Hiddink: 'almost impossible' to beat Italy

Guus Hiddink claims it will be ‘‘almost impossible’’ for South Korea to beat Italy tomorrow.

Korea will carry the weight of expectation of the entire nation into the second-round game in Daejeon’s World Cup stadium following their wonderful group campaign.

Many fans were already camped out at the ground more than 24 hours before kick-off and they believe Korea can emulate the achievement of the North in 1966 by reaching the quarter-finals.

Hiddink is aware their wins over Poland and Portugal have fuelled this expectation and he was keen to portray Korea as the underdogs.

‘‘It’s a good match to go into the next round and we have a lot of respect for Italy,’’ he said.

‘‘The way they play is very, very efficient so it will be a nice clash between number four or five in the FIFA world rankings and number 35 or 40.

‘‘It might be another historic night and let’s make history by trying to do what’s almost impossible.

‘‘We have achieved our unbelievable goal, but there is still a hunger for this match.’’

By contrast to Korea, Italy needed a last-gasp equaliser from Alessandro del Piero to make the last 16.

However Hiddink has warned his players there could be a backlash from the Italians to their loss to Croatia and draw with Mexico.

‘‘I was not that surprised they lost to Croatia and drew with Mexico because the Croatian team have very good players tactically,’’ he said.

‘‘They also have a lot of experience so Italy lost to a good team.

‘‘But it’s how the big teams react when they are defeated which makes them stand out.

‘‘There will be a kind of anger within them to react and show everyone what they can do.’’

Korea and Perugia midfielder Ahn Jung-hwan is particularly looking forward to the match, even if he did admit to a few nerves.

‘‘I play in Italy, but I do not know everything about their players,’’ he said. ‘‘I feel a lot of stress about the game personally.’’

Hiddink will be disappointed when he sees that the rookie Ecuadorian referee Byron Moreno is taking charge of the game.

The Dutchman, mindful Italy are much more streetwise than his side, had appealed for an experienced official.

‘‘I think the referee has a big responsibility and so I hope it’s an experienced referee,’’ he said.

‘‘We need someone who knows the little details of the game. Our opponents are a very experienced team and they know all the laws of the game.

‘‘So we want an experienced referee, someone who works in one of the big leagues in Europe or one of the big leagues in the world.’’

Instead, though, Hiddink has got the 32-year-old Moreno and the highlight of his short CV is that he was fourth official for last season’s Confederations’ Cup Final.

Of course, Hiddink could just be indulging in a spot of mind games and it is more likely an inexperienced referee like Moreno will be influenced by Korea’s fanatical support than the Italian players.

The Red Devils will turn Daejeon into a sea of red tomorrow and Hiddink has been amazed by their support.

‘‘It’s incredible and it’s not like anywhere else and there’s no violence, no nothing,’’ he said.

‘‘There were half a million people in Seoul and the only injury was someone who hurt their arm waving a flag.’’

Hiddink hopes his side can do a bit more damage to Italy tomorrow.