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South Koreans spoke on Thursday of pride and sorrow after watching their national football team overthrow defending champion Germany in the biggest surprise of this year's World Cup, but who has not been qualified for the next round. Seoul is shaking the streets an hour after midnight Thursday as South Korea scored two goals in stoppage time to stun Germany 2-0 in what will become the last match of the two teams in Russia.
Many Seoul residents, including thousands of fans screaming in front of the giant screens in downtown Gwanghwamun stayed late to cheer the team even after being certain that they would not qualify for the knockout stages.
South Korea had to beat Germany and Mexico defeat Sweden to have a chance to advance from the group stage. But Sweden lost all hope with three unanswered goals that sealed the game halfway through the second Group F final.
After momentarily celebrating their victory, South Korean players fell, several of them being in the lead. 39, between them shedding tears.
But for many fans, beating Germany was as good as a moral victory could be.
"Honestly, I had no expectations, but the players did a great job of overcoming crisis after crisis seal victory," said Lee Shin-young, a 39-year-old office worker in Yongin, near from Seoul, who looked at the house. "After two consecutive defeats, it was not good, but I think we revived the pride of Asian football by finishing with a win."
Kim Hyun-tae, who was the coach of South Korea's 2002 and 2010 goalkeepers, the only time the country reached the round of 16, said the victory over the team was the only way to go. Germany was crucial as it restores confidence in the future of South Korean football.
South Korea has a relatively young core in their early and mid-20s. They can now build the counter-attack identity that they established during Germany's match, said Kim. In goalkeeper Cho Hyun-woo, whom Kim described as "formidable," South Korea may have also found a world-clbad player able to keep him in any game.
"C & That's how South Korea should have a solid defense first and an attack with pace and goal on the meters, "said Kim, now recruiting director for the South Korean club FC Seoul. "It is so frustrating and breathtaking that we did not play like that against Sweden and Mexico, we needed a miracle to get into Germany and we almost did it."
The next big tournament for South Korea will be the Asian Games in August, where several young players will compete for a gold medal that would provide them with mandatory military services for South Korean men.
After the disappointing elimination in the group stage of the Brazil World Cup years ago, angry fans waited at the airport to make players enter with sweets on their return . The victory against Germany almost ensures that the reception will be hotter this time around.
"Moving towards the best of 16 has been a long-term shot, but beating Germany is still something special," said Choi Ji- Hye, a 40-year-old office worker in Seoul. "The players had been heavily criticized and it would have been painful to experience all that, so it was heartbreaking to see them crying and kissing after the game."
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