PUSAN, South Korea Before kickoff South Korea's fanatical fans were dancing in droves around the impressive Asiad Main Stadium. By the time the final whistle went, they were celebrating in streets the length and breadth of the country.

The joint hosts thoroughly deserved their 2-0 win over Poland, their first victory in a World Cup finals on the 14th attempt. From the celebrations, one could have been forgiven for thinking that they had actually lifted the trophy. Ahead of the game, coach Gus Hiddink had said the crowd would be his team's "12th man," and so it proved. Their noisy support enabled South Korea to overcome what had become something of an albatross around its collective necks and the players performed a lap of honor after the final whistle to show their appreciation.

His voice hoarse, Hiddink said, "I'm very proud of my boys, but I'm humble. The team was magnificent."

"The team fights to the last of its energy," he added. "It was a great performance."

The rivalry between South Korea and Japan is tangible; before the kickoff here, the crowd was cheering Belgium as it watched it come back to force a 2-2 draw against Japan.

One South Korean fan I spoke with said he didn't really care how Japan did in the tournament -- just as long as his country did better.

So far, Korea is ahead a win to a draw.

Poland started the better of the two teams, with Radoslaw Kaluzny driving into the side netting in the first minute after being played through by Emmanuel Olisadebe, who was born in Nigeria and only received Polish citizenship in July 2000, and Piotr Swierczewski generating a chance for Marek Kozminski four minutes later.

Anyone who had followed the Poles in their qualifying campaign, when they were runaway winners of Group 5, might have seen this as a sign of things to come -- certainly their traveling supporters, shoe-horned into a tiny slice of the ground, were expecting an impressive showing -- but the home side was having none of it.

Seol Ki Hyeon was not able to get firm contact with his head from a corner in the ninth minute, allowing Jerzy Dudek in the Polish goal to gather comfortably, while five minutes later the same player had a shot charged down. South Korea, by now, was building its attacks patiently and stifling the Polish midfield.

On 19 minutes, Yoo Sang Chul whistled a shot narrowly past Dudek's left-hand upright and the Poles seemed to have lost their rhythm in midfield; any chances they did carve out were quickly snuffed out by the masterful Choi Jin Cheul and Hong Myung Bo in the heart of Korea's defense.

And then came the goal that the whole of South Korea had been praying for. Slipping into the penalty box unnoticed and latching onto a cross from Lee Eul Yong, Hwang Sun Hong swept the ball past Dudek the first time, raising a noise from the crowd that could have been heard in Seoul. Or Tokyo for that matter.

The Poles look stunned -- and seemed even more shell-shocked 10 minutes later when the ball was again in the net, but three Korean players had strayed off-side and the goal was ruled out.

Engel opted to replace the ineffective Maciej Zurawski with Pawel Kryszalowicz at the halftime break in an attempt to inject some vigor in his attack, but South Korea continued where it had left off, Hwang Sun Hong, the Kashiwa Reysol forward, sending in an angled pile driver that Dudek had to tip over the bar.

What had become a Polish stutter got dramatically worse in the 52nd minute, when Yoo beat one challenge in the middle of the Polish half and let fly on the edge of the box as two other defend ers closed in. Dudek got both gloves on the ball, but was unable to stop it from thundering into his net.

Substitute Lee Chun Soo, on for Yoo, drilled a ball into the side netting in the 63rd minute after a surging run down the left flank and the confidence that the accomplished performance had given South Korea was visibly running through the team.

A foul 10 yards outside the South Korean penalty box represented the Poles' best opportunity until midway through the second half, their first attempt deflected over -- and earning Park Ji Sung a yellow card for encroachment -- while the followup attempt flew high too, and without the assistance of a player in red.

Ahn Jung Hwan went close again in the 78th minute, expertly turning a defender before shooting wide of the goal. With such little time left, however, the damage was already sufficient; goalkeeper Lee Woon Jae may have taken a ball off the head of Olisadebe in the 81st minute, but there was no way back into the game for the Poles.

As the clock ticked down, Ahn was again denied by a fine save by Dudek, down low to his left, the striker being brought down shortly afterward by a frustrated Piotr Swierczewski, who was booked. Not that it slowed him down; on 90 minutes Ahn again had a skimming drive beaten away by the Polish keeper in what was effectively the end of the game.

Hiddink took over as South Korean coach in January 2001 after an impressive spell with PSV Eindhoven in Holland and taking the Dutch to the 1998 World Cup in France. By the end of this game, his name was being chanted to the rafters. A good showing against the United States and Portugal will see South Korea into the last 16.

Should that happen, he will be elevated to the status of hero.