South Korea Supporters Clean Up

Heh–after all these years, it turns out that South Korea has the best football fans in the world.

They show up in numbers, they sing for the entire match, they are entirely respectful to other fans, and then they clean up the city.

Is that natural? Is there any room in football for magnanimous supporters?

Koreans are crazy. Not supporting the team enough? What the hell? Wow…

Koreans are not fan of football, koreans are fans of korea. If korea was suddenly the number one cricket team on earth you’d see their fans cheering the same way at every cricket game korea participates in.

As if any sane person doesn’t have enough reason to disdain these hyper-nationalists…

Absolutely disgusting.

Koreans don’t cheer for football. They cheer for Korea. They don’t even follow football. The only reason why they get so rabid about their ‘enthusiasm’ is because they see it as an opportunity to evangelize the ‘greatness’ of Korea – a country with a serious inferiority complex.

I hope they make it through to the elimination rounds, only to get slautered.

Cheers for S. Korea!!!!!

Continuation of WC 2002 Excitement!!!!

Trent: in regards to ‘magnamious supporters’, I suppose you ignore their cheering at the injury of a French player, eh?

They’ve been lucky. They don’t have a good team. Anyone watching the match(es) who didn’t have their head squarely up their arse would see that the haven’t got the ’stuff’.

n i thought they were being supportive..

Go, South Koreans!!! Replace the disappointment we Asians get from the Japanese loss by advancing to the next round!! ^_^ May you beat Switzerland on the next match!!

I am Spanish, and I remember 2002 well. I can tell you La Seleccion remembers 2002 well. I pray that we meet South Korea in the next round.

Revenge is a dish best served cold.

It good they showed enthusiasm on football regardless any reason.
They are much better than so called ‘football fans’ who destroyed public places….

Bravo Korea…

I don’t understand why Korea receives all the negativity from a few individuals who attempt to diminish the value of a team and an entire country.

I understand that Korea has been ‘over the top’ sometimes with their attitudes towards others, but they are a good country.

The World Cup brings people from across the globe to cheer their respective teams. The Koreans are proud of their country. What is so bad about patriotism?

There are many other fans who are just as supportive of their country and show off their nationalistic pride. You shouldn’t judge a country by a few boisterous fans.

What has an entire country done to you? Why can’t you just support ALL the teams instead of eviserating Korea? I know that people are still angry from 2002, but the refs called it. Yes, the refs decisions were not made in the best judgment, but it’s not the fault of the team, the fans, or the country.

I was especially incensed when I read about the French ‘that wasn’t’ goal. A few people condemned Korea when it was the fault of the ref. I agree they should’ve received a point. I agree that FIFA shouldn’t have idiotically played the Korean nat’l anthem twice.

It’s just sad to me that in an event which is supposed to bring contries together, it only leads to division and spiteful attacks.

Stop thinking that everything is a conspiracy and realize that Korea confounded all their critics and made it to the top of the group stage. Korea has talent. It beat over 199 entrants to take a place in the top 32. That’s an accomplishment.

This WC is a great opportunity for the team to finally silence their detractors and show the power of the Taeguk Warriors. Nobody expected Korea to get this far and it’s time to change the world’s perception of Korea.

Best wishes to all the WC contenders and go Korea! :D

i agree with joshcube. i think koreans are the fans of korea rather than their soccer team. everytime i look at those so called “red devils,” i am amazed. (although after awhile, its quite annoying) what other country in the world will support their country like them?

I’ve been to several World Cup games in Italy, the US, and Korea, and a number of other big sporting events as well. But I have NEVER seen fans like the Koreans. We US supporters were a tiny splash in an OCEAN of red. The Koreans never sat, and only stopped cheering and chanting long enough to draw breath. (This was when we sneaked in out shouts of U! S! A!) And while the Koreans were unhappy about a recent unfortunate accident involving some US military men, and were still miffed about their star speedskater being DQed in the winter Olympics and losing his gold medal to an American, the Korean fans we met were tremendously warm and welcoming. They are great fans, and excellent hosts. Sounds as if they are excellent guests, too. I remember my trip to South Korea with great fondness for the people there.

I’m half italian, half spanish and remember the last world cup very well when korea eliminated both teams on very shaky refereeing decisions. the italy referee was later found to have taken many bribes in the past. i also remember the koreans being shocked when a western referee conducted the game fairly in their game against germany since they were so used to having it in their favour. you can bet i’m hoping against them although the spain revenge factor sounds great.

People claiming that South Korean Red Devils are not fans of soccer are foolish and full of ignorance and disrespect. They themselves may not be the soccer fans.

There is no doubt that Korean Team got special treatments from the refs in WC 2002. But this was not a special case at all. In any major soccer tournament, the host always gets special treatment regardless of the Fair Play banner FIFA put out before every game. Dont be surprise if you see Germany is favored by the ref in this WC. Now, I am not trying to justify the favors the Korean Team got in WC 2002. I just want to make the point that they are not the only host team being favored in the history of WC. It is an unwritten rule, a part of football: the host always get special treatment.

Heh. There was an article in an Australian newspaper too about Korean fans cleaning up an inner city park where they gathered to watch the games. Left it better than before.

Be the Reds!

I agree with the views above that the Korean supporters are supporters of their country rather than their football as a whole, but saying they’re arrogant and that they think themselves special is totally out of order. I’m not a Korean supporter myself (in fact I prefer France and the Swiss to advance from this group), but any opponent has to admit that posting a win over the South Koreans nowadays will require every single man out there leaving their last drop of sweat and blood on the field. As for the Koreans’ style of football on the whole, I don’t really fancy it as they are pretty average grafters instead of artists, but it’s credit to them and their coaches (Hiddink and Advocaat) that any opponent that thinks of giving less than 100% percent on the field will be found out.

As for the Koreans’ style of football on the whole, I don’t really fancy it as they are pretty average grafters instead of artists, but it’s credit to them and their coaches (Hiddink and Advocaat) that any opponent that thinks of giving less than 100% percent on the field will be found out. France did exactly that and were found out.

Btw, I’ll love to see a rematch of Spain v South Korea in the next round. It’ll certainly be mouth-watering, with the Spaniards in white-hot form and Korea a team you can never write off until the last possible second. In that case, I’ll root for Spain to exact revenge for 2002, but only if they play at 101% for the whole game.

You know those comments about Korean fans being only nationalistic maybe true. But in the end it is COUNTRY vs. COUNTRY in the WC. So they may not follow football that much still if one goes to Korea you’ll find football fields and teams. These Korean players didn’t spontaneously morph out of thin air. :p

Still this is a silly argument…if they cheer for their team and country let them. It’s just as annoying as all the other fans who cheer ONLY when they are winning instead of cheering on their team to do their best.

Agreed, Ali….

C’mon, everyone, don’t let your contempt for Koreans be so obvious. As an American, I’ve had to endure the same sort of attacks for supporting my football team with patriotic fervor. I don’t see the same sort of invective leveled at the Mexicans, or the Soca Warriors, (or any other team for that matter) who all have the same level of nationalist pride in their team.

It’s the World Cup, nation v. nation. That’s the nature of the tournament. Plus, I think we can all agree, it’s a game of passion!

BTW, I’m no Korean supporter, but I think the reason they seem to keep getting lucky is because of their fans. It seems that crowds can influence refs to favor the team they cheer for. So if Korea wins matches because of their cheering supporters, especially in a venue half a world from their own country, then bully for them. I’d be ashamed I weren’t supporting my own country with the same level of enthusiasm.

Alessandro… please see comments and video footage of the Spain:Ukraine game. It looks like Spain is now benefitting from “poor” officiating. Is it a coincidence that the team of officials was Italian and Swiss? Perhaps years of corruption have resulted in an acceptance of taking bribes and shamelessly calling a game with such bias.

[...] But my favorite story yet? It’s the one about how the South Koreans clean up after themselves. [...]

[...] But my favorite World Cup story yet?  It’s the one about how the South Koreans clean up after themselves.    [...]

I am a korea supporter and i do think that alot of the other teams are better than our team but you guys really shouldnt put it out on us fans because we are representing the country that we love you shouldnt be saying that we are trying to get the favors of refs and the ref was the one making mistakes in the 2002 world cup we have been a very lucky team this year and i hope that we will go up but we did go up and beat togo and france with luck,sweat and hard work.THE RED DEVILS are representing and cheering on our home team and i so i dont think that you should be insulting the fans or the players i mean yes we do cheer alot but we cheer with a great enthusiasim filled with hope and uplifting spirit i hope that you guys can understand that because some other theam that you were rooting for lost you shouldnt be mad but say they did their best and ill cheer for them next time too not just oh the red devils [korean fans] are causing the refs to do this and that and they were bribing the refs because that is sooo not right and i think that no one has a right to be accusing of playing “unfairly” because alot of other teams were playing dirtier sooooo DONT be mad at the RED DEVILS cause all we are doing is rooting and cheering for who we want to win

go korea you can beat switzerland
please win for our country…

what u guyz sayin?
corea is the best
shut your mouths

wtf
koreans are not crazy?
we’re just cheering and supporting our team
you got that?
if u dont want me to shut a chicken down your mouth then shut up

Korea is a well deserved team with many great and skilled players. therion , i do not agree with you. Koreans cheer for the TEAM and their country. The team, for their wonderful efforts in the WC and also because our Korean team is representing Korea. I agree with mike, well said mike. therion said “I hope they make it through to the elimination rounds, only to get slautered. ”
Well guess what? Whether they make it or not, they will NOT get slautered. Get that into your thick head because it seems you don’t know what you are saying.
And, for your sake, just cheer for your country and don’t discriminate others, because what comes around, goes around.
Everyone has different opinions about different things, but if you just can’t shut your big mouth, then i advise you to buy a soft toy and talk to it about your problems, because your problems aren’t going to be solved if you write nasty comments on a site for everyone to see.

>
대 한 민 국 !!

It’s one thing to critize a team and its fans, but it’s a different matter to be downright hateful. The people who love to hate Korean fans for being over-the-top are themselves being over-the-top and hysterical. Hypernationalism, inferiority complex? It’s incredibly naive to assume that ONLY Koreans are affected by that. ALL nations, Europeans included, have some complex, whether of superiority or inferiority, that they want to vent out during international competitions like the WorldCup.
After the game against Switzerland, Park Ji Sung told reporters that cases of officiating, like Elizondo’s, were part of the game, and that the Korean team would move on and try harder. Kudos to Park and his teammates for their handling of the situation. The more haters they have, the more the Korean team will stay positive, train harder and come back stronger in the next WorldCup. And Kudos to the Red Devils for demonstrating such classy and exemplary behaviour. You will definitely not see them getting violent and attacking other fans, like the Germans and the English hooligans lunging at each other. Or that Swiss fan who threw a plastic cup at a Korean fan’s face. And shame on that icon that depicts the Swiss team raping the Korean team!! It’s a really shocking example of how soccer can degenerate to fanaticism, mysogynism, and racism. It’s really sad to see that rather than promoting understanding, the WorldCup is becoming the site of intolerance, cultural and racist prejudice, deep running Eurocentrism, and talk of “revenge.” You’d think we were talking about invading a country, not a football match.
What happened to the WorldCup slgan “say no to racism?”

in the swiss vs. Korea game, the referee had cheated Korea. There were two handeling calls that had been ignored, both of which were penalty shots. and of course the offsides that was called but waved off by the referee. what does that say about the ref? Maybe there was something else involved like a bribe by the swiss chariman of fifa. the chairman should be sued for bribery.

one more thing, they have assembled a well trained soccer team which had done well against the swiss, who had to result to cheating to get to the next round in which they will lose as they cannot compete with the better teams.

I am both a South Korean, and also a Korea Republic supporter, and i was overall disappointed by our results in FIFA 06. I would definitely like to see them qualify and do as good as they did in our own country in FIFA ‘10.

When i was watching Korea’s games, i was overall satisfied with our results, but i was extremely sullen when i heard news of Korea’s loss against Switzerland, ESPECIALLY when i heard that Switzerland had an unfair offside goal allowed to them.

For FIFA ‘10, i’d also like to see BOTH Koreas qualify for FIFA ‘10 (although the North are not as prestigeous as the South)and also qualify into the same group. So all i can say is good luck to them.

GO Park Ji Sung, Lee Chun Soo, and Seol Ki-Hyeon!!!!!

대한민국 만세!!! (Hooray for Korea!!!)

Here’s a message to ALL you people who think that Korea had a ’scandal’ by bribing refs in FIFA 2002!!!

1. The refs can’t help during a penalty shootout (Spain)

2. The refs aren’t responsible for Korea having the ball for 15+ whole seconds, and Italy not even being able to TOUCH the ball for that duration. They are also not responsible for the magnificent header goal by Ahn Jung Hwan. Italy had also numerously pushed, shoved, and hit our players during the game. (it is also rumoured that they practice faking to fall on the ground.) (Italy)

3. We won fair and square against Poland.

4. Park Ji Sung didn’t score his juggle-kick goal against Portugal with the assistance of a ref. (By da way that goal received the most votes on SBS Australia as the best goal of FIFA 2002.) (Portugal)

THERE. That proves it. Now will you bloody LEAVE US ALONE?

sorry JL,

Korea had never won a world cup game in their history than all of sudden they win their group comprising of Portugal and Poland and than go all the way to the semi-finals…Use your common sense..There were very bad calls in both games against Italy and Spain so don’t try to justify it. I hope you enjoyed your 2002 run because it will never happen again.

“Korea had a ’scandal’ by bribing refs in FIFA 2002″ You said it JL

Just for the record when Korea was “screwed by the ref” in the Switzerland game..I was happy..how does it feel to be on the other end of a bad call…not so good.