South Korea 2-0 Greece

Saturday, 12 June, 2010

A goal in each half enough for win in Group B opener.

South Korea 2-0 Greece
FIFA World Cup 2010
Group B
12.30pm (BST), Saturday 12 June
Nelson Mandela Bay, Port Elizabeth

Manchester United midfielder Park Ji-sung ensured South Korea secured the first victory of the 2010 World Cup as he added an excellent second half goal to team-mate Lee Jung-soo's early first half effort against a below par Greek side.

Greece manager Otto Rehhagel looked far from happy as soon as the game kicked off as South Korea looked the more relaxed and eager side.

And his fears were founded as early as the sixth minute when his team conceded a free-kick near a corner flag. The ball was sent in by Ki Sung-yong and it brushed off the head of Greece defender Kostas Katsouranis straight to Lee Jung-soo for a simple close range finish at the far post.

The Koreans had a few more chances before half-time and should have had the game won by the break.

But Greece were somehow still in it and Rehhagel gambled at the interval by substituting captain Giorgos Karagounis for Christos Patsatzoglou.

The switch had little impact other than to spur South Korea to greater heights while the Greeks looked even edgier.

And Loukas Vyntra's was caught in possession seven minutes after the restart by Park Ji-sung, who then set off on a mazy run, holding off the challenge of two defenders before sliding the ball past Alexandros Tzorvas and into the net.

It was no more than Park and co. deserved after dominating the match and they had chances to increase their lead before then end.

Greece betrayed their frustration when New Zealand referee Michael Hester had no option but to book Vasilis Torosidis for a rash challenge soon after the second goal.

Rehhagel had seen enough and quickly made his final two substitutions as Angelos Charisteas and Giorgos Samaras came off to be replaced by Pantelis Kapetanos and Dimitris Salpigidis.

About ten minutes later and Greece finally recorded their first shots of the match, not that either were on target.

Then, on 81 minutes, Greece finally forced Jung Sung-ryon into a save.

Theofanis Gekas let loose with a cracking shot from the edge of the box, but the South Korean goalkeeper reacted well to tip the ball over. And that was it.

South Korea regained their composure to finish the side looking most likely to score again and will now go into their remaining games against Argentina and Nigeria full of confidence.

Greece, meanwhile, are already in danger of going out. Group B is going to be a very tough one for the 2004 European Champions.

South Korea
18 Jung, 04 Cho, 12 Lee, 14 Lee, 22 Cha, 07 Park (C), 08 Kim, 10 Park (Seung-Youl Lee, 87), 16 Ki (13 Kim, 74), 17 Lee (5 Kim, 90), 19 Yeom
Substitutes not used 01 Lee, 02 Oh, 03 Hyung-ll Kim, 21 Kim, 23 Kang, 06 Bo-Kyung Kim, 09 Jung-Hwan Ahn, 20 Lee

Greece
12 Tzorvas, 2 Seitaridis, 8 Papadopoulos, 11 Vyntra, 15 Torosidis, 6 Tziolis, 10 Karagounis (C) (3 Patsatzoglou, 46), 21 Katsouranis, 7 Samaras (14 Salpigidis, 59), 9 Charisteas (20 Kapetanos, 61), 17 Gekas
Substitutes not used 1 Chalkias, 13 Michail Sifakis, 4 Spyropoulos, 5 Moras,16 Kyrgiakos, 19 Papaststhopoulos, 22 Malezas, 18 Ninis, 23 Prittas