South Korea’s men’s soccer team lost its Olympics opening round match to New Zealand.
South Korea was a heavy favorite while New Zealand had never won an Olympics men’s soccer match.
After the match, a South Korean player rejected a handshake from a New Zealand player.
South Korea’s men’s soccer team dropped its opening match of the Tokyo Olympics to New Zealand on Thursday by a score of 1-0, and one South Korean player turned down a handshake with a New Zealand opponent after the game.
South Korea came into the game as a -155 favorite, according to Fanduel. Meanwhile, New Zealand had never won a men’s soccer match in the Olympics.
New Zealand’s historic win came at the expense of the South Korean team’s gold medal aspirations and maybe even the pride of one player.
One South Korean player, Lee Dong-gyeong, was seen on a video rejecting a handshake from New Zealand player Chris Wood.
The 29-year-old Wood, who scored the game-winning goal in the 70th minute of the match, is one of New Zealand’s three players that are over the age of 23 but still permitted to play in a squad comprised of players under the age of 23.
South Korea and New Zealand are in the Group B bracket of the Olympic men’s soccer tournament, sharing the group with Romania and Honduras. Romania beat Honduras 1-0 on Thursday.
South Korea will now move on to play Honduras on Sunday and will look to finish in the top two spots of Group B in order to qualify for the tournament quarterfinals, but it will have little room for error after a stunning loss to New Zealand.
New Zealand meanwhile has a chance to clinch a spot in the tournament quarterfinals if it can beat Honduras on Sunday.
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