Soccer World Cup

Soccer world cup 2002 logo

National sentiments at Peak: 2002 World cup fever was at its peak and I bet one could recognize South Korea even from moon. This part of the earth would look all red.

Gathering in front of City hall Seoul during World Cup.All in Reds

The world cup fever gripped not only Koreans but also the foreigners like us who moved with the flow.Tens and thousands of fans in red would gather to watch match around every giant screen on road side. It was a wonderful example of harmony and togetherness among the country people where everybody rose above to become just Koreans.No one would deny that this bond of love was a major factor in taking South Koreans to the final 4 for the first time in 72 years of world cup history. It was a once in a life time experience and I am glad and feeling lucky to have witnessed those pulse throbbing moments.

The D-Day: It was 14th of June 2002.The D-day. I, my wife Chandra and Daryl-My American friend, started our journey from Suwon towards Daejon for the Poland vs. USA match. It was almost 3 hours of journey by Car.
Our excitement and enthusiasm landed us in Daejon almost two and half hours before kick off. Since we had time we went to a nearby local market, parked the car there in a small Parking lot and after a little eye shopping headed towards the stadium by walk. The stadium was an architectural masterpiece which reflected the image of traditional Korean farm house. We enjoyed traditional dance performance and participated in so many events held outside the stadium.


With Daryl in front of Daejon World cup stadium

Outside the stadium with U.S.A.fans

Outside Daejon stadium with the statue. The small kid on the left is not a statue.

The Match: Most interesting was that even though the match was between USA and Poland but in every part of the stadium all one could see was red and more red, girls, boys, old and young, family and pets all in red singing the most popular Ooooo Philsung Korea.

Inside the Stadium while the match is going on

We all were too excited and to add up our excitement Poland stunned everyone with 2 goals within 5 minutes. Soon there was the third goal from Poland, score board showing 3-0. USA finally break through with one goal. Poland finally won the match 3-1.At the same time in Incheon, Korean team had won the match against Portugal. Korean team had entered second round. People from all corners came out on the street to celebrate Korea's victory. Music was banged and people were dancing on the streets. We too were charged up. It was a wonderful moment.

Post Match Climax : But little did we know that something more shocking was waiting for us.We reached the parking lot and to our utter surprise the front gate was locked. All our enthusiasm and happiness vanished with one single sight of that small lock hanging on the gate.The wall around was almost 2 meter high and there was a leaflet on the car window.I managed to climb up the wall and bring that small leaflet. It contained the bill and a phone number .We called at the given number but nobody picked up the phoneAfter calling thrice we realized that the phone rang just behind us inside one restaurant which too was closed.We were totally shocked .It was almost 11 pm and most of the shops were closed .We rushed to a mobile police van but they could not help us. It was a new city for us .We felt totally helpless. A Bar was still open just on the opposite side of the road. The bar owner understood that we have landed in soup but he could not understand English.I used my broken Konglish-a mixture of Korean and English, and made various gestures and postures to make him understand what had happened.One more hour passed. The streets were now almost empty. With every passing moment we grew more and more tensed. We did not know what to do next.The bar owner and his wife tried to comfort us by giving some water and news papers to sit on. Some passersby too sympathized with us but no body was ready to break the lock. The bar owner at last called up local police. The police came around 1 am. They were surprised why we parked our car in that small parking lot instead of placing it in the stadium parking lot and started asking more questions. Knowing that we were Samsung employees they did not bother us much but were of no help either. We were turning crazy because of tension and fear.

Finally 119 for Rescue: Finally they called headquarters and decided to call 119. 119 is the emergency call number in South Korea. In matter of minutes there was a huge Red vehicle in front of us which looked like a fire brigade with around more than 15 policemen pouring out of it. After filling some official documents they helped us in breaking the parking lot lock. We were relieved and by the time we got into the Car it was 2 am early morning.We can never forget this incident ever in our life and neither can we forget the support that we got from the Bar owner and his wife. We reached Suwon at around 5am and headed for a deep sleep.