With three minutes left and Mexico clinging to a one-goal lead, South Korea threw everything forward. What happened next will be replayed for years.
Raúl Rangel, the 26-year-old Guadalajara shot-stopper, produced a double save in the 87th minute that denied both Cho Gue-Sung and Yang Hyun-Jun in rapid succession. The stop preserved Mexico’s 1-0 victory over South Korea and clinched first place in Group A, a feat El Tri hadn’t managed at a World Cup since 2002.
The save that stopped a nation’s heartbreak
Here’s how it played out. Cho Gue-Sung got on the end of a cross and fired a shot that Rangel somehow got a hand to while diving to his left. The ball ricocheted directly to Yang Hyun-Jun, who was unmarked and had what looked like a tap-in from close range. Rangel, still on the ground, somehow recovered and flung himself the other direction to block the follow-up.
Multiple outlets have already tagged it as the “save of the tournament,” and it’s hard to argue with that assessment this early in the competition.
