#3 South Korea’s golden fortune – 2002 World Cup
The 2002 World Cup is infamous for the huge number of refereeing mistakes that it witnessed. A string of top sides was eliminated as co-hosts South Korea made it to the semi-finals with a little luck, of course.
In the second round, Italy met South Korea, a match which has gone down in infamy for the way the South Koreans were helped along by the referee. First, Damiano Tomassi’s legit goal, which would have been the Golden goal, was disallowed. Moments later Totti was sent off for simulation although replays suggested that he had lost his footing. Then, the Koreans went on to win the match through a controversial penalty given by the Ecuadorian referee Byron Moreno for a Christian Panucci tugging offence.
The quarter-final against Spain was also marred with controversial decisions. A Spain goal was ruled out for an offence in the build-up although TV replays could find no such infringement. Another Fernando Morientes goal was ruled out as the linesman wrongly judged that the ball had gone out of play before it was crossed. The Koreans went through on penalties.
