69novels Chapter 32 An Eternal Shame
Chapter 32 An Eternal Shame
The trailing South Korean team has completely stopped pretending.
In the 22nd minute, Totti and Kim Nam-il challenged for a header, and Totti slightly raised his elbow, earning a yellow card from referee Moreno.
In the 42nd minute, Liu Xiangtie elbowed Keke in the face, causing Keke's eyebrow bone to break and bleed profusely.
Moreno chose to ignore this, not even issuing a yellow card or a foul.
Then everyone saw the classic scene of Coco continuing the game with his head wrapped in a white bandage.
In the second half, South Korea's fouls escalated, but the referees applied double standards.
In the 49th minute, Kim Tae-young elbowed and struck Del Piero, but Moreno ruled that Del Piero had committed a foul.
In the 69th minute, Hwang Sun-hong made a flying tackle from behind on Zambrotta, directly injuring him and forcing him to leave the game.
Moreno remained silent this time as well!
In the 77th minute, Totti was deliberately knocked down by a South Korean defender during a breakthrough, but Moreno continued to ignore it.
In the 79th minute, the worst scene unfolded.
Maldini fell to the ground in the penalty area, and Lee Chun-soo kicked Maldini hard in the head!
"Holy crap, is this a human? Why isn't he getting a red card?" The Chinese national football team players were stunned.
"What red card? Look what the referee did! Not even a yellow card!" Sun Jihai exclaimed incredulously.
"Would the referee have made the ruling if the Italian hadn't been killed?" Yang Chen was completely baffled.
Ye Xian also shook his head slightly.
In his previous life, he had watched many videos of this match.
But watching it again in its entirety this time, I was still very upset by this outrageous behavior.
Today's referee, Moreno, from Colombia, was later arrested and imprisoned for drug possession.
Prior to this, he had been banned for life by FIFA for accepting bribes and manipulating domestic matches.
Although there is no concrete evidence that the South Korean bribed the referee, it is hard not to connect his many outrageous actions today with his criminal behavior.
Upon learning of Moreno's arrest, then-Italian Football Federation president Abete stated, "It's easy to connect these two events. At the very least, this proves that Moreno's refereeing career wasn't all that glorious."
In 2002, the president of the Football Association, Carraro, said: "Moreno's arrest reveals a lot. His officiating in that match was either due to incompetence or some other ulterior motive."
Even Chung Mong-joon, former president of the Korea Football Association and vice president of FIFA, publicly stated in an interview: "In the 2002 World Cup, I bribed everyone I needed to bribe so that South Korea could reach the semi-finals."
It's safe to say that today's match between South Korea and Italy was the most blatant case of biased refereeing in World Cup history; this is almost a consensus.
With such biased refereeing, the Italian team ultimately failed to last until the end of the match.
In the 88th minute, Seol Ki-hyeon scored with a low shot, making it 1-1 and forcing the game into extra time!
Moreno's performance time has increased significantly.
In the 102nd minute, a crucial decision was made.
Totti dribbled into the penalty area, and Song Jong-guk tripped him from behind.
Because Totti's supporting foot was hooked, the Chinese national team players even cheered for this obvious penalty.
But Moreno ruled that Totti had dived, showing him a second yellow card and sending him off with a red card!
Italy has 10 players.
In the 109th minute, Vieri played a through ball, and Tommasi beat the offside trap, rounded Li Yunzai, and slotted the ball into the empty net.
The linesman raised his flag for offside, and Moreno ruled the goal invalid!
But slow-motion replays showed that Tomasi was not offside...
"Oh my god, thank goodness we didn't run into the South Korean team, otherwise how could we have won?" Zhao Junzhe kept scratching his head.
"I can only hope that the Italian team grits their teeth and beats South Korea, so that the teams behind them don't suffer..." Ma Mingyu said with a wry smile.
But this wish was clearly not fulfilled.
In the 115th minute, Lee Young-pyo crossed the ball, and Ahn Jung-hwan headed it into the net, making it 2-1 for South Korea against Italy!
Since this World Cup adopted the golden goal rule, the South Korean team won directly and advanced to the quarterfinals!
Watching the South Koreans celebrate wildly, the Chinese football players turned green with envy.
"Damn it, shameless!" Li Weifeng even kicked a chair in anger.
Ye Xian quickly went over and patted him on the shoulder: "Big Head, don't hurt your foot, we still have to play against Senegal."
"Coach Ye, you really understand the Koreans. You knew they'd resort to underhanded tactics," Li Weifeng shook his head. "If they keep playing like this, won't they make it to the final and win the championship?"
"Then let's make it to the finals and face them then!" Ye Xian said with a smile.
This remark piqued the interest of the Chinese national football team players: "Wow, Coach Ye has so much confidence in us? Can we really make it to the finals?"
Ye Xian laughed even louder: "What's the difference between a person without dreams and a salted fish?"
Shao Jiayi leaned over and said, "Coach Ye, you're thinking about playing against Senegal? You'll have to teach me properly when you have time. I want to be a great coach after I retire."
"Teaching you is no problem, but I still need to discuss with Milutinovic and Coach Kim how Senegal should play." Ye Xian patted Shao Jiayi on the shoulder.
Even though everyone knows that Ye Xian is the main strategist for the national football team, he cannot be complacent and forget his role as an assistant.
Even if I become the head coach of a team in the future, I will still need the help of the coaching staff. Of course, I can't just set the tactics now.
However, Shao Jiayi is indeed quite eager to learn.
Who would have thought that he would coach the Chinese national football team in the future?
Well, in the current national team, there are actually three people who have coached the national football team in the future!
Li Tie, Li Xiaopeng, and Shao Jiayi.
Both Li Tie and Li Xiaopeng failed; Li Tie even sang "Tears Behind Bars."
I just don't know if Shao Jiayi's tenure will have a good outcome...
-----------------
With the conclusion of the South Korea-Italy match, the eight quarter-finalists for the 2002 World Cup have been determined.
However, most media outlets are not focusing on the upcoming quarter-final matchups during the World Cup.
Instead, they launched a tirade against the match!
Italy, the direct victim, was outraged, believing it to be the most blatant case of referee corruption in World Cup history.
Just look at the headlines used by the Italian media.
Gazzetta dello Sport: Nightmare: A Match Filled with Evil;
Tuttosport: "A World Cup Disgrace Forever"...
Meanwhile, mainstream media in Europe and America generally believe that the match involved serious misjudgments and host privilege.
The Associated Press headline read, "Referees send Italy away, South Korea survives a major disaster," directly pointing out that "referees decide the game, and South Korea survives thanks to controversial calls."
Reuters adopted a relatively neutral tone, but emphasized "frequent violent fouls and unbalanced officiating."
AFP emphasized that "Ahn Jung-hwan scored the most important golden goal in World Cup history," but also mentioned that "multiple refereeing decisions sparked strong controversy."
The Times, The Guardian, and other newspapers used terms like "controversy," "scandal," and "robbery" to question FIFA's bias towards the host country, calling it "not football, but a farce."
Of course, the situation is quite different for the South Korean media.
The Chosun Ilbo reported, "Taeguk warriors cross the Rubicon River and enter Rome," stating that "12 Goryeo warriors annihilated the Blue Knights, a historic victory."
Nikkan Sports: "Ahn Jung-hwan's Golden Ball Touches the Hearts of the Nation, South Korea Moves Towards World Level," praising "Asian Football's Pinnacle, Spirit Overcomes Technique."
Seoul Sports: "The Italian team, which committed numerous fouls, countered by saying, 'Italy is rough, prone to diving, and the referees are lenient; South Korea won by sheer willpower.'"
The Korea Times, in its article "Waiting 40 Years: Replicating the 1966 Korean Miracle," emphasizes national glory while omitting any mention of controversy.
South Korean television went even further, completely removing all controversial fouls from the replays, such as Yoo Sang-chul's elbow to Coco and Lee Chun-soo's kick to Maldini's head, only showing footage of South Korea's fighting spirit and goals...
Their statements are quite consistent:
This is a great victory for South Korea. The referee was fair, and Italy couldn't afford to lose!
……
……
……