By Tony Ubani, in South Africa
It appears nothing will deter Huh Jung_Moo from stepping down as South Korea coach after the World Cup but he will retire as a hero, whatever happens to his country in the second round.

Eagles strugling for ball

After guiding the Taeguk Warriors to the knockout phase it is undoubtedly mission accomplished for Huh, earning the kudos of becoming the first manager to achieve the feat outside of Asia. An historic achievement and one that ensures his name will be etched into Korean folklore for a long time after his retirement this summer.

While it may not have quite been the group of death, South Korea can reflect on a job well done considering that former European Championship winners Greece and Nigeria were both preparing for flights home last night. That it required a quite astonishing miss from Yakubu to save them from a premature exit themselves should be overlooked, for Huh has moulded a pacey, exciting squad that will represent a threat to Uruguay on June 26.

The disappointing submission to Argentina apart, their other two displays proved they could even be a better side than the one that reached the semi_finals in their own country in 2002. Unsurprisingly, Manchester United’s Park Ji Sung has been at the heart of their performances and once again proved he is one of the most under rated players in the Premier League.

Like his coach, the midfielder is expected to announce his retirement from international football when Korea’s World Cup journey comes to an end. He has already achieved the pre-tournament objective.

Ji-Sung said: “Our goal was to reach the round of 16 and for the first time, we have done this away from home. We are very pleased we have achieved this in South Africa.”

“All the players know how difficult it is to reach this stage so it’s just great that we managed to hold on to this draw and go through. I think we prepared well and we deserved to remain alive in the tournament.”