In the 109th minute of the 2011 Asian Cup final against Australia, Japan finally broke the deadlock with a beautifully timed volley. But the name on the back of the scorer’s shirt could not be less Japanese. It was Lee Tadanari’s first international goal, but until 2004, he had hoped to score it for another nation.
Whenever a South Korean national side participates in a major tournament, at both senior and youth levels, the normal ‘best of all time’ tag is almost always immediately attached to the team by country’s media and fans. This has been the way for every tournament since Italia’90 and it was no different in the recent World Cup in South Africa as the Taeguk Warriors, led by an inspired Park Ji-Sung, reached the knock-out stages for the first time on foreign soil.
