South Korea beats Greece 2-0 in 1st group match
By Kim Hyun-cheol
Staff reporter
Lee Jung-soo scored seven minutes into the first half and Park Ji-sung added one more goal in the second half, as South Korea breezed into a 2-0 win over Greece in its first World Cup group match at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, Saturday.
The victory stretched the country's World Cup opener-winning streak to three tournaments. South Korea beat Poland 2-0 in South Korea in 2002, and edged out Togo 2-1 four years later in Germany.
It also enraptured nearly a million local South Korean supporters, who took to the streets for the cheering in spite of the pouring rain. Some 970,000 people across the nation, with almost 200,000 from Seoul, gathered to watch the game out of their places, according to police estimation.
With an initial three points, Huh Jung-moo's squad took a critical step to book a berth in the knockout stage in the Group B competition with Greece, Argentina and Nigeria.
South Korea started the game with a serious threat from the opponent just one minute into the game. Vasilis Torosidis sent a drive off a corner by Giorgos Karagounis, which went close over the woodwork.
However, the Taeguk Warriors didn't miss their first set-piece chance minutes later to take a lead, as Lee made the country's fastest goal in its World Cup history.
The Kashima Antlers defender tapped a free kick by Ki sung-yueng from the left into the right corner of the net in the seventh minute.
South Korea doubled the gap after halftime, with Park flaunting his raison d'etre in the national team. Greek coach Otto Rehhagel took off captain Karagounis at the interval for an adventurous three-forward lineup, but the Taeguk Warriors continued to keep their dominance over the former European champion.
Park, a Manchester United star, collected a poor pass from Avraam Papadopoulos in the center, then beat him and Loukas Vyntra before slotting a sharp strike past goalkeeper Alexandros Tzorvas into the far-right post in the 52nd minute.
Ten minutes from time, Greece had another huge scoring opportunity when Theofanis Gekas unleashed a close-range drive from the right, but Korean goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong, who made his World Cup debut, tipped it over the bar in a fine save.
Manager Huh Jung-moo said after the match that he is "proud of what the players did."
"We played in a good flow throughout the game. We prepared thoroughly, fought it out to win, and what my boys achieved is well worth a good praise," he said.
"It will be a tough match against Argentina. We still have a lot to improve, but we are not going to cower down. I believe we can further develop if only we bring out our best."
Team captain Park was selected as man of the match in a fan vote on the FIFA website. The midfielder, who now has scored in three consecutive World Cups, said he is fully satisfied with the result.
"Our defenders were great today, effective in denying Greece's attacking efforts. I think that was the biggest contribution to the victory," Park said.
Rehhagel also said South Korea deserved a win.
"The Koreans played very well, they fought hard, they used their chances. We didn't," the 72-year-old told reporters after the match.
South Korea next plays Argentina Thursday in Johannesburg, and takes on Nigeria on June 23 in Durban.