▲ Kim Young-gwon of South Korea celebrates his goal against Portugal during the countries' Group H match at the FIFA World Cup at Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, west of Doha, on Dec. 2, 2022. (Yonhap)
▲ Kim Young-gwon of South Korea (C) is congratulated by teammates Jung Woo-young, Lee Jae-sung and Hwang In-beom (L to R) after scoring a goal during the countries' Group H match at the FIFA World Cup at Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, west of Doha, on Dec. 2, 2022. (Yonhap)
▲ Kim Young-gwon of South Korea (L) scores against Portugal during the countries' Group H match at the FIFA World Cup at Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, west of Doha, on Dec. 2, 2022. (Yonhap)

(World Cup) defender-goal

(World Cup) Veteran defender comes through with huge goal in 2nd straight World Cup

By Yoo Jee-ho

AL RAYYAN, Qatar, Dec. 2 (Yonhap) -- For the second straight FIFA World Cup, South Korea's veteran defender Kim Young-gwon scored a remarkable goal in his team's final group match.

The major difference between 2018 and now is this: South Korea will be playing in the knockout stage in Qatar.

South Korea defeated Portugal 2-1 in their final Group H match on Friday at Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, west of Doha. Portugal opened the scoring just five minutes in thanks to Ricardo Horta, but Kim got the equalizer in the 27th minute.

It set the stage for Hwang Hee-chan's exhilarating winner in stoppage time of the second half. With their victory combined with Uruguay's 2-0 win over Ghana on Friday, South Korea progressed to the round of 16 after beating Uruguay 4-2 in goals scored, the second tiebreaking category.

Kim had also scored in South Korea's 2-0 win over defending champions Germany to close out the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The victory wasn't enough to get South Korea through to the knockouts.

This time, Kim could celebrate his goal and his team's win with more joy.

"This is so much better than four years ago," Kim said. "We didn't even get to the round of 16 then. Now, we're going to be there."

On the eve of the Portugal match, Kim said at a press conference that South Korea would need some luck to defeat Portugal, ranked ninth in the world.

And Kim was the beneficiary of some fortuitous bounce for his goal, as Lee Kang-in's corner struck Cristiano Ronaldo's back and landed at Kim's feet. The defender slotted the ball home to bring his team level.

"When the ball was coming toward the box, their defenders were moving toward the top of the box," Kim said. "I moved to a spot where I felt the ball would drop, and the ball fell right in front of me. I got lucky there."

Kim, who started all three group matches as center back, also took it upon himself to help shore up the team's defense.

"We made life difficult on ourselves by allowing that first goal," Kim said. "We'll have to look at that situation closely and make sure we don't give up another goal like that."

Kim is now one match away from reaching 100 career caps. Barring any unforeseen injury, Kim will hit the century mark in the round of 16 on Monday.

"Since it will be my 100th match, we're going to have to win that one," Kim said with a smile.

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