Editor's Pick: Asian giants make it to football knockouts

South Korean striker Hwang Hee-chan scored a 91 st minute winner against Portugal to help his team enter the knockout stage of the 2022 FIFA football world cup at Qatar on Friday night. Fed by a sizzling pass from fellow striker Son Heung-min – both play in the English Premier League, in different teams – Hwang’s strike, and the inability of Uruguay to score one more goal against Ghana (2-0), meant that South Korea reached the last 16 of the football finals with a 2-1 victory over Portugal. The two teams to advance from Group H are Portugal and South Korea. There was high drama in Group E as well with all four teams, Japan, Spain, Germany and Costa Rica in the contest till the very last minutes of their respective games. In the end, Germany won 4-2 against Costa Rica, but Japan with two strikes, including one “controversial” goal which was in play by millimetres, and thus was allowed under FIFA rules, won the match against Spain, and knocked Germany out of the last 16. It has been a World Cup of fluctuating fortunes with more fancied teams such as Belgium, Germany and Uruguay biting the dust early. On the other hand, the fact that two teams from Africa, Morocco and Senegal, and two from Asia, Japan and South Korea, have reached the last 16 augurs well for the future of the game, a point highlighted by experts. The Netherlands will start things off on Saturday with the first knockout match against the U.S., followed by Argentina (who lost their first match against Saudi Arabia) and Australia. The next few days will see France pitted against Poland; England versus Senegal; Japan against Croatia; Brazil versus South Korea; Morocco against Spain and Portugal taking on Switzerland. In the pre-match analysis, a report says the Argentine coach Lionel Scaloni wasn’t too happy about playing a second match in 48 hours given the emotional passage through a tough group. The Aussies too have been complaining but manager Graham Arnold was confident of doing better than the golden generation (2006) which lost in the pre-quarterfinal to eventual champion Italy, who did not qualify for this World Cup. “Argentina and millions of its fans the world over will hope the team from Down Under doesn’t end magician Lionel Messi’s show.” For the Netherlands, the key will be to get Memphis Depay firing in attack and Frenkie de Jong more influential in the middle. Veteran coach Louis van Gaal has described them both as indispensable to the Dutch cause. But the Dutch side’s patchy performances in the group stages, against Senegal, Ecuador and Qatar, will give hope to the U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter, who said, “We deserve to be in the position we are. All we need to do is play one game at a time.” With this World Cup throwing up so many surprises, anything is possible. The Hindu’s Editorials Great responsibility: On India’s G20 presidency On the boil: on West Bank violence The Hindu’s Daily News Quiz Per the initiative called “Digi Yatra”, passengers travelling from which of the following airports in the country will be able to use their face as a boarding pass from December 1? Hyderabad, Chennai, Delhi Varanasi, Delhi, Bengaluru Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru Chennai, Delhi, Bengaluru To know the answer and to play the full quiz, click here. [logo] Editor's Pick 03 DECEMBER 2022 [The Hindu logo] In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [Arrow]( [Open in browser]( [Mail icon]( [More newsletters]( Dear reader, We have now made it easier for you to manage your The Hindu newsletter subscriptions in one place! 1. Visit [The Hindu newsletters page]( 2. Click MANAGE tab and then click LOGIN / SIGN UP 3. If you don’t have an account with The Hindu, please click SIGN UP OR If you already have an account with The Hindu with this email ID, please login using the email ID Asian giants make it to football knockouts South Korean striker Hwang Hee-chan scored a 91 st minute [winner against Portugal]( to help his team enter the knockout stage of the 2022 FIFA football world cup at Qatar on Friday night. Fed by a sizzling pass from fellow striker Son Heung-min – both play in the English Premier League, in different teams – Hwang’s strike, and the [inability of Uruguay to score one more goal against Ghana (2-0)]( meant that South Korea reached the last 16 of the football finals with a 2-1 victory over Portugal. The two teams to advance from Group H are Portugal and South Korea. There was high drama in Group E as well with all four teams, Japan, Spain, Germany and Costa Rica in the contest till the very last minutes of their respective games. [In the end, Germany won 4-2 against Costa Rica]( but Japan with two strikes, including one “controversial” goal which was in play by millimetres, and thus was allowed under FIFA rules, [won the match against Spain]( and knocked Germany out of the last 16. It has been a World Cup of fluctuating fortunes with more fancied teams such as Belgium, Germany and Uruguay biting the dust early. On the other hand, the fact that two teams from Africa, Morocco and Senegal, and two from Asia, Japan and South Korea, have reached the last 16 augurs well for the future of the game, a point highlighted by experts.  The Netherlands will start things off on Saturday with the first knockout match against the U.S., followed by Argentina (who lost their first match against Saudi Arabia) and Australia. [The next few days]( will see France pitted against Poland; England versus Senegal; Japan against Croatia; Brazil versus South Korea; Morocco against Spain and Portugal taking on Switzerland. In the pre-match analysis, [a report says]( the Argentine coach Lionel Scaloni wasn’t too happy about playing a second match in 48 hours given the emotional passage through a tough group. The Aussies too have been complaining but manager Graham Arnold was confident of doing better than the golden generation (2006) which lost in the pre-quarterfinal to eventual champion Italy, who did not qualify for this World Cup. “Argentina and millions of its fans the world over will hope the team from Down Under doesn’t end magician Lionel Messi’s show.” For the Netherlands, the key will be to get Memphis Depay firing in attack and Frenkie de Jong more influential in the middle. Veteran coach Louis van Gaal has described them both as indispensable to the Dutch cause. But the Dutch side’s patchy performances in the group stages, against Senegal, Ecuador and Qatar, will give hope to the U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter, who said, “We deserve to be in the position we are. All we need to do is play one game at a time.” With this World Cup throwing up so many surprises, anything is possible. The Hindu’s Editorials [Arrow][Great responsibility: On India’s G20 presidencyÂ]( [Arrow][On the boil: on West Bank violence]( The Hindu’s Daily News Quiz Per the initiative called “Digi Yatra”, passengers travelling from which of the following airports in the country will be able to use their face as a boarding pass from December 1? - Hyderabad, Chennai, Delhi - Varanasi, Delhi, Bengaluru - Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru - Chennai, Delhi, Bengaluru To know the answer and to play the full quiz, [click here.]( Today’s Best Reads [[Thirthahalli feels reverberations of blast in Mangaluru] Thirthahalli feels reverberations of blast in Mangaluru]( [[FIFA World Cup 2022 | South Korea beats Portugal 2-1 to qualify for last-16] FIFA World Cup 2022 | South Korea beats Portugal 2-1 to qualify for last-16]( [[Gujarat Assembly polls | Congress absorbed slave mentality by working with British before Independence, say PM Modi] Gujarat Assembly polls | Congress absorbed slave mentality by working with British before Independence, say PM Modi]( [[Taking healthcare down to the last family] Taking healthcare down to the last family]( Copyright @ 2022, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. 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