Nigeria’s Super Eagles crashed to the ground yesterday, tying South Korea 2-2 in a result that eliminates them from the 2010 FIFA South Africa World Cup. The result is more heartening for the South Koreans, who advance into the Group of 16 round, where they will take on South Americans Uruguay to see who will advance to the quarter-finals.
The game was one of the most exciting of the tournament thus far, in a World Cup that has failed to produce much goalscoring. Kali Uche scored for Nigeria, giving them hope early that they could win to advance into the second round.
The Taeguk warriors equalized off of a free kick in the 38th minute, as Lee Jung-soo was left open towards the back post. South Korea scored on a beautiful free kick by Park Chu-young in the 49th minute, with Chu-young curling it just over the wall of defenders and placing it in the right corner of the next to take the lead.
Ayegbeni Yakubu managed to tie the game in the 69th minute on a penalty kick to give his team a glimmer of hope that they could score again and advance, but Yakubu may be remembered more for his near miss minutes earlier. Yakubu found himself with a wide open net, and inexplicably missed it off the side of his foot.
Nigerians can’t capitalize, South Koreans can
In a game with plenty of opportunities for both sides, the difference ended up being South Korea’s ability to capitalize on the opportunities they were given, whereas Nigeria did not. Aside from Yakubu’s painful miss in the second half, after their second goal they did have several chances but missed the net or could not finish plays when it counted.
Meanwhile the South Koreans put together two goals off of free kicks, showing that their long hours practicing with the new and controversial Adidas Jabulani ball had paid off.
"We trained quite a lot for the freekick and from that position, and Park Chu-young was the one for the freekick," South Korea coach Huh Jung-moo said after the match. “Compared to other balls, if you kick it too hard then 80 to 90 percent of the time it seems to go up in the air, too high. So we trained so that it would be kicked lightly, without hitting it too hard.”
Indeed, the Nigerians seemed to have trouble keeping the ball low, missing several important opportunities by shooting too high.
A blow to Africa, a victory for Asia
The loss to Nigeria is yet another tough pill for the continent of Africa to swallow, as the host continent has had a very tough tournament. South Africa was eliminated earlier in the day, and Nigeria had held the hopes of many on the continent. The nation was so desperate for a victory they offered $30,000 to every single player on the team if they could only advance to the knockout round. But it wasn’t to happen, and the Nigerians leave without a single victory at the World Cup.
For South Korea, it’s only the second time in eight tournaments that they managed to escape the opening round, with the last time happening when they made the semi-finals while hosting in 2002.
"We have shown that Asian football has come of age," said midfielder Ki Sung-Yong. "We have created history and shown the world that we are one of the best teams in Asia."
They will have to take on a very tough Uruguay in the next round, and will likely come into the game as underdogs, but the Taeguk warriors are always a team than can surprise.
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