage, going unbeaten in their opening three games to top group D. The joint hosts have proven hard to break down, only conceding once in the tournament so far.
Coming into the tournament as one of the favourites, many would have expected more from Italy in the group stages with ‘Gli Azzurri’ only picking up four points from their opening three matches. The three time world champions will be looking to move on from the heartbreak of losing in the final of Euro 2000 by claiming their first piece of silverware in 20 years.
South Korea starting line-up: Woon-Jae Lee; Myung-Bo Hong, Jin-Cheul Choi, Tae-Young Kim; Chong-Gug Song, Nam-Il Kim, Sang-Chul Yoo, Young-Pyo Lee; Ji-Sung Park, Jung-Hwan Ahn, Ki-Hyeon Seol.
Italy starting line-up: Gianluigi Buffon; Christian Panucci, Mark Iuliano, Francesco Coco, Paolo Maldini; Cristiano Zanetti, Gianluca Zambrotta, Damiano Tommasi; Francesco Totti; Alessandro Del Piero, Christian Vieri.
1′ Italy get the game underway and will kick from right to left in the first half.
4′ A free-kick is awarded to South Korea in a dangerous position. Ji-Sung Park beats Francesco Coco for pace before being brought down by the left back on the right-hand side of the penalty area. Coco is awarded a yellow card.
4′ PENALTY TO SOUTH KOREA. The resulting free-kick is swung into the box and a tangle of legs sees Ki-Hyeon Seol fall to the floor. The Italian players are furious with the decision and immediately surrounded the referee in protest. However, the decision stands and it is going to be Jung-Hwan Ahn with the chance to give South Korea an early lead.
5′ PENALTY SAVED. Ahn puts his penalty kick low and hard towards the bottom left-hand corner but is thwarted by a brilliant Gianluigi Buffon save. The Italian goalkeeper gets down quickly and pushes the penalty behind for a corner kick. An exhilarating start to the match!
11′ Damiano Tomasi finds the run of Christian Vieri whose cross-shot floats just over Woon-Jae Lee’s crossbar and out for a goal-kick.
18′ GOAL. Francesco Totti’s corner finds the head of Vieri at the near post who directs the ball past Woon-Jae Lee and into the top left-hand corner of the South Korea goal. The South Korea team all look at each other in disbelief of the space Vieri was afforded. It is Italy that make the breakthrough!
22′ Totti and Nam Il Kim collide when contesting an aerial ball and a free-kick is awarded to South Korea. The referee brandishes a yellow card to the Italian for the use of an elbow in the challenge.
36′ Ahn gets himself into a glorious goalscoring position after cleverly turning past Mark Iuliano inside the penalty area. However, his shot is poor and is fired well wide of Buffon’s goal. A big chance goes begging.
38′ Tommasi finds himself with a glorious chance inside the South Korea penalty area but can only fire his shot straight at Woon-Jae Lee! The ball ricochets back off the Italian before being cleared from danger by the retreating Jin-Cheul Choi. A great chance for Italy to double their lead!
45′ A loose ball falls to the feet of Ahn who strikes a powerful shot towards goal from range. However, the shot lacked direction and was comfortably smothered by Buffon.
45+2′ HALF TIME: South Korea 0-1 Italy.
46′ South Korea get the second half underway.
56′ Gianluca Zambrotta drives into space down the right hand side of the pitch before delivering a deep cross to the arriving Alessandro Del Piero. The forward strikes the ball cleanly but can only manage to hit the recovering Choi with the ball bouncing out for an Italy throw-in.
58′ Park is brought down just outside the penalty area by Coco who is given his last warning from the referee. Cristiano Zanetti argues against the foul and is booked in the process.
59′ Park plays a short free kick to Ahn who’s first time strike takes a deflection off an Italy defender and sails just over the crossbar for a corner.
61′ Del Piero is withdrawn from the action and replaced by Gennaro Gattuso.
63′ Tae-Young Kim leaves the field and on comes Sun-Hong Hwang.
68′ The changes are in full flow. Nam-Il Kim is next to be substituted and his replacement is Chun-Soo Lee.
73′ Zambrotta is taken off the pitch with Angelo Di Livio as his replacement.
75′ Zanetti’s driven ball from midfield finds Vieri who is one on one with the goalkeeper. With the crowd expecting the net to bulge, Vieri strikes the ball poorly and it goes behind for a goal-kick. A huge let off for South Korea.
80′ Italy definitely looking the more likely to score the second goal of the game. ‘Gli Azzurri’ have found themselves in some really promising positions but just cant seem to find that elusive killer goal.
83′ South Korea make their final change of the game, replacing Myung-Bo Hong with Du-Ri Cha.
88′ OUT OF NOTHING, SOUTH KOREA ARE LEVEL! Some intricate passing around the penalty area finds Ahn who sends a first time cross into the penalty area. Both Iuliano and Christian Panucci fail to clear the ball before it finds the feet of Seol who coolly slots the ball into the bottom right-hand corner to give South Korea a World Cup lifeline. South Korea 1-1 Italy.
90+1′ A floated corner finds substitute Cha. He attempts an audacious overhead kick which is fired straight at Buffon and gathered with ease.
90+2′ A lofted ball into the penalty area finds the feet of goalscorer Seol. The striker shifts the ball onto his left foot but strikes the ball just too narrow as it bulges into the side-netting and behind for a goal-kick.
90+3′ FULL TIME: South Korea 1-1 Italy.
We are all square at one goal a piece at the end of this tight round of 16 encounter. The match will be decided by a golden goal with the next team to score progressing to the quarter-finals.
91′ Italy get the first period of extra-time started.
101′ Park glides past several Italy players before winding up to strike at goal from just outside the penalty area. Just as he is about to do so, he is brought down illegally by Paolo Maldini. The Italy captain gets away with just a warning and a free-kick is awarded to South Korea.
102′ Ahn strikes the free-kick low. The ball travels under the Italy wall but is palmed away from danger by Buffon.
103′ A HUGE MOMENT, TOTTI SEES RED! Italy’s star man tiptoes his way into the South Korea penalty area before going to ground under a challenge from Chong-Gug Song. The referee sprints over and brandishes a second yellow card to the Italian, this time for simulation. Extraordinary scenes!
105+1′ EXTRA-TIME HALF-TIME: South Korea 1-1 Italy.
106′ South Korea resume the game for the second period of extra-time.
112′ Seol’s pinpoint cross finds the head of Hwang who is unmarked inside the Italy penalty area. His attempt is poor though and straight at Buffon.
113′ Gattuso looks to have lost the ball under the challenge of Seol but carries on into the South Korea penalty area. He hits his shot from a tight angle towards the roof of the net but Woon-Jae Lee stretches out a strong hand to push it over the crossbar. A huge chance for Italy to take the lead at the death!
117′ SOUTH KOREA COME FROM BEHIND, THEY ARE THROUGH TO THE QUARTER-FINALS! Young-Pyo Lee hoists the ball deep into the penalty box where Ahn emerges from the crowd. As redemption for his earlier penalty miss, the forward nods the ball past Buffon and into the bottom right-hand corner. South Korea score the golden goal! Unbelievable scenes at the Daejeon World Cup Stadium. Simply stunning!
117′ FULL-TIME: South Korea 2-1 Italy.
After two hours of football, it is South Korea who will be making their way into the quarter-finals where Spain wait for them. A controversial game sees the Italians knocked out as South Korea match North Korea’s record-breaking 1966 World Cup run.
Thank you so much for following, until next time!
