ROUND OF 16: URUGUAY 2 SOUTH KOREA 1:FOR SOUTH Korea, there was at least dignity in defeat. On Saturday evening they demonstrated why they are one of the emerging football nations and their president, Lee Myung-bak, was sufficiently impressed to break off from the G20 summit in Toronto to congratulate them.
“Although they were defeated, they fought well,” he said. “They did their best to the end.” Ultimately, though, Uruguay just had that bit too much know-how.
The South Koreans played with a commitment to attack but they have never satisfactorily replaced Hong Myung-bo since his retirement after that run to the semi-finals in 2002, and they leave this World Cup having conceded an average of two a match.
On Saturday, as Uruguay set up a date with Ghana, Luis Suarez ruthlessly exposed this weakness. “It makes you realise how important defence is in becoming a strong team,” said Park Ji-sung, the South Korea captain who is now contemplating retiring from international football to concentrate on Manchester United at the age of 29. “It’s regrettable for us that our back four has little experience playing overseas.”
To put it into context, South Korea had only one defender from a club outside of Asia while Uruguay’s were all affiliated to regular Champions League qualifiers from Portugal, Spain and Turkey.
The South Americans, morevoer, were one of only two teams – Portugal being the other – to emerge from the group stage without conceding a single goal. They are not a particularly adventurous side, and not blessed with enough pace to be a devastating counter-attacking unit, but they rarely lose their shape and they possess two prolific strikers.
Diego Forlan’s rejuvenation since that challenging spell at United a few years back is well documented, but on Saturday he was on the fringes and it was Suarez’s turn to demonstrate his ability in front of goal.
He did so in a manner that showed why he is one of the more sought-after players on the market, linked with virtually all of the Premier League’s elite clubs. He was the scorer of both goals and now has 55 in his past 61 matches for club and country, a record diminished only by the fact he plays for Ajax in a Dutch league that is not what it was.
There is a natural compulsion to wonder whether Suarez would be successful in England, and the answer is difficult to predict - Afonso Alves and Mateja Kezman both shone in the Netherlands before woeful seasons at Middlesbrough and Chelsea respectively. The case on his behalf was certainly enhanced by the diagonal shot he angled through a crowded penalty area for the game’s decisive moment. It was a goal of authentic brilliance, coming at a point when South Korea were threatening to take control.
Shortly before, Bolton Wanderers’ Lee Chung-yong had headed in the first goal conceded by Uruguay at this World Cup, and it was merited on the balance of a rain-soaked second half in which Oscar Tabarez’s team had resolutely tried to defend their early advantage.
This had been their tactic virtually from the moment Suarez swept in the opening goal, seizing upon a mistake from the South Korea goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong to convert Forlan’s low centre.
Suarez’s winner was sublime, an automatic entry on to the shortlist for goal of the tournament. More importantly for Uruguay, it sealed their first quarter-final since 1970.
- Guardian Service
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