SEOUL, July 6 (Korea Bizwire) – The World Cup fever fizzled out too early in South Korea as its national football team failed to advance into the next stage.
The football fever seems to be rekindled, however, not because it has seen a ‘glimmer of hope’ in the next opportunities in the upcoming Incheon Asian Games or other major competitions, but the football-loving people are infatuated in the increasingly exciting and nerve-racking matches during the big games in the tournament for now.
Most Asian people are soccer enthusiasts indeed; In case of China, approximately 600 million fans are following every ‘foot’ move by the world’s renowned sports stars, even though Chinese national football team has continued to fail in the qualification in the game, except for just once in 2002 Korea-Japan co-hosted World Cup games.
Anyhow, during the previous matches of South Korean team against Russia, Algeria and Belgium in a series of battles of Group H, a throng of fans took to the streets across the nation to root for South Korean football team.
Here are some pictures taken in Gwanghwamun Square near Seoul City Hall, where Yi Sun-shin and King Sejong statues stand, and the “streets cheer” at this World Cup season saw an elevated mood, driven by the specially arranged show events featuring several K-pop stars including Psy and many famous TV celebrities. Take a look then how the real scenes at the street during the games looked like.
Photos taken by Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
Written by M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)