the inspiration behind korea's last minute goal--and loads of other insanity, as well...

a hardfast rule in our watching futbol is this: drink only beer, as you want to remember the game and the results. nothing ruins a morning faster than having to ask your wife the results of game the night before because you drank yourself silly during the game instead of after...

this rule, of course, becomes instantly nullified when korea don't score first. at that point, soju is needed, it is needed in quantity and it is needed to drink the lads on. in keeping with the rules of nullification, i dutifully ordered a bottle of the inspiration, though it was only gyoung-dong, ryan, and i drinking it.

as the game dragged to its seeming inevitable bad result for korea, a second, then third, bottle were ordered and consumed. as the 90th minute edged seconds away (and thus leaving us with only injury time to collect the miracle) the luck of the soju struck--as did teen sensation ju-young park.

a brilliant goal off an inspirational, though desperate, pass found the back of the net, leveled the score, made my friend a lotto winner, and set off wild hysteria inside the bar. there was so much screaming, dancing, hugging, and general lunacy that even now, over 48 hours later, ryan is still dehydrated, gyoung-dong has bought a private jet, and i am without either a toe or a voice.

okay, exaggeration made have made its way into the last half of that last sentence, but the futbol score and exuberant celebration, as well as the lotto result, remain the same:

korea 1, uzbekistan 1