The Italian's claim there is a conspiracy to help the Koreans do well in this World Cup. The Spanish have even lodged an official complaint regarding the matchday officials in their game against the hosts to FIFA.
Have various referees been got at? One of Kim Dae-Jung's (The President of South Korea) sons is currently in prison for bribery. Sepp Blatter, (The President of FIFA) it is claimed is only in his position because of corruption involving bribes to various football associations (including the English FA).
There is also potentially a very big commercial market for FIFA in South Korea so it is easy to find a motive for why Blatter would want South Korea to do well. We are told if a country is doing well in the World cup, their people are generally happier and their productivity rises. Surely though Dae-Jung would not take such a risk for economic gain? It is also doubtful whether South Korea doing well in the World Cup will help him in the forthcoming elections.
Personally I do not believe that there is any corruption involved in South Korea's world cup campaign although I am happy to concede that referees have favored the Koreans. If you were surrounded by 50,000 Korean mentalists screaming at you for every decision and conscious of the fact that you have to leave the ground past them after the match, wouldn't you?
We have all seen referees who are real ‘homers'. If you want an example just look at Paulo Alcock!
The semi finals are, Germany vs South Korea and Brazil vs Turkey. Both are very difficult to call but I think the final will just be one step too far for the hosts and that Brazil will have too much for the Turks even without the fluky heroics of Ronaldinho.
If my predictions do turn out to be true then it will be similar to the Euro 2000 final between France and Italy, the great entertainers against the defensive ‘masters'. Hopefully once again the dark side of the European game will be defeated.
Remember there's always next time and don't forget how far the England team have come since Euro 2000.