ARGENTINA VS SOUTH KOREA
Argentina is one of the clear favourites to win the FIFA world cup. They will go head to head with South Korea on June 17th at the Soccer City in Johannesburg. It will be the first match between the 2 teams in the tournament who have won their respective first matches.
Argentina have provided some legendary World Cup performances and this year sees a return of the biggest legend of them all; Diego Maradona. However, the fans won’t get to see any of his famous antics on the pitch; this time he is confined to coaching duties. Argentina who were certainly not at their best against a lowly side like Nigeria in their opening encounter, but looking at the bigger picture they did create number of great opportunities but just could not put the final touches on them. Messi who has been the player making the headline before the world cup, with his exploits for his club Barcelona, the current player of the year is often considered to be the greatest player on earth. At this point though, his critics are refusing to accept his brilliance until he proves himself on the international stage. Taking into account what was on evidence in their first match, the youngster certainly did show pieces of good performance, but was not on his game to the same level as he is normally for his club. The flair and trickery was there for everyone to see, but one should also not count out the brilliant goalkeeping display by the Nigerian Goal Keeper, who certainly saved not one not two but at least 6 clear goals. And the execution has been slightly well from the former world champions, we may have had a score-line very different from one nil. That in fact was quite flattering for the Nigerians.
Looking at the first match of their opponents, South Korea produced one of the most convincing performances by any team so far, as the Asian side ran all over Greece the former European champions. Greece of course were the favourites going in to the match, but Korean captain Ji-Sung Park and his team looked fully prepared, there was sense of purpose in their performance, normally when a player is built up too much ahead of the match, he fails to live up to the reputation and falls under pressure, but Park who is also part of former English and European champions Manchester United did lead from the front, and his 2nd goal which was one of the best seen so far was a clear evidence of what the winger is capable of.
Di Maria was probably one of the few positive things to come out of the first match for Argentina, Di Maria was very lively on the wings, and made threatening runs throughout the match, his ability to make the pitch wider then it actually is can be a real handful for Maradona’s team. With players like Diego Milito and Gonzalo Higuain in the centre of attack, his constant crosses from the wing can be a real problem for any opposition. Maria who plays in Portugal for Benfica is believed to be on the verge of moving to the Spanish giants Real Madrid, and Madrid’s coach Jose Mourinho has also made it clear that he would love nothing more then to have the talented youngster in his squad.
Now the other key player for Argentina one can say by Default has to be the most talked about man Lionel Messi, the young man is believed to be the best thing to come out of Argentina since his coach the legendary Diego Maradona. Well the comparisons are inevitable but the left footer has done no harm to his reputation of succeeding his idol, as he has already immolated Maradona by scoring a goal in which he took on the whole opposition defence in a match of Copa Del re, while the famous Hand of God goal of Maradona was also somewhat copied by Messi in La Liga, when he leaped in the air and scored from his hand, which was missed by the referee. Not that it was a big achievement but only highlights the fact that he wants to be like his role model, and will leave no stone unturned in the world cup to take his team to glory.
Talking about South Korea once again the most reputed player in their ranks has to be their captain Ji Sung Park, who displayed his skills in the first match, and was clear for everyone to see that he has was it takes to mix it with the big boys. Korea who have a realistic chance of progressing to the next round especially after their convincing win against Greece, will not be disappointed if they can get one point out of the big match, as they may fancy themselves against Nigeria.
Argentina are going to be a tough team to beat but expect a lot of spirited action from the South Korean players. This next Group B match between Argentina and South Korea is sure to be a real thriller.
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