SEMIFINAL MATCH

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Germany vs. South Korea Tuesday, 4:30 a.m. PDT, at Seoul TV: ESPN, Channel 34 How they got here: Germany won Group E, then defeated Paraguay, 1-0, in the second round and the United States, 1-0, in the quarterfinals. South Korea won Group D, then defeated Italy, 2-1, in overtime in the second round and tied Spain, 0-0, after overtime in the quarterfinals before advancing on penalty kicks, 5-3 About Germany: World Cup winners in 1954, 1974 and 1990, the Germans finished second in 1966, 1982 and 1986; third in 1934 and 1970, and fourth in 1958. The semifinals are where they expect to be, the final is where they hope to be. Coach Rudi Voeller has warned his players to expect a difficult match. “There’s no doubt we have to raise the level of our game,” he said. “If we can’t do that, we won’t win.” Defensive midfielder Dietmar Hamann twisted a right knee ligament against the U.S. and, if he is unable to play, will be replaced by Jens Jeremies About South Korea: The Koreans had not won a World Cup game in 14 attempts before this tournament. Now they are unbeaten as co-hosts, have become the first Asian team in history to reach the semifinals, and are 90 minutes away from the championship game. Coach Guus Hiddink, the inspiration behind this turnaround, has kept the players focused and, as he said before the quarterfinals, “Every contest we make is against a big power at the moment. We have to stick to our basic things, then we might have a little chance.” South Korea is battered and bruised but has everyone available Outlook: It would be too much to expect South Korea to keep its streak going, especially against a physically powerful German team. With the reward of a possible final against Brazil awaiting, the Germans should prevail, 2-0

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