Spain 0-0 South Korea AET
(South Korea win 5-3 on penalties)
South Korea's incredible World Cup adventure continued as they beat Spain in a dramatic penalty shoot-out.
The tournament co-hosts, who were not even fancied to get through the group stage, are the first Asian side to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup.
There they will take on Germany, and having already beaten Italy as well as Spain, will fancy their chances of reaching the final.
Guus Hiddink's side showed remarkable composure in the shoot-out, scoring each of their spot-kicks despite having to take them in front of 40,000 of their passionate fans.
Keeper Lee Woon-Jae made the decisive save from Spanish midfielder Joaquin, who was chosen to take a penalty despite clearly being injured.
Spain's players were furious at two controversially disallowed goals and Ivan Helguera had to be restrained from the referee at the end of the match.
But Jose Camacho's side also had themselves to blame for defeat.
For the second game in succession they sat deep, refusing to take risks and commit numbers forward.
Admittedly the tactic forced the South Koreans to send hopeful crosses into the box, much to the delight of powerful centre-halves Miguel Angel Nadal and Fernando Hierro.
Spain may have lacked urgency, but in right-winger Joaquin possessed the outstanding player on the pitch.
The Real Betis playmaker almost created a goal when he crossed from the right touchline and Morientes, sliding in on the edge of the six-yard box, was only inches away from connecting.
Ivan Helguera looked to have put Spain in the lead early in the second-half when he headed past Lee Woon-Jae from 10 yards, only for his effort to be disallowed because of shirt pulling.
South Korea, buoyed by the introduction of Lee Chun-Soo, at last created chances as the game went on.
The best came when Park Ji-Sung chested a corner at the far post before unleashing a powerful volley.
The excellent Spanish keeper Casillas showed superb reflexes to block at his near post.
In contrast to the preceeding 90 minutes, extra-time was a thrilling spectacle as both sides searched for the crucial golden goal.
50 mins: Ruben Baraja's headed goal is disallowed for pushing in the box.
66 mins: Iker Casillas saves Park Ji-Sung's powerful volley.
92 mins: Spain have a second goal ruled out when Fernando Morientes heads home.
100 mins: Morientes hits the Korean post with a volley.
Spain were left cursing another disallowed goal when Morientes headed in from close range, only for the referee to judge that the ball had gone out of play before being crossed in by Joaquin.
Morientes suffered further disappointment when he hit the post with a first-time half-volley from a throw-in.
As in their second round match against Ireland, Spain were forced to take their luck in a penalty shoot-out.
Only this time it was their opponents who prevailed and captain Fernando Hierro had to bow out of international football on a sad note.
Spain: Casillas, Puyol, Nadal, Hierro, Romero, Joaquin,
Helguera (Xavi 93), Baraja, De Pedro (Mendieta 70),
Valeron (Luis Enrique 80), Morientes.
Subs Not Used: Albelda, Contreras, Curro Torres, Juanfran,
Luque, Raul, Ricardo, Sergio, Tristan.
Booked: De Pedro, Morientes.
South Korea: Woon-Jae Lee, Jin-Cheul Choi, Hong,
Tae-Young Kim (Hwang 90), Yoo (Chun-Soo Lee 60), Park,
Yong-Pyo Lee, Song, Nam-Il Kim (Eul-Young Lee 32), Seol, Ahn.
Subs Not Used: Cha, En-Sung Choi, Sung-Young Choi, Tae-Uk Choi,
Yong-Soo Choi, Hyun, Byung-Ji Kim, Min-Sung Lee, Yoon.
Referee: G Ghandour (Egypt).
| OFFICIAL MATCH STATS|
| || Spain || S Korea|
|Goals || 0 || 0|
|Penalty shoot-out || 3 || 5|
|Shots on goal || 17 || 8|
|Shots on target || 7 || 3|
|Fouls committed || 20 || 22|
|Corner kicks || 6 || 5|
|Penalty kicks || 0 || 0|
|Caught offside || 5 || 2|
|Own goals || 0 || 0|
|Yellow cards || 2 || 1|
|Red cards || 0 || 0|
|Ball possession (%) || 48 || 52|
|ACTUAL PLAYING TIME || |
|First half - 29 mins || Second half - 31 mins |