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Koreatown gathers to watch Korea v. Russia

June 17, 2014
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Korean American soccer fans watch a live broadcast of the group H World Cup soccer match between Russia and South Korea in Koreatown on Tuesday, June 18, 2014.

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A Korean American girl prays in Koreatown for South Korean national soccer team to pull through.

By Tae Hong

Enthusiastic soccer fans crowded hotspots in Los Angeles’ Koreatown Tuesday afternoon, clad in devil-red T-shirts and ready to cheer on the Korean national team playing its first World Cup match of the games against Russia.

The game ended in a 1-1 tie.

At Madang Plaza Shopping Mall, about 150 fans gathered inside an open space on the first floor to watch the the long-awaited game on a giant screen as three drummers in the front row led chants.

Some, like Candace Kim, 19, were casual, self-described “bandwagon” fans who came out in support of both the team and for Korea.

She said that although she doesn’t usually follow soccer too much, she decided to join in on the cheer this year after remembering the last World Cup in 2010, during which South Korea was eliminated in the round of 16.

“The players didn’t lose focus. We lost a point, but our condition was good and we had good teamwork,” the team’s current head coach Hong Myung-bo told reporters after the game.

The event at the plaza, organized by Korean news channel YTN, was not without problems — a couple dozen from the crowd filed out within the first 10 minutes of the game after repeated stutters with the stream.

Just a few streets away inside the Koreatown Galleria, about 400 seated in the food court and standing on the first floor erupted into cheers, chants and claps at Lee Geun-ho’s 68th-minute goal.

As the players piled on top of Lee on TV screens, some danced as a man shouted, “One more time, Korea!”

Mike Lee, 31, is a long-time soccer fan who came out to the plaza with friends.

“Of course I want Korea to win, but gathering with friends, wearing the same uniform and sharing together is probably the most exciting thing about being here,” Lee said.

Korea will next play Algeria at Porto Alegre on June 22 at 12 p.m. PT.