A classy Argentina demolished South Korea 4-1 in what turned out to be a one-sided affair in Johannesburg this afternoon. Gonzalo Higuain scored a hat-trick to get the three points for his side which has now progressed to the second round, the first side in the competition to do so.
The 4-1 scoreline, however, does not totally justify the efforts of a hard-working Korean side. Only they had no clue against Messi’s quick feet, and once they were behind 2-1 and started to search for their equalizer in the second half, brilliant counter-attacking by Argentina just rubbed salt into their wounds.
First, they conceded an unlucky own goal at the start of the match. Park Chu-Young directed an Argentine cross directly to his own net much to his disbelief. It was clear he had not sighted the ball in the midst of so many players moving about in front of him. Koreans lost confidence and looked down and confused in the period. Argentina came close to scoring again in the 18th minute through Nicolas Otamendi’s shot which just flew over the bar.
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A busy and committed Carlos Tevez won a free kick near the penalty area in the 33rd minute. A couple of passes and a header later, Maradona’s side were 2-0 up. It was the first goal for Higuain, who was just on-side, marginally. Korea’s goalkeeper was very good as he saved numerous short and long range strikes, a couple of them coming minutes later through a terrific build-up by Argentina, a thing they repeated countless times as the match wore on. In the 45th minute, Messi showed his magic to work his way through the midfield but his shot was just wide of the keeper.
At the dying stages of the first half, Korea got a goal back through terrible defending by Argentina. Korea’s keeper Jung Sung-Ryon had just kicked the ball out to the other side of the field and Lee Chung Yong took advantage off a defensive lapse and quickly worked his way into the penalty area and chipped it past the Argentine keeper for a goal.
The second half saw Korea searching for that equalizer for a long time. Though there were a couple of periods in which they looked very potent, but Argentina’s class proved too much for them. In fact, the commentator kept on repeating how the Asian side looked so impressive while attacking, and seemed totally out of sorts when defending, expecially against a start-studded side like Argentina. Countless good looking chances later, which were mostly by Argentina, Maradona’s side finally found another goal through Higuain again in the 76th minute, and it was heart-break for Korea who were trying their level-best to come back into the match. It was the result of a counter-attack, and it only showed how trailing early in match can prove to be fatal for any side.
Messi worked his magic again and his shot was first saved by the keeper, and then off its rebound it hit the goalpost and fell to Higuain who was standing right at the appropriate position – at the mouth of the goal. He tapped it in and Maradona celebrated. Another counter attack and a header minutes later gave Higuain another goal which sealed the fate of Korea.
Korea had some positives to be taken, but it was largely their defence which found no answer to Messi’s and Tevez’s tricks. Having won the first encounter with Greece, Korea is still a favourite to go through to the next round. Argentina now have already done it.
