#176 기념일 뭐 만들래?
In summer, 2002 , people around the world gathered together in front of TV watching the 2002 World Cup Semi-final match; Turkey vs. Korea. Although Korea defeated, most people were surprised Korea making to the semi-final. We, Koreans, were proud of our team and millions of fans. It was an important event that showed the potential of Korean soccer and the uniformity of Koreans to the rest of the world. In this perspectives, it seems reasonable to make that event the new celebrating day.
Through 2002 World Cup, we could show our potential to become a leading soccer country to the world. Before then, our ability was just to win the preliminary match and our goal was only to be in XXX(16강). However, in spite of all of the suspicions and concerns, the coach Guus Hiddink and excellent players defeated world’s strong teams. They wiped out the dark history of our soccer and opened a new road to a powerful soccer country. Some players who did their best at that time, such as Ji-sung Park, Jung-Hwan Ahn, and Ki-hyeon Seol, now play in famous soccer teams overseas. By the help of the success in 2002 World Cup, we are no longer weak in soccer but strong enough to have many excellent players to export.
The World Cup game also gave us the chance to unify broken chains of social interactions and communications. Many people then collided with each other in politics, economy, and social issues and so on. The whole society was too unstable to integrate. However, at the soccer match, many people came together and encouraged the team, holding hands together, although they did not even know who they were. This contributed to integrated the broken situations in Korea. We now believe that we could be one if we want to, because of the experience we have had.
Most soccer fans in Korea use the cheering phrase “Dae-Han-Min-Gook!!” until now, as they watched soccer matches. It is similar to the phrase that our ancestor used in early 20th century’s independent movement which made Koreans as one to fight against Japan. Regarding this meaning, the soccer event we have seen in 2002 was not just a game but a valuable experience worth to remember and it deserves to be a holiday.