DOHA – Son Heung-min wants South Korea to pull off “another miracle” and beat Brazil on Monday in the World Cup last 16 after their last-gasp heroics against Portugal.

The Koreans’ tournament looked to be over until substitute Hwang Hee-chan popped up in injury time to score the winner in a 2-1 victory over already-qualified Portugal on Friday in Qatar.

That propelled them into the knockout rounds and a daunting date with five-time champions Brazil, one of the pre-tournament favourites.

But skipper Son, who has been playing in a mask following surgery last month for a fracture around his left eye, said they are not ready to go home just yet.

After what has been a tournament of surprises, the Koreans now want to pull off another one.

“This is great but our tournament is not over,” Tottenham star Son, who shed “tears of happiness” at the end, told Korean media in Doha.

“We’ve always talked about reaching the round of 16 as our objective but we should now try to go beyond that.”

“I hope we can script another miracle,” he added, having set up Hwang with a searing run and threaded pass through the legs of a Portuguese defender.

After crying tears of sorrow in the last two World Cups, with South Korea eliminated in the group stage in both 2014 and 2018, finally Son was able to shed tears of joy.

“I believe these tears are tears of happiness,” he said. “We waited really long for this moment and we as players believed altogether we could do this.

“There were moments when I wasn’t able to do my best and I am thankful for my teammates that they were able to cover me in the moments I wasn’t able to fulfil my duties, and I’m very proud of them.”

South Korea have now reached the knockout phase for only the third time in their history.

The victory was immediately cheered widely at home, with fans also shedding tears of joy in sub-freezing temperatures.

They celebrated Son’s tearful post-match interview and munched Ghana-branded chocolates to honour the plucky performance by the African team who stopped Uruguay from scoring more.

Some 8,000 supporters gathered in Gwanghwamun Square in downtown Seoul despite the winter chill and midnight start.

Cheers erupted from apartment complexes and streets across the country when the Uruguay-Ghana match finally ended.

“I felt absolutely thrilled – we were cornered going into injury time, and Sonny was running like crazy,” said Lee Tae-woo. “I was so nervous but I’m so glad that they made it.”

Many on social media circulated Son’s interview, while the player himself also posted photos of the team celebrating the victory, commenting on Instagram: “We did not give up and you did not give up on us. I love you, Korea.”

It fetched more than three million “likes” and more than 50,000 cheery replies.

“It was heartbreaking to see him cry and say sorry for his performance, though he did great even with injuries,” said Kim Hyun-joo, a Seoul resident who said she was not familiar with football but enjoyed the match.

President Yoon Suk-yeol congratulated the team on Facebook, saying he hoped the players would demonstrate their potential and enjoy the tournament.

The term “Ghana chocolate” was trending on South Korean Twitter, referring to a brand by Seoul-based Lotte Confectionery using cacao beans from Ghana.

“I’m going to eat no chocolates other than Ghana until I die,” one person tweeted. Another said: “What am I doing? On my way to a CVS (convenience store) to get a Ghana, of course.”

While the Koreans celebrated, Uruguay’s bitterly disappointed manager and players blamed penalty decisions against them for their exit from the World Cup.

Coach Diego Alonso pointed to a controversial late penalty awarded to Portugal in their second game, a 2-0 loss. At the end of the win over Ghana, his players confronted the referee complaining about several unsuccessful penalty appeals and some were screaming in the faces of the match officials.

“The team did everything they could to get into the second round, we’re going home with a bad taste in our mouth,” he said.

Aggrieved striker Luis Suarez – who had been at the centre of the pre-match build-up because of his infamous handball in the 2010 quarter-finals, which helped eliminate Ghana – was more blunt, saying Fifa had an agenda against his nation.

“Fifa is always against Uruguay,” he said. “After the match, I wanted to go and hug my family and people from Fifa come and tell me ‘no’, but you see a Frenchman with his children on the substitutes’ bench.”
AFP, REUTERS