Team faces Brazil Wednesday; Women’s epee team wins silver


South Korea made its Olympic soccer history by advancing to the semifinals Saturday.

Its men’s football team defeated Britain in the quarterfinals to clinch a place in the last four for the first time in the country’s 64-year Olympic history.

The victory over the hosts was one of the highlights for Koreans on a rare day of no golds for the country.

Both sides failed to affect the 1-1 score line during extra time at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. South Korea edged Britain 5-4 in the ensuing penalty shootout. 

The national side faces highly favored Brazil in the semifinal round at 3:45 a.m. Korean time Wednesday. Brazil stayed on course for its first Olympic football gold but only after a nervy 3-2 win over a Honduras side reduced to nine men.

The other semifinal will be between Japan and Mexico. Japan reached the round with a 3-0 win over 10-man Egypt. Mexico survived a dramatic fightback by Senegal to win 4-2 in extra time.

The bronze medal match is on Saturday 3:45 a.m. Korean time, before the final at 11 p.m.

Great Britain competed in its first Olympics as a unified football team in 52 years, hoping for a victory on its home turf, but again fell victim to its poor performance in penalty shootouts. England’s penalty record stands at six defeats and one victory from seven shoot-outs at major tournaments, including a quarterfinal exit in the European Championships in June.

Both sides enjoyed perfect records until the fifth penalty, when substitute goalkeeper Lee Bum-young guessed Daniel Sturridge’s shot correctly, diving to punch the ball away.

South Korea’s last kicker Ki Sung-yeung hit the ball into the top left, sealing his team’s semifinal ticket.

In regular time, Ji Dong-won opened the scoring for Korea in the 29th minute with a long-range shot. Korea’s joy, however, lasted just a few minutes. Thirty-six minutes into the match, Aaron Ramsey equalized with a penalty, awarded when the ball touched the arm of Oh Jae-suk in the area.

“I was concerned that the players would have a very difficult time, but they played better than expected throughout the game,” South Korean coach Hong Myung-bo said.

“Our players could beat the British side because they were mentally tougher.”

Manchester United star Ryan Giggs, who scored in the shootout, told the Associated Press that Korea had benefited from more preparation.

“The Korean lads had, I think, played 18 games unbeaten, so that’s the sort of preparation they’ve had compared to our preparation,” he said.

British media expressed disappointment, and praised the South Korean side.

The Daily Mail reported, “one of the greatest days British sport has ever known ended with a sadly familiar quarterfinal penalty shootout exit to South Korea in Cardiff.“

The Telegraph credited the Korean players for their resilience and ignoring “the graceless booing by many Great Britain fans.”

In other Olympic action Saturday, the South Korean women’s epee team won silver. Shin A-lam finally got a medal after missing out in the individual competition to a disputed decision against Germany’s Britta Heidemann on Monday.

Swimming ace Park Tae-hwan came in fourth in the men’s 1,500-meter freestyle.

On Friday, South Korea won the men’s saber team final, earning its 100th Olympic gold, including those won at the Winter Games.

Oh Jin-hyek won South Korea’s first Olympic gold in the men’s individual archery. The country earlier won gold in the women’s individual and women’s team events.

By Chun Sung-woo (swchun@heraldcorp.com)