This Day in History - Memories of World Cup ‘02
Four years ago, I was in Hong Kong on a business trip during the World Cup. As I was sitting in my hotel room reading the South China Morning Post newspaper on 15 June 2002, I came across this page:
After realizing that there were words on the page, I read what turned out to be my favorite news story of the 2002 World Cup:
Thus, while some people in South Korea are concerned that the excitment of football is causing Koreans to forget the anniversary of the death of two middle school girls who were run over and killed by an armored US military vehicle on 13 June 2002, the nation remained noticeably silent today on the 4th anniversary of the brave, heroic young man who gave his life to “be a ghost and the 12th man” on the field (pitch) and lead the Koreans to victory against the other teams.
It saddens me that Koreans would so easily forget the ghost who invisibly cheated for team Korea by being an extra man/entity on the pitch. How soon we forget the ghost player — the “Red Devil in the next life” — who secretly and invisibly did all he could to cheat for Korea from beyond they veil to help Korean reach not only the group of eight, which President Kim Dae Jung described as being the greatest accomplishment in Korea’s 5,000 year history, but to go all the way to the final four round.
I think a moment of silence is in order, perhaps even a candlelight vigil to remember “Suicide Man”, the ghost player.