Diego Maradona’s Argentina look certainties for a place in the last 16 of the World Cup after their 4-1 Group B victory over South Korea yesterday as Real Madrid’s Gonzalo Higuain scored a hat-trick.
Maradona’s side would be sure of a place in the knock-out phase later yesterday if Group B rivals Greece and Nigeria drew in Bloemfontein.
Midfield maestro Lionel Messi was superb throughout as Argentina raced into a 2-0 first-half lead thanks to a header from Higuain and an own-goal by South Korea’s Park Chu-young.
PHOTO: EPA
Monaco forward Park turned a free-kick by Messi into his own net on 17 minutes before Higuain’s header extended the South American giants lead with his first goal on 33 minutes.
South Korea pulled a goal back at the end of the first half when Argentina defender Martin Demichelis failed to control a simple ball and Lee Chung-yong robbed him and fired past Sergio Romero.
“Unfortunately Micho [Demichelis] didn’t hear that a [Korean] player was coming up behind him,” Argentina captain Javier Mascherano said. “With the noise on the pitch it’s very difficult to communicate with your team-mates.”
PHOTO: AFP
“[But] the team rose to the challenge in the second half and that’s important,” he said. “From the first minute we dominated the ball against a dangerous team.”
Higuain made sure of the win with two goals in four minutes late in the second-half in front of a 82,174-strong crowd at Soccer City.
“We played well, but there were some things we lacked in our game and we missed opportunities,” South Korean coach Huh Jung-moo said.
“I think we fought well against a side who boast several star players and we have learned a lot from the game,” he said.
“Our next match against Nigeria is now extremely important and it will decide whether or not we reach the Round of 16,” Huh said.
Argentina meant business from the kick-off and took the lead when Messi’s free-kick deflected off Park’s legs who could only watch in horror as the ball flew over the line.
Argentina coach Maradona then replaced the limping Walter Samuel with AS Roma’s Nicolas Burdisso on 23 minutes.
Argentina extended their lead when Maxi Rodriguez’s cross was flicked on by Burdisso for Higuain to beat goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong on 33 minutes, before Lee’s late effort gave the South Koreans hope for the second-half.
Jung pulled off two great saves in quick succession early in the half: first from Higuain at close-quarters after a good break from Angel Di Maria, a constant threat to the Korean defense, then from Tevez after a long-range shot.
The only slight blemish on the Argentinians day was Jonas Gutierrrez second booking of the tournament which will see the Newcastle United star miss the next game with Greece.
Higuain settled the contest after Messi beat two defenders in the box and squared for the Real forward to fire into an empty net on 76 minutes while Messi again played a hand in the fourth goal on 80 minutes to seal the win.
Man-of-the-match Higuain jogged off in the 82nd minute to loud applause from the Argentina fans, but the 22-year-old’s reply in kind could well have been for midfield maestro Messi who created his goals.
“The result was unexpected but, regardless of the score, it’s possible we can still make the last 16,” Huh said.
“Whether it’s 4-1 or 3-1 ... [isn’t] very meaningful. We marked Messi but didn’t manage to get close enough to him,” he said.
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