Top 10 World Cup controversies
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E-mail China.org.cn, May 30, 2014
5. South Korea's "favorable" refereeing, 2002
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Going into the 2002 World Cup, South Korea (who were one of the two host nations) expected themselves to finally advance out of the group stage for the first time in their history, but their great World Cup will always be overshadowed by the referee's.
Italy were the first victims, with a fair goal disallowed and Francesco Totti dismissed for a dive after being fouled in the penalty area, before they were knocked out with a golden goal by Ahn Jung-Hwan in the Round of 16.
Then in the quarterfinal, South Korea once again got the benefit of the doubt as Egyptian referee Gamal Al-Ghandour disallowed two legal Spanish goals and his linesmen judged one Spanish attack after another to be offside, as South Korea went on to win 5-3 on penalties to reach the semifinals.
Byron Moreno of Ecuador, who refereed the Italy game, was suspended by his national federation for some suspect domestic performances and later pleaded guilty to trying to smuggle six kilos of heroin into the United States.
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