December 02, (THEWILL) – In a dramatic end to Group H, Hwang Hee-chan scored the game-winning goal in stoppage time to help South Korea defeat Portugal 2-1 and advance to the World Cup’s round of 16, at the expense of Uruguay.
The Taeguk Warriors appeared to be on their way out with 1-1 on the scoreboard while Ghana was behind by two goals against Uruguay, but Hwang’s goal at the very end completed an astonishing comeback to give them enough to tie Uruguay on the table.
Although Kim Jin-goal su’s was disallowed shortly after Ricardo Horta gave Portugal the lead, they failed to heed the warning, and Kim Young-gwon rightfully brought South Korea back into the game before the interval.
By coasting through the second half, Portugal—who had already won the group—allowed South Korea to seize the initiative. Hwang delivered the game-changing blow that completely upended the group’s permutations and eliminated Uruguay.
South Korea will now face the Group G winners, who are very certainly going to be Brazil and Portugal will next play the runners-up of the same group, which could still be any of the other four teams – Cameroon, Serbia or Switzerland.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
