We couldn't have asked for greater effort, say fans as team kicked out

Hundreds of South Koreans remained in carnival mood in Hong Kong last night despite watching their team crash out of the World Cup.

About 1,000 fans had gathered at the Harbour Plaza hotel in North Point and hundreds more partied elsewhere in the territory for the biggest event in Asian football history.

They sang, danced, played drums and shouted from the kick-off to the last minute. Although in the end the co-hosts of the tournament lost 1-0 to Germany, supporters said they were disappointed with the result rather than with the players.

'They have done very well. We can't ask for more. Germans are physically stronger but we played with flair,' said former South Korean national goalkeeper Byun Ho Young, who organised the party as vice-chairman of the Korean Residents' Association in Hong Kong.

But the singing was replaced by a deathly silence in the 73th minute of the game as Germany scored.

Many wept at the final whistle as they realised their run of success in the biggest football event on earth was over.