World Cup 2010: South Korea Vs Uruguay - Half Time Report
The first game of the knock out round of the World Cup kicks off with the South Koreans playing Uruguay. Uruguay topped their group which included France and the World Cup hosts South Africa, whereas South Korea were second in their group behind Argentina. The winner of this match will come up against either the U.S.A or Ghana in the quarter Finals.
The game kicked off at a fast pace with both sides looking to secure an early goal to establish themselves in the match. Uruguay, with their attacking line-up of Diego Forlan, Suarez and Cavani, looked more likely to open the scoring in the initial stages. It only took 8 minutes for the first goal of the game, as Suarez capitalized on a defensive mistake by the South Korean goalkeeper Jung Sung-Ryong, who came out to collect Forlan's cross but failed to do so and that left Suarez an empty goal to shoot into. It was a tight angle though, and Suarez deserved credit for being in the right place at the right time.
Uruguay qualified for this round without having conceded a single goal in the group stages, which is something very unusual about this team because traditionally the Uruguay teams have always been more focused on scoring than not conceding goals. This, however, means that they are well positioned to book their place in the quarter finals after having taken the lead.
A controversial decision by the linesman in the 27th minute denied Uruguay what could have been a decisive goal. Suarez appeared to be on side, as the South Korean defender was dispossessed around the half way line but the linesman had his flag up and so the referee stopped the play for offside. Replays, though, showed that Suarez was in line with the South Korean defender and was wrongly declared offside.
The Uruguayans successfully managed to slow down the pace of the game, as the half wore on. They kept possession, showing little or no attacking intent and inviting the Koreans to attack them. Park Ji-Sung, the South Korean Captain, tried his best to inspire his team but with the Uruguayans defending resolutely, the South Koreans could not get an equalizer.
The first booking of the game came in the 38th minute when Kim Jung-Woo was booked for a tackle on Edinson Cavani. He had his studs very high and so the referee rightly dished out the first yellow card of the game to the South Korean. In the 41st minute a claim for handball was turned down by the referee, as Pereira's volley hit the arm of Ki Sung-Yong. The referee decided to ignore the appeals but a penalty could easily have been awarded there.
At half time, the score was 1-0 to the Uruguayans, who looked great value for their lead. The Koreans have tried their best to score but it looks like it's only a matter of time before Uruguay grab their second goal of the game and book their place into the next round.
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