By Oh Young-jin
Assistant managing editor
On one hand, I love football. On the other, I hate it.
This feeling of ambivalence comes from the mixed results of the Korean team at the ongoing World Cup in South Africa. I felt blessed by the unexpectedly easy 2-0 victory over Greece in their Group B opening match. The disappointment was equally intense when Argentina gave a 4-1 drubbing to the Taeguk Warriors in their second match.
I feel certain that my love of the sport will be redeemed, when/if our team beats Nigeria.
Call me a lover of opportunity or middle-aged with the heart of a teenager.
No matter what, I want to see Park Ji-sung score the first goal, Park Chu-young the second; Yeom Ki-hun the third and Lee Dong-gook the fourth. I don't mind if other teammates replace them as scorers. For the Super Eagles (definitely not full-fledged ones), I won't object, if they score two goals in consolation.
I will expain later why I am hoping for a 4-2 victory for the Koreans.
First, I will share my World Cup experience, so far two weeks into it, not that there is anything particular but rather because it may give some peace of mind to those who fear they are going World Cup-mad.
My journey started uneventfully.
I didn't have high hopes for our team, when they were going up against the Greeks.
In his pre-match prediction, Guus Hiddink, the Dutch coach who led Korea to the semi-finals in the Korea-Japan World Cup 2002, talked down Korea's chances. I am sure that Hiddink's pride was piqued to a degree after the Koreans still did well without him.
The Greeks were after all Euro 2004 champions. They were supposed to be descendants in the pedigree of Zeus but his thunder obviously didn't reach the other end of the globe.
Moreover, I live in one of the downtown areas of Seoul where the television signal for SBS, the sole broadcaster of the quadrennial event, is poor. I support the selection of one broadcaster for exclusive World Cup coverage but SBS has left a lot to be desired.
So when the Korea-Greece match was on, I watched it in snatches. Whenever I flicked on SBS, I was put to a test of patience with myself, trying to hear the voice of the football caster at the same time trying to distinguish our players from the Greeks on the screen (I still don't consider the Internet as a proper channel for watching television).
Both times when Lee Jung-soo scored a beautiful volley and Park Ji-sung dodged two defenders and tapped in for the second with a Premier League-level of equanimity in front of the goal, I watched other channels but knew instantly about their feat, being alerted by my neighbors' collective eruption of "Waaa…" coming from outside. I flipped back to the World Cup broadcast and enjoyed the replays shown from a variety of angles but with a divine sense of foresight that is allowed only to the chosen few.
My low expectations were immensely raised when the day of Korea's match against Argentina approached. The Albiceleste, led by football legend Maradona and his "hand of god," are one of the World Cup favorites and, by any means, the chance for Korea beating them was slim.
Despite the overwhelming odds, I had first predicted a 2-0 victory for our team, opting to believe that an upset is a salient aspect of the game of football. I knew that patriotism played a significant role in what proved to be monumental wishful thinking on my part.
But I became mentally sober enough in time, when I placed my bets for a 3-1 victory for Argentina in a friendly office pool.
Purely by accident, I happened to have an appointment with a corporate PR office that night. The restaurant was all but deserted and we were alone watching the match that hundreds of thousands of Koreans gathered throughout the country to watch together.
My anticipation of an upset overwhelmed my sense of reality for minutes after the match began. Then, I was brought down to earth when Park Chu-young scored an own goal. The manner it was scored was even more depressing than the fact that we conceded the first of the four goals Maradona's team eventually scored. Park, the supposed football genius, just stood in a melee of players in front of our goal and looked frozen when the Argentines' corner hit him and deflected the ball into the net.
It was a presentiment about what is to come.
Then, the dreadful Messi, the master on the field with an obnoxious smile fixed on his face, was in control. A sliver of hope came when Lee Chung-yong scored in injury time after the first 45 minutes expired. That ray of hope was totally eclipsed by Higuain's hat trick.
But even during that 90-minute defeat, I felt I was on an emotional roller coaster not entirely because the Koreans were performing poorly.
When Lee made it 1-2 just before halftime, I was reminded of my 3-1 bet and found myself emotionally pulled in two directions. I still wanted my team to take a come-from-behind victory or a more respectable loss. On the other hand, I felt a moment of guilty excitement for possibly winning the bet (the ante was small and I coveted more the honor of being cool-headed enough to make an accurate precious prediction).
Then, the Argentines scored their third goal, splitting my mind into two: one lauding me for my divine foresight, while the other called me a traitor.
Thankfully for me and unfortunately for my team, the conflict didn't last long because the football-crazy South Americans rattled the Korean net one final time.
With a half day left before our match with the Nigerians, played soon after this column went to press, I am expecting a big win for Korea, say by the score of 4-2, because I bet on it.