90min

Twitter reacts as South Korea knock Uruguay out of the World Cup

By Max Parsons

South Korea qualified for the World Cup knockout stages against all the odds
South Korea qualified for the World Cup knockout stages against all the odds / Alex Grimm/GettyImages
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Well, how dramatic was that?!

Group H is now done and dusted following a load of controversy and drama on its final matchday, as South Korea's last-gasp win against Portugal sent them through to the knockout stages by a solitary goal at the expense of Uruguay who won a repeat of the infamous 2010 quarter-final bout between themselves and Ghana 2-0.

Things didn't take long to get up and running on the day, with group leaders Portugal soon looking good to maintain a 100% record.

Five minutes into their match with South Korea, Ricardo Horta latched into Diogo Dalot's cut back to rifle the ball into the net.

It was a special moment for the Portuguese forward, making his major-tournament debut.

Fans (presumably not Manchester United or England fans, though) were quick to point out a special footnote to the Braga man's achievement.

Meanwhile, in the other Group-H match-up, things were heating up between Ghana and Uruguay with a long VAR review reversing an original offside call to award Otto Addo's men a penalty.

What happened next was all too familiar.

A truly terrible spot kick from Andre Ayew produced some serious deja vu...

At least they got a record out of it.

And things would quickly take a turn for the worse from a Ghanaian perspective, as Giorgian de Arrascaeta bagged a six-minute brace to compound Ghana's misery.

As it stood, Uruguay were through.

While the drama flowed in one of football's unlikeliest rivalries, South Korea simultaneously brought their game against Portugal back to level terms.

After having a 17th-minute equaliser ruled out for offside...

...they eventually found the net legally (with the aid of a Portuguese superstar) ten minutes later to keep their dreams alive... just.

That wasn't the end of the first-half drama on the final day of Group H, however. As you might imagine, more controversy came out of the Al Janoub Stadium where Uruguay's goal-scoring hero De Arrascaeta might have seen red just before the break.

Ghana would eventually pull their socks up and pose a threat to their opposition following the break...

...but it wasn't enough to snatch the result they required as Uruguay held onto a 2-0 victory, admittedly to the disappointment of many neutrals.

Meanwhile, however, over in the Education City Stadium, South Korea were teaching lessons all over the gaff - it's never over until it's over - while Uruguay thought they'd done enough to progress.

A World Cup hero was born in the 91st minute of that game, as Wolves striker Hwang Hee-Chan netted a last-gasp winner to send his nation into second place - and into absolute rhapsody and emotional turmoil.

Hwang's goal meant that Diego Alonso's men's victory was one strike too slim, against all the odds sending South Korea through to the round of 16 and dumping out a shocked Uruguay in the process.

As an incredible day of drama in Group H concluded, we were gifted scenes like these...

And these...

While Ghana might not have got revenge for 2010, it seems as though Luis Suarez got his comeuppance, eh?

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