First and first… Qatar World Cup pours unprecedented records : Donga Weekly

Again, the number of cases is not folded. As the Korean national football team lost 2-3 to Ghana on November 28, the calculations for advancing to the round of 16 became complicated (see table). Portugal defeated Uruguay and Ghana in succession to advance to the round of 16 as first place in Group H, and a fierce clash is expected between Korea, Uruguay and Ghana for second place in Group H. The match against Portugal starts at 12:00 on the evening of December 3rd. Ghana and Uruguay will also play at the same time.

An unprecedented incident happened in the match against Ghana. Cho Kyu-seong became the first Korean player to score ‘multi-goal’ in one game in the World Cup finals. The atmosphere subsided as the first half ended 0-2, but Cho Kyu-sung scored a series of headed goals and the atmosphere heated up. The number of Instagram followers of Cho Kyu-sung, which was 20,000 before the World Cup, exceeded 1.63 million as of December 1st.

Another unique record came out in the game against Ghana. Paulo Bento, coach of the Korean national football team, received a red card from referee Anthony Taylor at the end of the match. He was the first Korean coach to leave the final match of the World Cup. In the game against Ghana, South Korea had a corner kick opportunity at the end of extra time, but referee Taylor blew the final whistle. Bento was ejected by referee Taylor after angry players and coaches protested vigorously. Coach Bento apologized in a press conference the day after the game, saying, “I’m sorry for the players,” and “I showed this kind of scene and appearance because I’m a human being. “

In the match against Portugal, the referee can also be a variable. Facundo Teyo, who takes part as a referee against Portugal, is famous as a ‘red card bomber’. On November 7, 10 players were sent off in the Trofeo de Campeones final of Argentina’s professional soccer cup competition when problems arose among the players with a radical ceremony.

Outside the stadium, there was a fierce cheering battle as ever. The main feature seen in this World Cup is that the cheering culture is changing. Unlike in the past, when large-scale gatherings such as Gwanghwamun Square were used to cheer, there was an attitude of reducing group gatherings and holding cheering games indoors. In the first game against Uruguay, 26,000 citizens cheered on the streets of the Gwanghwamun Plant, but only 2,500 people gathered in the game against Ghana. It is analyzed that the cold winter weather and the atmosphere of avoiding group cheering due to the Itaewon disaster had an effect. Local governments also encouraged small-scale cheering, such as not setting a group cheering schedule different from previous years.

Citizens watched the game with their acquaintances indoors or gathered in the cinema to cheer for the national football team. CGV will broadcast the World Cup matches live in theaters until December 18th. If the Korean national team advances to the round of 16, the live broadcast schedule will be extended.

In this World Cup in Qatar, there were many unusual records. She is one of the first female referees to referee a World Cup final. The protagonist is the Frenchman Stephanie Frappard, who served as the referee for the final match of group E.

Qatar, the host country, was disgraced. Despite reaching the final stage as the host country, this is the first time in the history of the World Cup in 92 years that all the host countries have been defeated and eliminated from the round of 16. With consecutive defeats to Ecuador , Senegal and the Netherlands, Qatar became the first country to fail to progress to the round of 16. On the other hand, Australia are in a festive mood as they managed to progress to the round of 16 for the first time in 16 years . Australia defeated Tunisia and Denmark at the Qatar World Cup to progress to the round of 16 for the first time as a member of the Asian Football Confederation.

Donga Weekly No. 1367 (p6~9)