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| June 26, 2002 | Wednesday | Rabi-us-Sani 14, 1423 |
Fans cheer Germany’s return to soccer elite
BERLIN, June 25: German fans swept onto the streets from bars and offices Tuesday to celebrate their seventh entry into a World Cup final after shattering South Korea’s dream with a 1-0 semifinal victory.
Some revellers set off firecrackers, others drove around cities in cars honking their horns.
On Berlin’s Kurfuerstendamm shopping avenue, traffic came to a standstill as 300 people waving flags blocked the road chanting: “Germany returns!”
Germany, who won the title in 1954, 1974 and 1990, were matched throughout a thrilling, end-to-end game by Asia’s first representatives in the last four who were backed by a fervent crowd of 65,000.
Fans said the team owed its success to the skill of goalkeeper Oliver Kahn. “At least 70 percent of Germany’s success is due to Kahn,” said Florian Kay, 23, a banker returning to work in the financial capital Frankfurt after watching the match.
But the celebrations paled in comparison with the raucous revelry of Germany’s Turkish population after Turkey beat Senegal Saturday to win a place in Wednesday’s semifinal.
KOREANS PROUD
SEOUL: Meanwhile, South Korea’s players were not too downhearted after their 1-0 semifinal defeat.
“It’s too bad we could not win this one,” said veteran striker Hwang Sun-hong. “We were not able to recover fully. Germany has played more big matches and they were able operate better than us.
Midfielder Park Ji-sung was also in positive mood.
“I believe we gained a lot from the tournament, it was a physically demanding game, but I believe all the players gained more confidence about achieving higher goals,” he said.
“This is a big stepping stone for the further development of Korean soccer,” he added. “We will not be satisfied with just reaching the semi-finals.”
Captain Hong Myung-bo thought his team could have played better against Germany.
“It’s regrettable that we lost by one goal,” he said. “It appeared that the Germans were well prepared for this game. In retrospect, there are some things we could have done better but I have no regrets.
“The greatest achievement of this game was that we got a major boost in confidence. I just want to thank the Korean people.”
South Korea became the first Asian team to reach the World Cup semi-finals after victories over Poland, Portugal, Italy and Spain.—Reuters
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