"Took a Day Off to Be Here": Passionate Cheers Erupt as Fans Celebrate Comeback Victory

[Anchor]

Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul has turned red once again for the first time in four years. Despite it being a weekday morning, some 20,000 citizens packed the square, cheering for our national team with one voice.

Reporter Cho Min-ki has the story from the scene.

[Reporter]

Gwanghwamun Square, the mecca of World Cup street cheering, is filled with "Red Devils" wearing national team jerseys and holding Taegeukgi (the Korean national flag), even in the morning.

[Jung Ji-won & Na Young-gil / Yongsan-gu, Seoul & Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do: We used our annual leave. (We came out to cheer. We plan to take leave next week as well.) Sorry, boss.]

[Park Si-yoon / Hanam-si, Gyeonggi-do: I love soccer, so I took an experiential learning day off from school to come here.]

As the kickoff whistle blew and our players' shots failed to find the net, sighs could be heard here and there.

Although the first half ended in a scoreless draw, the cheering spirit of the Red Devils at Gwanghwamun Square only grew hotter.

[Kim Jun-hyung / Gunpo-si, Gyeonggi-do: The atmosphere is just completely electric right now, so I feel like it's boiling over even more.]

In the 14th minute of the second half, the square fell into a brief silence after conceding the opening goal to the Czech Republic, but the crowd soon rallied with even louder cheers.

Eight minutes later, when Hwang In-beom scored a picturesque equalizer, everyone stood up and hugged each other. As Oh Hyeon-gyu’s go-ahead goal hit the net, the square turned into a scene of pure frenzy.

[Kim Ga-hyun / Jangseong-gun, Jeollanam-do: I was so, so happy when Hwang In-beom scored that first goal. As expected of South Korea, I never doubted we would score.]

[Son Te-rim / Seongdong-gu, Seoul: Oh Hyeon-gyu is so cool! I believed in our South Korea. I knew we would win. This is it!]

Up to 18,000 people gathered at Gwanghwamun Square alone, while Red Devils also sent their energy in unison from places like Yeouido Park and Ttukseom Hangang Park.

With the national team's strong performance, there are expectations that even more citizens will join the street cheering for the remaining two matches.

[All the people of our country are cheering for you. South Korea, fighting!]

(Reported by Lee Sang-hak | Video edited by Park Na-young)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.