It should be bouquets for the South Koreans and rotten tomatoes for the Italians.
The host country and coach Guus Hiddink, in particular, made the best of the limited talent at its disposal and beat Italy by a golden goal.
Instead of graciously accepting defeat or just disappearing, the Italians found a scapegoat to atone for its sins.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Referee Byron Moreno was viciously attacked by the Italian press yesterday, which blamed the Ecuadorian for its loss by a "golden goal" in extra time to South Korea at Daejeon Stadium on Tuesday.
In various Italian papers the official was called "chubby," or "at least 15kg overweight," "bug-eyed" and "immature."
The Italian press also weighed in on FIFA, suggesting that because South Korea was hosting the tournament, the organizing body was doing everything it could to ensure that it won.
PHOTO: AFP
`Shame on you'
La Gazzetta dello Sport said in an editorial, "Italy counts for nothing in those places where they decide the results and put together million-dollar deals."
"Shame on you gentlemen of FIFA and your dirty games."
PHOTO: AP
"THIEVES" thundered Italy's second sports daily Corriere dello Sport, in big letters on its front page.
The Italian team, its manager Giovanni Trapattoni and the media loudly claimed the first penalty decision was a travesty, but replays clearly showed two Italians throwing down two South Koreans in the penalty box.
Marching orders
They said Francesco Totti should not have been sent off, even though he elbowed one player in the face at the start of the game and then did a pike dive in search of a penalty at the end.
The Damiano Tommasi goal that was ruled offside was debatable, but all teams have suffered from bad decisions or bad luck.
France, for instance, was unlucky. But Zinedine Zidane did not say this was the reason the French went out of the World Cup. He said a team made its own luck and he did not blame a neutral party.
The source of Italy's embarrassment is, perhaps, the fact that it was beaten by the Koreans in England at the 1966 World Cup.
The 1-0 result achieved by the North Korean team is still remembered as one of the biggest upsets of all time.
On returning home the Italian players were met by a barrage of tomatoes.
Fruit please
Perhaps fruit would be more appropriate this time round, rather than the lame sore-loser excuses that are currently being given the oxygen of publicity.
But then the Italians would have to accept their team and its players were second class from beginning to end.
It only qualified from Group G by default because Croatia could not finish off tiny Ecuador.
Italy lost to Croatia 1-2 and only just managed a 1-1 draw with Mexico. It looked unconvincing throughout the competition.
A neutral observer would not begrudge South Korea its victory.
Local media in Taiwan have also bought into the "conspiracy" theory for Italy's defeat and have pointed to seven alleged errors on the part of the referee, Moreno.
Three errors -- not the penalty, the sending off, or Ahn Jung-hwan's golden goal -- could, possibly be counted against the Ecuadorian.
But three small mistakes do not constitute a conspiracy.
Local reaction
The local media has inferred South Korea has tried to buy success before now at major competitions that it has held.
This possibly shows jealousy and there are also sore losers in Taiwan, as evidenced by the conversation overhead on the MRT line between Shipai and Shihlin this morning.
One man said it was a shame that Italy had lost the previous night. "Why?" asked the other man. "Because I lost NT$100,000 on the result," the first man responded. "I reckon it must have been a fix."
Inter on Sunday were given a letoff when they snatched a late 1-1 derby draw with AC Milan, while league leaders SSC Napoli were held by a late goal at AS Roma. Reigning champions Inter remain three points behind Napoli, who looked to be heading five clear as they led in Rome until Angelino volleyed in a stunning leveler in the first minute of stoppage-time. Angelino’s strike gave even more significance to Stefan de Vrij’s last-gasp equalizer at the San Siro. The defender forced home Nicola Zalewski’s knockdown just as it looked like Tijjani Reijnders’ opener would be enough for Milan. “I can
Santiago Castro on Tuesday had an immediate impact off the bench as he scored the goal to send Bologna into the Coppa Italia semi-finals for the first time in 26 years. Bologna won 1-0 against last year’s runners-up, Atalanta BC, and are to play either holders Juventus or Empoli in the final four. Juventus are to host Empoli in their quarter-final on Feb. 26. The last time Bologna reached the semi-finals was in 1999, when they lost 4-2 to ACF Fiorentina. There were chances for both sides in a high-tempo match in Bergamo, but it was Bologna who broke the deadlock 10 minutes from
The Washington Capitals and Winnipeg Jets on Saturday did not disappoint in a thrilling midseason matchup in front of a fired-up sellout crowd of more than 18,500 fans. The top two teams in the NHL delivered with a combined nine goals, including the 877th of Alex Ovechkin’s career to put him 18 back of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record. That tied the score, the Jets pulled it out in overtime and just about everyone involved got their money’s worth out of the 5-4 game. “We knew how we were both sitting in the standings and both having real good years,” Winnipeg coach Scott
After nearly six years away from the NBA, New Taipei Kings player Jeremy Lin (林書豪) is set to participate in the 2025 NBA All-Star Weekend’s Rising Stars mini-tournament as the coach of Team G League. The NBA announced Monday (U.S. time) that the Taiwanese-American player will join a trio of Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famers – Tim Hardaway Sr., Chris Mullin, and Mitch Richmond – as honorary coaches for four teams featuring 28 rising talents. "See you soon in the Bay," Lin wrote in an Instagram story sharing the news. As the All-Star Weekend will take place at