Tuesday, 8 May 2018

Japan/South Korea '02: the final

Day -37 WorldCup2018

As unfathomable was the thought that Turkey could have beaten Brazil to reach the 2002 World Cup final so was it also unthinkable that the other surprise semifinalists, South Korea, could have beaten Germany. The most unlikely semifinal lineups ever did in the end produce a heavyweight final.

It could have been Oliver Kahn's final, the best goalkeeper in the world at the time and a saviour (saver?) for the Germans many times in this tournament. But in the end it was Ronaldo's final, with a little help from an uncharacteristic Kahn error. And the whole of the neutral football world probably gave Ronaldo a mental standing ovation. For what he had been through since 1998 it was a beautiful moment to see him not back to his best (his serious knee injuries may have slowed him down) but back to being a winner. Who could begrudge him this moment, his moment?

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