Lets be honest here, in 2002, what really happened?
Moreno called a penalty against Panucci for tugging the shirt of a Korean striker. Correct decision? Yes, certainly. Panucci was all over him.
Next, Totti was given a yellow card for elbowing a Korean in the face in the midst of an aerial challenge. Judging by the replay, Totti did have his arms up high, and did elbow the player. I've seen those simply whistled dead before, but I have also seen those carded. Six of one, half dozen of another.
Then Vieri had a breakaway in the second half, skying the ball 10 meters wide of the goal.
Shortly after that, Seol sends the ball past Buffon due to a mistake by Panucci. He missed the ball and the clearance, allowing Seol to pounce. That's a good goal and another mistake by the Italians. No offsides, good goal.
Right after that, Vieri has an epic miss right at the six in front of goal, skying the ball over the bar. Yet another mistake BY Italy. "The miss of the World Cup", as Tyler says.
Then in extratime, Totti gets sent off for what Moreno thought was a dive. There was contact, maybe a little embellishment by Totti, but the defender DID get the ball, so it was not a penalty. So what is harsh here is that Totti was sent off, the first real poor call against Italy.
Next there was a through ball to Tommasi but he was adjudged to be offsides. Very close call, very difficult to make. It's difficult to judge from this angle that I went by on this video, and it's also hard to make out the lines on the pitch. I'll give Italy the benefit of the doubt and say it was slightly onsides.
Next, Gattuso had a breakaway and shot it right to the keeper.
Finally, a ball was sent into the box and Ahn headed past Buffon. Poor marking by Maldini and no offsides or problems with the goal.
So Italy can be angry about two calls made during this match. But for the most part, the game summary consisted of many blown chances by Italy. Vieri missed two sitters while Gattuso shot directly towards the keeper. The match also was a display of some poor defending from both sides, which would be alarming if I was a fan of Italy.
But this is what Azzurri fans consider some sort of massive conspiracy? All they have to go on was a red card and a close offsides call that pretty much every striker in the world has seen gone against them? Really?
Definitely, some people here are revisionists and sore losers. Just move on already. As I said in another thread, the big problem here is that Italy didn't deserve to go through. With all those missed chances, this assertion of mine is definitely true.