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#8 2002 World Cup Round of 16: South Korea 2-1 Italy
This game is almost a mirror copy of the aforementioned 1994 Nigeria-Italy match, except this time Italy were on the receiving end of a brilliant comeback. Hosts South Korea had begun the tournament well as they finished above the United States, Portugal and Poland to top their group. Meanwhile Italy had struggled as they suffered a shock loss to Croatia. Even then, the Azzurri were still considered favourites (for obvious reasons).
What followed was one of the most controversial games in World Cup history. The controversy started very early as South Korea were awarded an early penalty for some tussling in the penalty box. The uproar was diminished when Ahn Jung-Hwan missed the resulting penalty. Italy responded with the opening goal of the game. Nonetheless, South Korea continued fighting… quite literally as they were rather physical leading to several injuries on both sides.
By the 88th minute, Italy had survived the pummelling and seemed to be heading for a quarter-final against Spain. But Korean winger Seol Ki-Hyeon had other ideas as he took advantage of an Italian error to smash home an equalizer.
In extra-time, the game descended into farce as Francisco Totti was sent off harshly and Italy had a goal wrongly disallowed. Just as a penalty shoot-out seemed inevitable, former villain Ahn popped up to score the ‘golden goal’. Like No.9 on this list, this game will always be remembered for its referring- that still takes away nothing from an underdog comeback like South Korea’s.
