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Two million people flooded the streets in 226 places nationwide to cheer on Korea in its game against Portugal on Friday. This set a new record, besting the one set on June 4 (700,000 people) for Korea's match against Poland and June 10 (1 million people) against the United States.
Incheon, which will host the match, was bustling with fans from dawn. The 100 people that gathered in front of World Cup Culture Plaza quickly grew to several thousand and, at the same time, 4,500 gathered at the Munhak Stadium, the site of the match.
Last October, in its match against the United States, 400,000 gathered at Seoul's Gwanghwamun and the plaza in front of Seoul City Hall. Today, people started coming at 9 a.m. and grew to 100,000 by 5 p.m. In Seoul, hundreds of thousands of people began cheering on the streets at 32 locations, including the banks of the Hangang River, COEX mall in Gangnam, and Sangam Stadium.
It was the same case in local regions. Hannam University students in Daejeon wore red T-shirts and gathered in the school's amphitheater after class. Some Mokwon University students wore red from head to toe, shouting "Win, Korea" -- turning the entire campus into a cheering ground.
In Jeonbuk Province, 30,000 gathered at the Jeonju Stadium and 100,000 gathered at places such as Deokjin Park, in front of Jeonju City Hall, Nosong Plaza, and Kunsan Citizens Hall. Ten thousand swarmed the Jeju Tapdong Beach and Seogwipo Cheonjiyeon Waterfall Plaza, respectively, and wished the Korean team luck by shouting across the ocean toward Incheon.
(Moon Gap-sik, gsmoon@chosun.com )
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