Asian football surge ahead on the Red wave, gaol for the Spanish

Joaquin, the 20-year-old winger who had been Spain’s most likely route to victory all night, clipped a ball over from the right for Fernando Morientes to head in at the far post.

South Korea won a reprieve, though, as the linesman had already raised his flag, ruling incorrectly that Joaquin had taken the ball over the goalline before crossing.

Cruelly, it was Joaquin, the youngest player in the Spanish squad, whose weak penalty was saved in the shoot-out.

South Korean skipper Hong Myung-Bo stepped up and calmly converted to make his side the first Asian team to reach the World Cup semi-finals, where they will face Germany. With their leading forward Raul absent because of a groin injury they looked toothless in attack, although they still created the better chances.

The South Korean fans packing the stands had been relatively subdued as the game neared its conclusion and the atmosphere was not quite as intense as in the side’s previous victories over Portugal and Italy.

The supporters, who had created a huge mosaic at one end of the ground proclaiming the side to be “the pride of Asia”, exploded into life, though, when Hong crashed his penalty into the roof of the net.

“These fans are fantastic, without any violence, I am so happy for them,” said South Korea’s Dutch coach Guus Hiddink. (Reuters)