Midfield maestro Lionel Messi was superb throughout as Argentina raced into a 2-0 first-half lead thanks to a header from Higuain and an own-goal by Korea’s Park Chu-Young. Monaco forward Park turned a free-kick by Messi into his own net on 17 minutes before Higuain’s header extended the South American giants lead with his first goal on 33 minutes.
South Korea’s Lee Chung-Yong gave his side hope with a goal at the end of the first half to make it 2-1, but Messi-inspired Argentina were not to be denied. Higuain made sure of the win with two goals in four minutes late in the second-half in front of a 82,174-strong crowd at Soccer City.
Argentina meant business from the kick-off and took the lead when Messi’s free-kick deflected off Park’s legs who could only watch in horror as the ball flew over the line. Argentina coach Diego Maradona then replaced the limping Walter Samuel with AS Roma’s Nicolas Burdisso on 23 minutes.
Argentina extended the lead when Maxi Rodriguez’s cross was flicked on by Burdisso for Higuain to beat Korean ‘keeper Jung Sung-Ryong on 33 minutes, before Lee’s late effort gave the South Koreans hope for the second-half.
Higuain settled the contest after Messi beat two defenders in the box and squared for the Real forward to fire into an empty net on 76 minutes while Messi again played a hand in the fourth goal on 80 minutes to seal the win.
Man-of-the-match Higuain jogged off in the 82nd minute to loud applause from the Argentina fans, but the 22-year-old’s reply in kind could well have been for midfield maestro Messi who created his goals.
Greece beat 10-man Nigeria
Greece beat ten-man Nigeria 2-1 in a thrilling encounter to record their first-ever victory at a World Cup. It also kept their World Cup dreams alive in a match that hinged on a first-half red card for the African team.
The Euro 2004 champions – who had lost all three matches in the 1994 finals and then to South Korea in their opening group match here – knew that defeat would end their hopes in South Africa and fell behind early on. But goals from Dimitrios Salpingidis and Vasileios Torosidis sealed the win in chilly Bloemfontein.
Nigeria broke the deadlock on 16 minutes through midfielder Kalu Uche, who swung in a free-kick from near the left corner of the penalty area that eluded everyone and crept in past a bemused Alexandros Tzorvas.
The pressure paid off when Salpingidis netted Greece’s first goal in a World Cup after his shot deflected into the net off Nigeria’s Lukman Haruna to make it 1-1 at half-time.
As the second half wore on the game became stretched and in a dramatic spell Theofanis Gekas was denied by Nigerian goal-keeper Vincent Enyeama.
But minutes after pulling off a wonderful save Enyeama spilt a powerful shot by Alexandros Tziolis and Torosidis smashed in the rebound from close range, sealing the win.
ELATION - Diego Maradona
“I have to commend my boys for the great job they have done, the only way South Korea would have made our lives difficult would have been if we had allowed them to. We were never worried about them and they never upset us.”
IMPORTANCE - Gonzalo Higuain
“It is a very important victory for us and one which puts us on the verge of the next round, we played a great match. It was tough and we knew it would be hard, but we managed to play our style and we will continue to do so.”
LESSONS - Huh Jung-Moo
“We played well, but there were some things we lacked in our game and we missed many opportunities. I think we fought well against a side who boast several star players and we have learned a lot from the game which will help us in the future.”
Published in the Express Tribune, June 18th, 2010.
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