By Kim Ji-soo
Staff reporter
The monsoon season arrived just-in-time. The rain falls as if to quell the early summer heat and to tone down our turbo-charged football fever. The wildly popular Taeguk Warriors, the South Korean national football team, returned home Tuesday from the 2010 World Cup Games to a crowd of ecstatic fans-from screaming teenagers to an 81-year-old grandfather dressed in red and with a long white beard and newly-recruited foreign fans. Meeting this wild crowd, the Taeguk Warriors looked a bit dazed, according to the images on television. But they seem to soon relax and open up.
The month of June was a great time. I wonder if there is anyone that didn't revel in football joy this month. It was a younger South Korean team under the helm of Korean manager Huh Jung-moo. They got off to a great start with their first game against Greece on June 12. The movement of the players ― from captain Park Ji-sung to striker Park Chu-young and midfielder Lee Chung-young ― evidenced from that first match seemed to signal that more excitement was on its way. South Korea suffered a great defeat against the Maradona-helmed, Messi-centered Argentina, but they managed to survive that trauma, held their own despite some wobbles in their match against the Nigerians to make it to the round of 16. Korean players erupted in joy, falling to the ground, with Lee Young-pyo and several other players kneeling and praying in gratitude. The ever-expressive defender Cha Du-ri let his hair loose ― figuratively speaking ― and jumped up and down on the back of Park Ji-sung and the team coach. The energetic Red Devils cheered through the night to meet the rise of the morning sun with the news.
When the team lost to Uruguay, thereby ending Korea's journey at the 2010 World Cup Games, it was less about an end but more about anticipation. The Korea team excelled record-wise. It's the first time that the national team advanced to the round of 16 at a World Cup held overseas. It was a feat also achieved under a Korean manager.
But the joy this time was more about anticipation for the future. What Korean fans and even just World Cup-time watchers found was that something has changed with our players ― they were more confident, they were there to show all they had and they were enjoying themselves. Even the Red Devils; they enjoyed cheering for the players and the game, win or lose.
To be able to stand confidently, just enjoying what we do and show all that we've got is easier said than done, particularly when we are facing pressure and facing competition. And the World Cup games are definitely all about competition. A lost goal, a missed chance was all that was needed to determine a win or a loss. In that extreme pressure-cooker situation, it's hard. Yet despite it all, they did. Football watchers noted that younger players, those born in and after the 1988 Seoul Olympics, such as defender Lee Chung-young, Ki Seung-yueng, Lee Seung-yeul and Kim Bo-gyeong are of the ``G-generation." The G here stands for global and green, meaning activism including environmental awareness. The G-generation is bold, confident and not easily intimidated. They also know how to take defeat. They got over the Argentina defeat to tie with Nigeria to advance to the round of 16. The Red Devils are also more forgiving and tolerant. When captain Park Ji-sung Tuesday apologized on a live television show on behalf of Kim Nam-il, whose foul led to a successful penalty kick by the Nigerian team to tie the game at 2-2, the crowd shouted ``It's okay."
So as we wind up our June party, it seems the people with ``can-do" spirit have perhaps found resilience. Resilience to see the light at the end of the tunnel, resilience to know that there is always tomorrow and resilience to take loss or defeat as it is and move on. Not to sit on it, but to move on. This too might be easier said than done, but we've seen a start.