"Losed"old rival South Korea unexpectedly stopped in the top 16. Former Italy international Vieri recalled the 2002 World Cup

Even after more than 20 years, the regret seems to have not changed. Former Italy international Christian Vieri recently recalled the 2002 World Cup, which was co-hosted by Japan and South Korea. He said that he still can't let go of the result that the tournament ended in the top 16 and failed to win the championship. At that time, the Italian team, which had many world-class stars, lost to the host South Korea team in the first round of the knockout round. Although Vieri's goal gave the team the lead, they were tied late in the game. Going into overtime, Francesco Totti was sent off after receiving a second yellow card. Near the end, the Italian team was defeated by another golden goal.

Recalling Vieri (No. 21) in the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup match between Korea and Italy.

Although the penalty in that game caused controversy, Vieri seemed to have regrets about his performance. According to "fanpage", in a show with Totti, Vieri revealed: "I recently rewatched a certain game clip." "I thought to myself: 'Look at this fool, why don't you pass the ball?' It was a long pass to the right, but I kicked the ball into the stands. You were in the middle and you were unmarked. If you passed it, you would have scored. I wanted to tell you, but I forgot about it because of the children. "

The Italian national team coached by Giovanni Trapattoni had many famous players. Because of this, Vieri said that he "remembers it as fresh as yesterday." He said: "Looking back at that national team, I can't help but wonder, why did we fail to win that World Cup?"

"We have the best goalkeepers in the world. There are also Fabio Cannavaro, Alessandro Nesta, and Paolo Maldini. There is no better defender than them. Forward. There are me, him (Totti), Filippo Inzaghi, Alessandro Del Piero, Vincenzo Montella... We have scored more than 150 goals in Serie A. We also have Luigi Di Biagio and Gennaro Gattuso. How could we lose? "

However, he also added that even if we pass that level, we may not be able to defeat the Brazilian team that eventually won the championship. "We should have played the Brazilian team directly in the final. Because in my opinion, looking at all the opponents, no team can find a way to beat us. However, the Brazilian team may still be a little better than us. Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo... They are simply as strong as playing a live football game! "

There is no doubt that Brazil and Italy at that time had overwhelming lineup strength. If the result of South Korea's match against Italy was different... maybe many fans would want to see that situation.