Soccer: Koreans can't stop smiling at first win

By AINSLEY THOMSON

Go to any bar in Auckland and you will find that the regulars have been swamped by excitable groups of French, Brazilian, Korean, German, Japanese and Irish drinkers, all glued to big screens.

What they have in common is fierce devotion to their national soccer side and the hope that their team might win the World Cup.

They are also united by the lure of easy money. The TAB has already exceeded its $4 million turnover from the 1999 rugby World Cup by $1 million and the soccer tournament is only just into its second week.

One of the biggest bets so far was a $220,000 punt on Cameroon beating hapless Saudi Arabia.

The punter was made to sweat well into the second half before netting a profit of $44,000 when the Africans won 1-0.

The nightly action has not been limited to bars. Across Auckland, different nationalities have crowded around televisions in homes and clubs to cheer, celebrate wins and console one another over losses.

A TV One spokesman said afternoon and late-night highlights packages had attracted about 136,000 viewers, a 50 per cent increase on the same time slots for the previous week.

Information on viewers for Sky, which is screening all games live on its digital service, was unavailable yesterday.



With Greater Auckland's diverse ethnic makeup, it is likely that most, if not all, of the 32 teams that started the tournament are represented in the city's population.

One group who have not stopped smiling this week are the Koreans.

On Tuesday, Korea beat Poland 2-0 to finally win a World Cup match after a half-century of trying.

In a Queen St restaurant, three elated Koreans shared in the glory.

Bohyun Kim, a 22-year-old business student, said she was shocked by the victory.

"Before Korea was not so good," she said. "Before they didn't pass the ball well, but on Tuesday they passed exactly and with skill."



Young Jun Jang owns a Korean restaurant on Queen St but his plans to install a television for the soccer were foiled by noise control regulations.

So he went to a bar with other Koreans and caught the action on a big screen.

His brother, Woo Young Jang, said people in South Korea had been so excited that they had been unable to sleep.

They had woken up their relatives in New Zealand with phone calls in the middle of the night.

Not being able to sleep because of World Cup excitement is something a few Auckland-based Koreans are also experiencing.

Wook Han has lived here for 13 years. He said his New Zealand friends had never seen him so excited.

"Man, I didn't sleep," he said. "Not only me, everybody."

Wook Han, who works in the travel industry, was relishing the chance to get together with other Koreans and support the nation of his birth.

He said it was amazing for Korea, after so many years of trying, to finally win a World Cup match.

In the Mad Dogs and Englishmen bar on Albert St on Thursday night were a group of Korean students who have not missed any of the World Cup games.

Lee Geum Ho, Cho Nam Hyun and Park Jun Ho were avidly watching Cameroon play Saudi Arabia on the big screen and discussing Korea's chances for the rest of the tournament.

They believed Korea had a good chance in their next match against the United States.

While they were enjoying life in New Zealand and their studies at a language school, they said they were envious of relatives in South Korea who were closer to the action.

nzherald.co.nz/fifaworldcup

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