HyunCheon Kim
Translated by Kelly Choi

Supporting Korean National Soccer Team for Round of 16

Those wishing for a spot for Korean in World Cup’s  top 16 have all gotten together. During last Saturday’s 7:30 am match, the Korean national soccer team beat Greece by 2 points, and the 150-strong crowd supporting Korea let loose a shout of joy in Allston’s Korean restaurants.

The Allston restaurants Myungdong 1 Ave and Korean Garden were full of Korean-Americans and students from Korea who cheered on the Korean national soccer team for an hour and a half during the round of 16 qualifier in the World Cup.

Right after the first half had begun, Jeong soo Lee scored the first point, and the place was lit up with joyous shouting and applause.

The Korean team led the game one to zero until the second half, when Ji sung Park added another point, and the crowd applauded and let loose another whoop of approval. The Korean students stood up, and put their arms around each others’ shoulders in a display of excitement.

The people watched the game all agreed that it was a good sign we won the first match against Greece. They all said by beating Greece, the Korean national team has demonstrated huge improvement.

Some Koreans wished to tie the match against Argentina on Thursday, and others were jonesing for a win to get into the quarter finals beyond the round of 16.

Despite the fact that game time was early in the morning, many Koreans gathered in a show of their patriotic fervor. “It was definitely more fun and more moving to watch it together.”

“I left home early today. I had things to do around Allston, so I figured I might as well watch the game if I had to head to Allston anyway.” said a Canton residence Kyung Joon Kim,

Although the crowd did not scream, “Dae~han min kook,” most of them wore the Red Devil T-shirt or hair band.
Kyu Kim had a Red Devil towel from his friend, and Cheung Wan Yu was wearing a Red Devil T- shirt which he purchased on the Internet.

The cheers were not only limited to Allston restaurants. Koreans gathered in a small group according to their location. The churchgoers of Boston Korean Love Church  were gathered in the common room of a church member after morning service, and some of the Cambridge Korean Church youth group got together the night before to go to a supporting ceremony.

In addition, roughly 20 to 30 Koreans were gathered at the New Seoul BBQ restaurant in Canton, a suburb of Boston. The owner Seok Hee Ko said “Some drove from 2 hours away. Everyone was so happy when Ji sung Park scored a point. I was so proud of being a Korean.” All customers had Yook Gae Jang for breakfast and  left with a complimentary Red Devil T-shirt.

On the same day, the Korean Garden restaurant offered complimentary Sul Lung Tang with a $10 admission fee, and donated the sales to the Elders’ organization to celebrate the first time that a Korean team won a World Cup game.