Italy goalkeeper Buffon can't believe his luck (Allsport)

By James Dart, Sportinglife.com

Great World Cup moments stick in the brain for a lifetime.

The very mention of the finals springs thoughts of Geoff Hurst's 1966 hat-trick, Carlos Alberto's stunning goal in the 1970 final for Pele's Brazil and Diego Maradona's infamous 'Hand of God' incident against England in 1986.

You can probably add the name of Ahn Jung Hwan to the annals of World Cup magic moments as well, after the golden boy of South Korean football scored the most dramatic of golden goals to dump hotly-fancied Italy out of the tournament.

Ahn ironically plies his trade in Italy's Serie A with minnows Perugia, but his name will be one the Azzurri will struggle to forget now, after netting the 117th-minute winner to send millions of his countrymen into sheer ecstasy.

Incredibly, he had earlier tarnished his hero status by seeing an early penalty saved superbly by Gianluigi Buffon, and that looked like costing Guus Hiddink's team the game when Christian Vieri netted on 18 minutes.

For the remainder of the Daejeon encounter, South Korea toiled without reward, but in all fairness, they simply couldn't create anything against a stubborn Italian outfit.

But with just two minutes separating Giovanni Trapattoni's team from a mouthwatering quarter-final against Spain, Seol Ki-Hyeon prized a last-gasp equaliser from nothing.

Italy were rattled. They could suddenly see the possibility of penalties on the horizon, a thought to send shivers down their spine having exited from the last three World Cups on sudden-death spot-kicks.

Striker Francesco Totti clearly didn't want to take one and he took evasive action by earning his marching orders midway through golden goal extra time.

Even then, South Korea didn't look as if they could sneak a breakthrough. That was until Ahn popped up with the goal that ensured himself a place in Korean folklore.

Lee Yong-Pyo crossed dangerously from the left and up rose Ahn to power a header past the despairing Buffon.

The Miyagi Stadium erupted. It was sheer ecstasy, both inside the ground and around the nation.

Over a million people had gathered on the streets of Seoul just to watch the match on large TV screens!

It was a moment to cherish and one that is unlikely to be topped unless the co-hosts go on to win against the Spanish in the last eight.

And after this, the latest massive shock in this most-surprising of World Cups, who can say that they won't carry on to land the biggest prize in the sport.

"We should be the team in the quarter-finals," complained Italy coach Giovanni Trapattoni after the match, and you had to agree with him.

Especially given the horrendous luck that has beset the Azzurri at recent finals.

But that is what made Ahn's goal all the more dramatic, all the more thrilling - and all the more memorable.

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Just like the billowing hype intensifying around England, hopes had been building apace amongst inhabitants of fellow co-hosts Japan that they could actually go on and win the World Cup.

The images broadcast of millions of people partying around the country after only reaching the second round showed how much success in these finals meant to them.

Ever since, these supporters have sensed an opportunity to cause the biggest shock of all.

They dared to ask: 'Can we actually win it?'

And so the supporters of the co-hosts came out in force, bringing with them their unique brand of colour, atmosphere and passion to the games.

Even the water-bound conditions of Miyagi couldn't rain on the fans' parade, as they took on Turkey with a spot in the quarter-final place at stake.

The stadium was decked out in the colours of Japan, with tiny pockets of Turkish supporters providing mere specks of red in the sea of blue encircling the ground.

A repeated chant of 'Nippon, Nippon' roared around the stadium, providing a sheer noise that has only been present at games involving the co-hosts, Brazil, England or the Republic of Ireland.

Their enthusiasm couldn't even be dampened when Umit Davala powered home a free header from close range with just 12 minutes on the clock.

But as the game went on, so the cheers of the crowd failed to produce a reaction from the team.

They came close, ever so close, to drawing level. Brazilian-born forward Alex striking a free-kick that beat everything bar the angle of post and bar.

Talismanic midfielder Junichi Inamoto was withdrawn. Strikers Takayuki Suzuki and, eventually, Hiroaki Morishima were thrown on by coach Philippe Troussier, but a goal just wasn't forthcoming.

Still the vociferous crowd belted out the songs, but there was nothing left in the Japanese tank.

They battled, they fought, but in the end, it was just a game too far for Troussier's team.

Full-time signalled the end of their World Cup adventure and, in turn, the end of a generation in Japan's international history.

Coach Troussier is off to pastures new, possibly back to his homeland in place of under-fire France chief Roger Lemerre.

But he leaves the team in good shape, having bred more players capable of competing in Europe with top club sides, and helping the national side collate experience of performing at the very highest level.

For the supporters, they can now focus their attentions on their leading three adopted teams - England, Brazil and Spain.

The first two will welcome their vociferous support in Shizuoka on Friday, whilst the Spanish will also expect to receive a lot of backing as the quarter-final opponents of bitter rivals South Korea.

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