"No Korea" 17 years of skepticism, "Cliff End → Miracle Train to the Quarterfinals" Tokyo Dome has become a sea of tears

*This content was translated by AI.

Captain Lee Jung-hoo (San Francisco), Ko Woo-seok (Detroit), Moon Bo-kyung (LG), and Ryu Ji-hyun could not hide their tears. It was a more touching moment because I was so desperate and had to consider the aftermath after I was eliminated.

The national team, led by head coach Ryu Ji-hyun, won 7-2 against Australia in the fourth Group C match of the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) at Tokyo Dome, Japan on the 9th.

As a result, South Korea, which had two wins and two losses, tied with Taiwan and Australia, but advanced to the quarterfinals as second place in the group, leading in runs per inning between the equal teams.

It's a moment I've dreamed of for so long. South Korea, which achieved the semi-finals by capturing the U.S. in its first WBC competition in 2006, won Cuba and Mexico after advancing to the finals in 2009, and won Venezuela in the semifinals to achieve the runner-up.

Korean baseball, which seemed to be in its prime until the victory of the nine games at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, has since suffered an endless fall in international competitions. Although he won the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier 12 in 2015, he suffered three consecutive group defeats in 2013, 2017 and 2023.

In particular, at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and 2023 WBC, he had to face the cold eyes of baseball fans, causing controversy over his attitude. He had to be sarcastically criticized for receiving a lot of salary but not following his attitude or skills. The main response was self-deprecating that it would be difficult to reproduce the same glory as in the past.

Professional baseball is consumed as a new culture, opening the era of 10 million spectators in 2024 and 12 million last year, but the baseball community has not let down the tension. Based on KBO President Koo Hu-yeon, he was alarmed that it was a sand castle-like popularity that could collapse at any time if various efforts were not accompanied, such as failing to increase competitiveness in international competitions.

However, Kim Ha-sung (Atlanta) and Song Sung-moon (San Diego) fell early, and around the entry announcement, Moon Dong-ju (Hanwha), Won Tae-in (Samsung), Choi Jae-hoon (Hanwha), and Riley O'Brien (St. Louis) left. There were concerns about the bullpen, which appeared through the warm-up match, as well as concerns that the starting lineup collapsed.

It started with a pleasant victory (11-4) against the Czech Republic, but lost 6-8 after all-out pitching against Japan and was on the verge of elimination with a loss (4-5) against Taiwan, which was also caught by Australia.

From the beginning, the players showed their concentration, and following Moon Bo-kyung's two-run home run in the second inning and Lee Jung-hoo and Moon Bo-kyung's consecutive timely hits in the third inning, Moon Bo-kyung once again made an RBI single in the fifth inning. It was okay if I just finished without losing a point, but it wasn't that easy. Kim Soh Hyung-joon (KT) hit a solo shot in the fifth inning, and he had to score another point.

South Korea, which had a dramatic timely hit by Kim Do-young (KIA) in the sixth inning and continued its 6-1 lead due to the bullpen's good pitching, was in a desperate situation where Kim Taek-yeon (Doosan) shook and gave up one run in the bottom of the eighth inning, forcing him to score more than one run in the top of the ninth inning and keep the ninth inning scoreless. With Kim Do-young's walk and Lee Jung-hoo's ground ball in the ninth inning, he scored one run with Ahn Hyun-min's sacrifice fly on the first and third bases with one out. Cho Byung-hyun, who took the mound following the eighth inning, allowed one walk in a situation where he had to catch three out-counts without losing a point, but secured a dramatic advance to the quarterfinals.

Moon Bo-kyung, who caught the out count that determined the victory, roared by throwing her glove over the sky, and Lee Jung-hoo covered her face with her glove and cried for a long time after the end of the game. Moon Bo-kyung and Ko Woo-seok also cried a lot, and seniors who led Korean baseball in the past, Oh Seung-hwan, Yoon Seok-min, and Park Yong-taek, held the microphone and shed tears.

After the game, manager Ryu Ji-hyun said, "There was a difficulty because I had to manage the game by focusing on the operation of various pitchers and the environment," adding, "It seems that the players' concentration and desire are gathered in one place." It's a life game throughout (professional) coaching, coaching, and coaching and coaching the national team," he said.

There have been concerns about the bullpen since the warm-up match, and unlike the hot batters in this tournament, the mound, especially the bullpen, showed a precarious appearance. However, in the final game, where only two runs were allowed, the national team players showed their fighting spirit and completed a dramatic drama.

Manager Ryu Ji-hyun said, "The 15 pitchers must have been very stressful, and I think I wanted to win with my pitching ability today. Despite such tension, young players overcame it," he praised the pitchers.

During Saipan's first camp, the coaching staff shouted that they would aim to head to Miami one by one. Players also held an M-shaped balloon symbolizing Miami every time they hit a home run in this tournament, and even if they hit a hit, they performed an "airplane ceremony" to show their strong will to advance to the quarterfinals.

It's a one-off match now. We will be able to play every game together against Australia. There is also a growing possibility that Riley O'Brien, who was originally listed in the final entry of the national team as a substitute for Son Joo-young (LG), but left due to an injury, will join the team. For the national team, which has boosted its confidence, the single-round match will lead to no other outcome. Coach Ryu Ji-hyun also said earlier, "I don't know what will happen if it's a single game. "If I can only go to the quarterfinals, I can dream higher," he said.

The Korean baseball team, which ended its sorrow, is now flying to the U.S. to become the main character of the WBC's biggest upset with a new mindset.

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*This content was translated by AI.