World Cup 2010
Argentina (7th) v South Korea (47th) – Group B
Thursday 17th June 2010 – 1230hrs
It’s an early top of the table clash in Group B as the second round of group ties begins at Soccer City, Johannesburg. Argentina take on a South Korea side who have emerged as the favourites to join Argentina into the knock-out stages, with a gap of forty FIFA ranking places between them, but they hold the upper hand in the group albeit by one goal.
A draw may suit both sides on paper but don’t be fooled as momentum counts for a lot in the World Cup and I fancy both coaches will be pressing for the win to guarantee top place and with it the advantage of playing the second-placed team in Group A.
Argentina did enough to grab all three points against Nigeria winning 1-0 when it could easily have been 3 or 4 – Lionel Messi was the stand-out player on the pitch and was unlucky to not get on the scoresheet himself with the Nigerian keeper Vincent Enyeama pulling off some world-class saves to deny the little maestro.
Perhaps a little surprisingly was the fact that Gabriel Heinze headed home the winner, but this emphasis their strength at set-pieces, something the South Koreans may be susceptible to.
The South Koreans know that a draw against Argentina takes them a big step nearer to qualifying for the knock-out stages, but they’ll be going for a win I daresay. They accounted for Greece rather easier than I expected, winning 2-0 against a lacklustre Greece side.
The two scorers Park Ji-Sung and Lee Jung-Soo took their goals well, but I fear they will not the same amount of room to operate against a well-organised midfield and defence such as Argentina. I think their best chance will be moving the ball around the edge of the area and a through-ball for one of the front men to nip in one-on-one with the keeper. They do possess speed so the Argentines will need to be wary of this.
South Korea have improved immeasurably, but I’m confident that Argentina have that extra dimension in the form of Messi that will be the difference in this match.
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