TAEJON, South Korea - The World Cup of surprises produced another sensational upset last night, and this one sent an entire nation into a frenzy of celebration.
In one of the most dramatic games of Asia's first World Cup, South Korea came away with a 2-1 victory over Italy that sent the co-host to the quarterfinals - and left the three-time champions lying on the grass in disbelief.
After Ahn Jung Hwan's goal off a header in the 117th minute of play, the "The Land of Morning Calm" erupted into anything but in the early hours today as millions of chanting, drum-beating, horn-honking, flag-waving, "Be the Reds" T-shirt-wearing fans took to the streets.
South Korea, inspired by Dutch coach Guus Hiddink, was less than two minutes away from elimination before a soldout crowd of 38,588 - and an additional 90,000 fans outside the Taejon World Cup stadium watching on a nearby giant screen.
A defensive blunder by Christian Panucci in the 88th minute tied the game, and gave Ahn a chance at redemption. Ahn - who earns his living with Perugia in the Italian league - had missed a penalty kick in the first half.
"It is a tremendous, tremendous achievement for Korean football," said Hiddink, who coached the Netherlands to the 1998 World Cup semifinals. "We have beaten one of the superpowers of football."
No Asian nation has advanced this far since 1966 - when North Korea upset Italy, 1-0, to make the quarters.
"We made it to the last eight because of the big support from the fans," defender Kim Tae Young said. "We will catch Spain in the quarterfinals. Please trust us."
It seemed the evening might go the Italians' way when Christian Vieri powerfully headed in a corner kick at the 18th minute.
Italy then went into a defensive mode. But in the 88th minute, Panucci failed to control the ball, and Seol stole it from him before angling a shot into the lower right corner of the net.
"I haven't scored in the previous games, but I believed in myself," Seol said. "I knew that I would score at a crucial moment. Today was that day."
The Italians were reduced to 10 men 13 minutes into overtime when forward Francesco Totti was given a questionable yellow card for what Ecuadorean referee Byron Moreno believed was a dive in the penalty box. Totti was ejected because it was his second yellow card of the game.
"I don't understand why my player was dismissed," Italian coach Giovanni Trapattoni said. "There were some bizarre decisions in some situations."
There also was controversy over an Italian goal nullified in overtime by an offsides call.
"The World Cup started like this for us and kept on in the same direction," Trapattoni said. "Inability and low attention in the end caused a disaster like this."
On the winner, Ahn outjumped Italian captain Paolo Maldini to meet a floating pass from Lee Young Pyo, then headed the ball past goalie Gianluigi Buffon.
Ahn sprinted to a corner of the field, kissing his ring finger and then slumping to his knees as he was mobbed by teammates. After a victory lap, the players joined arms before the main stand, jumping and dancing in a line.
And the team that had not won in five previous Cup trips will play on, against Spain on Saturday.
"The dream lives on," Hiddink said. "Two or three months ago, I wouldn't have thought it possible."
Grahame L. Jones is a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, a Tribune Publishing newspaper. Wire reports contributed to this article.