"We deserve to win," said assistant coach Sergio Costa, who took over for Paulo Bento and guarded the ground.



The Korean national soccer team, led by coach Paulo Bento, won 2-1 in the last 3rd match of Group H of the 2022 Qatar World Cup group stage against Portugal held at the Education City Stadium in Arrayyan, Qatar on the morning of the 3rd (Korean time).



Korea, which drew 0-0 in its first match with Uruguay and then lost to Ghana 2-3, now has 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss (4 points, 4 points, 4 concessions) and is in Group H 2 following Portugal (2 wins, 1 loss). Above, the 1st and 2nd places in each group will advance to the Round of 16 stage.



Coach Bento was unable to go to the ground that day after receiving a red card for protesting to the referee after the match against Ghana in the previous second leg.



Instead, head coach Costa, who led the thrilling come-from-behind victory, rejoiced in a lively voice, "We deserve it," in a post-game broadcast interview.



"All the players and the coaching staff deserve this victory together," he reiterated.



"We did a good job," said Costa's head coach, who met with reporters afterwards.



With this victory, Korea advanced to the round of 16 at the World Cup for the first time in 12 years since the 2010 tournament in South Africa.



Including the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, which wrote the legend of the semifinals, which was the best performance ever, it passed the group stage of the World Cup finals for the third time.



When it was pointed out that advancing to the round of 16 would not be easy, he said, "I thought it was possible."



He praised, "(Compared to 2002) it is very difficult. I didn't know it personally because I saw it on TV at that time."



Head coach Costa praised, "Our players have strong personalities. I think they can and should do better than what they have achieved so far."



He put in offensive resources such as Hwang Eui-jo (Olympiacos) and Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton) in the second half, which was tight 1-1 that day, and this mercenary technique eventually led to Hwang Hee-chan's final goal, which made use of linear speed.



Head coach Costa said that he had not discussed the appointment of these players with Bento.



He explained, "The director only told me the overall strategy," and "It was a situation where I couldn't tell you the details (on the field) for 90 minutes."



At the same time, he gave credit to coach Bento, who led the team, for advancing to the round of 16.



"I think (the manager) should be sitting here right now," said Costa's head coach.



Following "

He pointed out every detail and led us well," he said. "There are only 72 hours left until the next game.

We need to recover well because of the fatigue of the players," he added.



(Photo = Getty Image Korea)