"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, who drew 0-0 with Uruguay in their first match and then lost 2-3 to Ghana, 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 together deserve this victory," he repeated.
With this, Korea has advanced to the World Cup round of 16 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.
(Photo = Yonhap News)