World Cup – Day 2

The second day of the world cup in South Africa proved to be an exciting one, with 270 minutes of football involving some potential champions, and some individual performances that will leave many scratching their heads. Things kicked off at 12:30pm, with South Korea vs. Greece. Many pundits have predicted that neither of these two teams will make it past the group stage, and after this display, it seems they have a case.

Korea ran out comfortable winners, the match ending with a 2-0 score line. It was plain sailing for the Koreans for much of the match, taking the lead as they did in the first ten minutes, with a neat finish from a corner on seven minutes from Jung-Soo Lee. The Greek team looked strangely lethargic by way of comparison and it was hard to fathom how a team who had gone through so much to reach the finals could have performed so poorly in their opening game. After the second goal by Ji-sung Park, Korea retreated, and allowed Greece time on the ball. It was a strategy that almost proved disastrous, as Greece had more chances in the last twenty minutes of the game that in the rest of the match. In the end though, they couldn’t take any of these chances, and the game finished with a comfortable 2-0 score line in favour of the Koreans.

Next up was the hotly anticipated match between Argentina and Nigeria. Much of the pre match attention naturally focussed on Diego Maradona, who has been nothing short of entertaining in the lead up to the finals. Bizarrely, he opted to play Newcastle’s left winger Jonas Gutierrez at right full back, and Argentina were almost made to pay the price. On numerous occasions, play passed Gutierrez by as he came to terms playing in such an unfamiliar position, and Argentina were lucky not to be punished as a result.

Disappointingly, the only goal of a game that Argentina dominated, arrived in the fifth minute. A powerful diving header from Gabriel Heinze proved the difference between the sides, though in truth the gap could have been significantly wider. Having taken the lead, Argentina pushed on, only to waste a hatful of chances that came their way. Indeed, Nigeria were unlucky not to have equalised on the break, creating chances on numerous occasions. Argentina are likely to progress through this group comfortably, but look shaky in defence. It’s likely that higher quality teams might punish this weakness further on in the tournament.

The day finished with the much hyped game between the USA and England. Unfortunately though, it proved to be a relatively dull affair, and will be remembered solely for a horrific mistake by England goalkeeper Robert Green. England had taken the lead within 5 minutes, Gerrard slotting home after a smooth exchange of passes between himself and Heskey. By the half hour mark though, things had changed drastically, with Green inexplicably spilling a timid, long range effort from Clint Dempsey into his own net. After the match, many of the England players attempted to deflect criticism from Green, claiming the unpredictable World Cup ball was to blame. In truth though, it was a lack of concentration from the England goalkeeper that had cost England the lead, and they never truly recovered thereafter.

Much of the match involved long punts up field from Robert Green to Emile Heskey, which didn’t make for pleasant viewing. The game generally bypassed the midfield, which must have worked to England’s disadvantage, given the quality players at their disposal. In the end, a draw seemed a fair result, with chances to win the match falling to both sides. Jozy Altidore clipped the post having comfortably beaten Jamie Carragher for pace, while Heskey fired straight at Tim Howard, having been played clean through on goal. It was a slightly disappointing end to a generally entertaining day of football, but it was hard to argue with the result.