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A breakdown of South Korea v Italy from the 2002 World Cup: Was Italy "cheated" as bad as people want us to think or are we just blindly accepting the Euro-centric viewpoint of surely South Korea wasn’t that good?
This game was brought up the other day, saying South Korea were obviously the only recipients of some egregious decisions.
YouTube clips of SK fouls hardly tell the full story.
YouTube clips of SK fouls hardly tell the full story.
3rd min: South Korea get a controversial penalty early.
Ok. The home country gets an iffy penalty call. Not the first or last time this has happened. Buffon saves.
Ok. The home country gets an iffy penalty call. Not the first or last time this has happened. Buffon saves.
7th min: Vieri elbows Tae-Young in the face while going for a header. Foul is called but no card given.
21st min: Totti elbows Nam-Il in the face while going for a header. Yellow.
21st min: Totti elbows Nam-Il in the face while going for a header. Yellow.
51st min: Tae-Young (with cotton up his nose to stop the bleeding from Vieri's elbow) elbows Del Piero in the face while Del Piero wildly pulls his shirt. Referee tells them both to calm down.
80th min: Chun-Soo kicks Maldini in the head while Maldini moved to play the ball on the ground inside the 6 with his head. Nothing called.
Tommasi’s golden goal in ET was disallowed by a very close offside call. Home country gets an iffy offside call. Not the first or last time this has happened.
So if the official got a hold of the game early (the 2 Italian elbows), it would’ve gone a lot better. The official was bad & the match got out of hand, but it’s not as if he let South Korea walk all over the poor little Italians.
Fouls committed:
SK -27
Italy - 23
Fouls committed:
SK -27
Italy - 23
A lot of tourney favs went out in the group. France, Argentina, Portugal. There was arrogance from some '02 big dogs. Italy underwhelmed in the group stage & complained about everything. It was obvious they were still sore about a call v Croatia when they took the field v Mexico
Trapattoni’s squad management & player rotation was well-criticized during the tournament but time has forgotten that. Against SK he took off 2 attackers & sent in holding players by the 70th minute up only 1-0. That’s a dangerous decision in a World Cup KO game.
It's especially dangerous at 1-0 when the only shutout they had was against a team that finished last in their group.
Taking off striker Del Piero for holding mid Gattuso in the 60th and winger Zambrotta for holding mid Di Livio in the 70th were not good decisions.
Taking off striker Del Piero for holding mid Gattuso in the 60th and winger Zambrotta for holding mid Di Livio in the 70th were not good decisions.
Di Biagio, Cannavaro, Nesta were all out while Maldini was 70% at best, but was a risk worth taking. Italy started the clearly 2nd rate Coco and Iuliano on their backline that day.
Tomassi & Vieri missed 1v1s. Del Piero missed an open net.
Tomassi & Vieri missed 1v1s. Del Piero missed an open net.
Totti 2nd
: Before the tourney FIFA announced officials would crack down on diving. Both Totti & Del Piero time & again fooled the (bad) official w/ diving throughout the match. One of the ARs is gonna say “Hey, I think they’re diving” & will look to make up for being fooled.
: Before the tourney FIFA announced officials would crack down on diving. Both Totti & Del Piero time & again fooled the (bad) official w/ diving throughout the match. One of the ARs is gonna say “Hey, I think they’re diving” & will look to make up for being fooled.
So honestly, I don’t feel bad for Totti for that 2nd yellow. Brought it on himself by trying to fool the official (who was already having a bad match).
Oh yeah. Don't elbow people in the face.
Oh yeah. Don't elbow people in the face.
Italy’s defense was not as good as advertised in the ’02 WC. If Panucci didn’t scuff his clearance, South Korea don’t score. Materazzi had 2 shocking errors that allowed Croatia to win. Materazzi did not play after that.
Italy was out-possessed for ¾ of their WC matches. 43% v South Korea. 40% v Ecuador. 53% v Croatia (a loss w/ 2 defensive errors). 40% v. Mexico.
And, this is a big one, Italy just got out played on the day.
So, in conclusion:
No. Italy were not cheated in 2002. They were sore they lost to a well-coached, organized team that weren't a pre-tournament favorite that were also hosts.
There's also another reason why I think they were mad that I won't get into.
No. Italy were not cheated in 2002. They were sore they lost to a well-coached, organized team that weren't a pre-tournament favorite that were also hosts.
There's also another reason why I think they were mad that I won't get into.
Sources:
Live match report from 2002: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2002/jun/18/minutebyminute.worldcupfootball20021
Live match report from 2002: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2002/jun/18/minutebyminute.worldcupfootball20021
Bad luck and bad management: Italy's exit (2002) https://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/bad-luck-and-bad-management-italy-s-exit-1.327184
A forensic analysis of Byron Moreno’s refereeing in Italy v South Korea, 2002 (2020) https://www.planetfootball.com/nostalgia/a-forensic-analysis-of-byron-morenos-refereeing-in-italy-v-south-korea-2002/
Collina's cheating clampdown (2002)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport3/worldcup2002/hi/other_news/features/newsid_2014000/2014735.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport3/worldcup2002/hi/other_news/features/newsid_2014000/2014735.stm
Scores and statistics from every 2002 WC match https://m.football-lineups.com/tourn/World-Cup-Korea-Japan-2002/
Also the best source is a college friend of mine, Ryan Jeong. He was on my indoor team (04-05 year) and when talking about this match, he wanted me to watch it with him. He had handwritten, timestamped notes of each Italy foul AND no call.
I believed the narrative being pushed of “Italy was cheated” up until that day.
When you watch that match with a South Korean native, you definitely see the Euro-centric view of “Italy got hosed” (false) vs. “It was bad officiating for both teams” (true)
When you watch that match with a South Korean native, you definitely see the Euro-centric view of “Italy got hosed” (false) vs. “It was bad officiating for both teams” (true)
