It was a tie, but a thrilling one, and in a sense we won. We were not obsessed with victory or defeat when we cheered on Korea's players in the World Cup match between Korea and the United States. Battle plans can succeed and they can fail. Ultimately, when players and their coaches do their best and do what they're supposed to, they are deserving of applause. Cheering with no regrets is what its all about. We really wanted to be able to learn the profound meaning of winning while having tied.

It is not truly mature beauty to become depressed when things are not going well or to go wild with excitement when events work to our advantage. Most people learn from their painful mistakes. You're a fool if you let tomorrow fall apart because you’re stuck in the past. We believe that Korea's team, led by coach Guss Hiddink, possesses a wise sense of teamwork. Our next challenge is against Portugal on Friday, and this is a team that was favored in the rankings, though it was beaten by the United States.

The millions who cheered them on for days now should not go about criticizing anyone for the tie. Some fans in Daegu waited in line for tickets for days, and the hundreds of thousands who were cheering in Gwanghwamun and other areas around the country put up a good fight. What we witnessed was the largest concentration of massive public energy that was not political in our history.

Despite the tie, our game will continue to improve. There were aspects of what happened on Monday that show we've become more careful. For coach, players, and the rest of us, it is now that the game begins.

June 11, 2002