Guus Hiddink said he was proud to have taken South Korea to the second round of the World Cup after their brilliant 1-0 victory against Portugal.
A 70th-minute strike from Park Ji-Sung in Incheon sparked massive celebrations across the country as the co-hosts qualified as group D winners.
Their reward for reaching the last 16 for the first time in their history is a meeting with Italy in Daejeon on Tuesday.
"It has done a lot for the people of Korea. It gives me a lot
of satisfaction and I'm glad I can help the Korean people be
happy with their victories," said Hiddink.
"I knew we had enough for a draw but I wanted the team to go
for a goal. We were looking for the goal and it came in a very
beautiful way.
"I'm very proud of them. I think the team is growing and growing every game. I'm sometimes surprised myself.
"They can cope with very, very high expectations from everyone in the country."
A draw would have been enough to send Portugal through but they paid the price for having Joao Pinto and Beto sent off.
"It was a foolish tackle for Joao Pinto that caused the red
card and then we had the advantage," said Hiddink.
"We were controlling from the first minute. They didn't create any chances. That's a credit to the team when you see what
world class players they have."
Korean match-winner Park Ji-Sung - who was also the victim of Joao Pinto's red-card tackle - said he felt he was destined to find the net.
"As I was coming on to the pitch, I thought 'I am going to score
one'.
"I'm confident playing my style against any team. Even though Portugal are a strong team, I had no fear."
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