PORTUGAL are through to the Round of 16.
And, courtesy of their lack of concentration and poor defending, so too are South Korea – at the expense of Uruguay.
From the outset of their Group H clash on Friday evening, Portugal bossed the game against the Koreans.
They scored as early as the sixth minute after Dalot motored down the right flank and ploughed the ball into the path of the onrushing Horta, who did the damage (1-0).
Not a bad way to announce your first appearance on the World Cup stage!
Korea thought they had levelled matters 11 minutes later when Son whipped a cross that brought a fine save from Diego Costa, only for the rebound to be poked home by Kim Jin-Su, who sadly was ruled offside.
But the equaliser did arrive in the 28th minute, against the run of play, as a set piece ball bounced off the back of Ronaldo and Kim Young-Gwon slid it home at full stretch (1-1).
The game started drifting with only the rising 22-year-old PSG star Vitinha popping up all over the show while others day-dreamed.
All the while, the Korean technical team was watching over their shoulders at what was happening in the other game, where Uruguay were 2-0 up against Ghana.
The African side was by now out of the reckoning but Uruguay were positioned above South Korea on goal difference and the latter needed another goal to reclaim second spot in the group.
It was hard to see where it would come from but this was time for some bold substitutions.
Portugal had benched Ronaldo, and Korea now threw Son Jun-Ho and Hwang Ui-Jo into the bullring.
It took into added time for the magic to take effect.
Portugal had a corner and the ball was cleared to Son hu Ming who raced upfield and somehow fed a through pass to Hwang Hee-Chan, who stayed composed, netted and became an instant national hero.
It would end on the 2-1 score line and Korea were now ahead of Uruguay, but there was an anxious five minute wait for the other game to finish before the wild celebrations could begin.
If this was golf, South Korea won on a count-out . They and Uruguay both ended on four points, with equal goal difference, but by virtue of having scored four goals during the tournament to the two of Uruguay, Korea march through to the knockouts.
