2010 World Cup Soccer, South Africa- Group B Review:
Argentina was the seeded team in Group B. As a result, they were the favourites to progress through and win the top spot. However, there were no easy matches for them. To win the second spot in this group, there was little to choose between South Korea, Greece and Nigeria - all teams were likely to go through, provided that they performed well on the field.
South Korea 2 Greece 0:
The pool opener reminded us what the attributes of commitment and hard work can bring to a football pitch. It was thought that 2002 semi-finalists South Korea only did well because of home support. However, the Koreans proved that notion wrong. They brought a very confident, professional approach to this match and were rarely threatened by the Greeks. A comfortable win was rounded off with a composed finish by skipper Park Ji-Sung.
Argentina 1 Greece 0:
The second Group B match kicked-off with an early goal when Gabriel Heinze was left unchallenged in a corner kick. He guided the ball in the back of the net with a diving header to give Argentina the lead. Many chances were created by Argentina, but none of them was able to find the back of the Nigerian goal. However, the credit goes to an outstanding performance by Nigerian goal keeper Vincent Enyeama.
Argentina 4 South Korea 1:
It was always expected that Argentina’s progress in the World Cup would mainly depend upon their striker with their defence rather shaky when put under pressure. Argentinean strikers had failed to use the chances created in their first match. However, the story was completely different in the second. Park Chu-Young’s own goal triggered the demise of South Korea while Lee Chung-Yong's goal at half-time seemed to have brought them back in the game. Nevertheless, Gonzalo Higuain completed his first hat-trick of the tournament in the second half, confirming Argentina’s place in the knock-out stage.
Greece 2 Nigeria 1:
Prior to this encounter, Greece had lost all four World Cup matches since their debut in the 1994 tournament. On top of that, not a single goal was scored in their name. Fate looked to be continuing the same way when Kalu Uche sealed an opener for Nigeria until it turned upside down when Sani Kaita was shown a straight red card for his intended kick on Vasilis Torosidis. Dimitris Salpingidis scored the first goal for Greece in World Cup matches. After the interval, Vasilis Torosidis doubled the lead, capitalizing on a mistake by Nigerian goal keeper Vincent Enyeama.
Greece 0 Argentina 2:
For qualifying for the Round of 16, Greece needed to defy the odds and defeat Argentina in their last group match or take out a high scoring draw. Argentina only needed a draw from this match to confirm their top spot in the group. However, they preferred to continue their perfect record and searched for a win. Goals from Martin Demichelis and Martin Palermo in last 15 minutes of the match completed three wins for Diego Maradona’s team who had rested key players for this match.
Nigeria 2 South Korea 2:
South Korea only needed a draw from this match to qualify for the knock out stage but they were lucky in the end to get anything from this match. The Super Eagles got an early lead through Kalu Uche until goals from Lee Jung-Soo and Park Chu-Young in the last 7 minutes of the first half put the Koreans back on track. Yakubu Aiyegbeni equalised from a penalty spot after missing an open goal chance. Argentina will face Mexico in the Round of 16 while South Korea will take on Uruguay.
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