Do you remember the red waves made by the Red Devils at the Korea/Japan 2002 FIFA World Cup? I can’t believe it’s been 8 years already and the South Africa 2010 World Cup is only days away.

The Red Devils are the official Korean national soccer team supporters. They started as an online club in 1995. They were active in earnest in the France 1998 World Cup and became known to everybody at the Korea/Japan 2002 World Cup. The Red Devils got the name when the foreign press called the red uniformed Korean team “Red Furies” at the Mexico 1983 World Youth Championship, where the Korean team advanced to the semifinals unexpectedly.

The Red Devils’ formal slogan of this World Cup is “The shouts of reds, united Korea.” The first and second slogan were “Be the reds” (2002) and “Reds, go together for our dreams” (2006). The Red Devils got this third slogan through a public contest and obtained FIFA certification. This slogan is imprinted on the Red Devils’ t-shirts.

The Red Devils remind us of passionate cheering. The cheering ways for this World Cup are similar to the 2006 World Cup. However, cheering chants and songs were added. They will use thirty existing cheering songs and add 3 more songs like “Shouts of Victory,” which is well known through television commercials. You can see the cheering chants and songs at the Red Devils’ official website (www.reddevil.or.kr). The Red Devils will post cheering videos on the Website soon.

The Korean team hopes to make it to the round of 16 by beating the powerful Greece, Argentina, and Nigeria. There will be Korean team matches at eight-thirty p.m. on June 12 against Greece, at eight-thirty p.m. on June 17 against Argentina, and at three-thirty a.m. on June 23 against Nigeria. Accord to the ranking of FIFA, it seems difficult to advance to the top 16. However, nobody can predict the results in sports. Nobody, even Koreans, could have expected the Korean team to advance to the top 4 at the 2002 World Cup.

There will be street cheering in Daegu and many citizens will participate in it or watch the final games at Daegu Stadium. How about wearing red shirts and making red waves on the streets like the 2002 World Cup? I hope that the Korean team have a good result and many Koreans enjoy the festival, the South Africa 2010 World Cup.