SEOUL, June 4: Tens of thousands of South Koreans danced in the streets and popped open champagne in the capital Seoul Tuesday as they celebrated a 2-0 win over Poland and the country’s first World Cup finals victory in six appearances.

Traditional drums pounded victory rhythms, party poppers exploded and loud rock music blared from speakers amid a sea of red shirts that choked traffic central Seoul’s main intersection.

An estimated 150,000 fans watched the match on four large outdoor television screens in the heart of Seoul — an open-air carnival scene that was played out by a million people across South Korea.

“Our team fought so well and barely made mistakes,” said Park Hyun-ki, 21 as he waved South Korea’s national flag. “Now our goal is not the final 16 but the final four.”

As confetti poured from office buildings, hundreds of police manning barricades struggled to keep traffic flowing on central Seoul’s main street under the crush of jubilant fans spilling off sidewalks for blocks.

“The mood around here is amazing. Photos can’t really describe this, you have to be here, you have to feel the beat,” said Teemu Peltoniemi, a Finnish business student in Seoul.

“Hiddink saved Korea!” said Kwon Young-sick, a high school student, referring to Dutch coach Guus Hiddink, who rebuilt South Korea’s fortunes over the past, often stormy, year.

“It was so exciting, that no one could stay calm during the match,” Park Joon-young, a 17-year-old high school student. said over chorus of thousands singing South Korea’s national anthem at the top of their lungs.

Young South Koreans, including members of the “Red Devils” fan club, had shown up to claim a place as early as six hours before the match in Pusan, the country’s second city, far away on the south-eastern tip of the Korean peninsula.

Gearing up to cheer for the home team, they also rooted against rivals and co-hosts Japan, booing when the Japanese briefly went 2-1 ahead in their thrilling opening game against Belgium in front of a near hysterical crowd in Saitama earlier in the day.

Japan, restrained neighbours, traditional rivals and co-hosts, were pegged back to 2-2 but still earned their first ever point at a World Cup finals in their group H match — added incentive for the Koreans to do well against Poland.

Long before kick-off, many people across the country donned red shirts, even civil servants, hotel staff and both candidates in a presidential election to be held in December.

Many fans were quick to remind reporters that the South Korean victory was the first win for Asia in this tournament — Asia’s first World Cup — after Saudi Arabia and China were crushed and Japan drew.

South Korean President Kim Dae-jung declared himself cheerleader-in-chief, but adopted a more measured tone for his naturally emotional people, not least because he watched the match with visiting Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski.

South Korea, like Japan, has spent millions of dollars building new stadiums for the month-long finals.

South Korean newspapers fuelled the excitement with almost apocalyptic headlines before the group D match. South Korea also play the United States and Portugal in the showcase tournament.

The English-language newspaper the Korea Times headlined its front-page story “The Moment of Truth”.

“This is the real thing, and if South Korean football is to gain the respect of the world, it must start tonight.”

Yang Hye-ran, a 20-year-old college student, said she had predicted the victory and score.

“I told everyone that we would win by two to zero,” she said.

“The next matches, with the US and others, we will win every match, every match, every match! We will reach the final!” she said.—Reuters