The Polish team, which will have its first match on June 4 against Korea at Busan is not lonely, as 508 people of the 'Poland Busan Citizen Supporters' promised to cheer passionately against the national team's 'Red Devils.' The Busan YMCA and Construction Association of Korea have became the axis for Poland's supporters, who will wear the same strip as the Polish team and wave Polish flags.
"Let¡¯s cheer for other countries too" is the slogan for 45 'foreign team cheering squads,' which are sited in 10 cities with World Cup stadiums, at a total number of a flourishing 73,000. The Korea Federation of Professional Organizations and self-governing administrations are supporting the squads, but the main drive of the ¡®Korean Supporters Movement¡¯ comes from voluntary participation of citizens.
According to country, last year World Cup host and winner France has the most supporters at 17,795, followed by China (12,743), but people have warm-hearted interest in small countries such as Senegal (3,178), Costa Rica (2,112), and Slovania (1,989) as well. They want to show the world that on the day of the games that "Korea is not a selfish country," and that is why they have risen in unity.
Clubs for foreign teams are forming on the Internet as well. In community sites such as Freechal and Daum, there are more than 10 communities for well-known teams such as France, Brazil, and Spain. There are also one or two communities for Turkey, Slovania, Poland, Uruguay and Senegal that are waiting for fans.
The 280 Portugal Incheon Citizen Supporters will not be able to participate in the match between Portugal and Korea on June 14. As this game is popular, they lost the chance to get group tickets. However, they will not give up, and have decided to cheer in front of the large screen outside the stadium. They plan to hand out vests with pictures of small Portuguese flags to 500 people and ask them to cheer for Portugal.
Kim Su-jin, chairmain of the Senegal team Seoul Citizen Supporters says, "Senegal has the lowest GNP among the participating countries and is the first time they are participating in the World Cup. That's why we need the heartfelt cheering of Koreans for the Senegal players. If the world can see us, their image of Korea will become higher." The 300 Senegal supporters will root for Senegal among the fans for France. They will cheer for the country that was once a colony of France and have prepared 40,000 Senegal flags.
Members of Anagi (Ajummas are the pillars of the country), who provide home-stays for World Cup tourists who want to experience Korean culture, will also be at the forefront in cheering for foreign teams. The 800 members will go to the stadiums with the foreigners who are staying at their homes to cheer for foreign countries with flags on their hearts. The members even practiced at the Women¡¯s Development Center in Bulgwang-dong, Seoul on April 25.
Representative Kim Yong-suk (50) said, ¡°Famous soccer teams get acknowledged anywhere in the world, but the players for those countries that are not have to fight a lonely game. Anagi will especially do our best to cheer for minority countries.¡±
(Choi Seung-hyun, vaidale@chosun.com)
