#Asian Moments at the World Cup#
【2010】
South Korea: World Cup trip ended by Suarez
2010 was a significant year for the Korean team.
After 14 unbeaten qualifiers, South Korea qualified for the World Cup. Their first opponent was Greece, winner of Euro 2004. Lee Jung-so scored in the opening 7th minute, and Park Ji-sung went down again in the second half to give South Korea a 2-0 opener.
In the second game, against Maradona's Argentina, South Korea lost 1-4 unsurprisingly. In the final crucial match, the "Taiji Tigers" overtook Nigeria with the first goal, but were eventually equalized by their opponents and advanced to the knockout stage second in the group.
In the quarterfinals, South Korea faced Uruguay represented by Suarez, who was 23 years old at the time to score from a small angle in the eighth minute. South Korea then fought back and in the 68th minute Lee Chinglong seized the opportunity to head in front of goal to equalize the score. It wasn't until the 80th minute that Suarez got off his foot in the box and the ball curled perfectly into the net, marking the end of South Korea's World Cup journey.
Japan: Best performance at the World Cup
Japan, which suffered setbacks in the warm-up matches, faced Cameroon, the Netherlands and Denmark in the World Cup group.
Despite the pressure, thanks to Keisuke Honda's goal, Japan won 1-0 in their first game against Cameroon and took the first three valuable points. In the second game, they lost 1-0 to the strongest opponent in the group, the Netherlands. In the crucial match against Denmark, the "Blue Samurai" went down two cities in the first half, Denmark pulled a goal back in the 81st minute, but a few minutes later Japan also won 3-1 in color.
The quarter-final against Paraguay was dramatic, with the two teams drawing 0-0 after 120 minutes before a thrilling penalty shootout. Paraguay hit all five free throws, and on the other side, Japan missed a penalty from Komano Yu, the third free throw. Japan missed the quarter-finals, and this was Japan's best performance in the World Cup.
Australia: Representing Asia for the first time
This is the first time the Kangaroo Army has represented Asia in the World Cup. Australia, who are in the same group as Germany, Ghana and Serbia, are under pressure, especially against Germany in their first game.
Germany got into shape as soon as the game started, scoring twice in the first half before continuing to score in the second half, as Australia lost 4-0. In the second 1-1 draw with Ghana, Australia scored one point. Despite beating Serbia 2-1 in the final round, Australia missed the knockout rounds due to goal difference.
North Korea: Return after 44 years
It was North Korea's first return to the world stage since 1966 and their second World Cup trip.
North Korea, who beat Italy 1-0 on their World Cup debut, is full of confidence. In the first game against Brazil, both teams attacked and defended in the first half, but failed to break the situation, and in the second half, Brazil's offensive efficiency improved, and after scoring two goals in a row, North Korea fought back, and the North Korean team pulled back a city before the end, losing 1-2 in the first round.
North Korea then lost 0-7, 0-3 to star-studded Portugal and Ivory Coast, stopping the group stage.
