Ukraine fought back from a goal down to defeat South Korea 3-1 in the 2019 Fifa U-20 World Cup final at the Lodz Stadium, Lodz on Saturday evening.
Few expected Ukraine and Korea to be battling it out in the final match of the tournament.
After all, the Ukrainians had never advanced beyond the last 16 before, while Korea’s best finish was fourth — way back in 1983.
The duo was far from the competition’s first unexpected finalists.
The two sides were determined to write their names in the record books as first-time winners of the Cadet Mundial.
Kang-In Lee helped Korea race to the lead when he put the ball into Ukraine’s net from the penalty spot in the fifth minute.
Four minutes after the half hour, the Eastern European side levelled up matters after the Koreans failed to deal with a dead ball.
Vladyslav Supriaha sent a low shot beyond goalkeeper Kim Lee.
The first half ended 1-1 with all to play for in the second stanza.
Supriaha grabbed his brace seven minutes into the second half before Giorgi Tsitaishvili extinguished the fire in the Koreans with a killer punch one minute from the end of playtime.