Uruguay defeated South Korea 2-1 in the first Round of 16 match. Uruguay led 1-0 for much of the match, after Luis Suarez took advantage of poor defending for an easy finish off a Diego Forlan cross. South Korea leveled in the 2nd half, but Uruguay went back ahead to stay off another goal by Suarez, this one a tremendous curling shot.
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Commentary
Argentina v Mexico: Open Thread
Let’s hope today’s second match proves to be a little more balanced than that last display. Argentina are among the favorites to lift the Cup, though they looked a shambles in qualifying with Maradona continuing to sully his iconic reputation (because up ’til now he’s been the poster boy for responsible sanity).
Mexico have been impressive as well, and though they are sure to be outclassed in the midfield, they possess a dangerous attacking duo in Dos Santos and Vela, and Salcido in back has been great getting forward and creating chances from the wings.
Argentina are dripping with quality, with Messi the obvious standout. But they can score from anywhere on the pitch, and with strikers like Inter’s Milito on the bench (Tevez and get the starts up front, with Messi in an attacking midfield position just behind them), Maradona has an abundance of options should one not be firing on all cylinders today.
It’s an open thread again (we like to save the liveblog action for the workdays), so please make some noise with your comments!
Commentary
England v Germany: Open Thread
England have the pieces to make a deep run in this Cup, but do they have the confidence?
CommentaryUnited States
US Crash Out
A rough day for the USA where nothing ever materialized in their offense third, while Ghana exploited a less-than-convincing centerback pairing that’s been shaky throughout the Cup. The boys simply looked tired on two-days rest, and with the customary goal given up within the first ten minutes of play, the struggle proved to be too much.
Who knows what the game might’ve been like if they hadn’t given up that early goal? Ghana was instantly content to sit back and block off routes into their half, and we’ve seen even the best attacking teams struggle to unlock stubborn, compact defenses during this tournament. The confidence and sharp movement we saw against Algeria was nonexistent, with poor touches and lofted balls bypassing the midfield the order of the day.
Surely it didn’t help that the entire support of Africa was behind Ghana. In fact, if it were any other team playing Ghana, we all would’ve supported them too. Now the Black Stars move on and the US is left adrift for another four years.
“The finality of it is brutal,” said Landon Donovan, who spent several long minutes alone on the US bench after the final whistle. “When you realize how much you put into it, not only for the last four years, but for your whole life. There’s no guarantee there’s another opportunity at that. It’s disappointing.”
The tournament continues, with some great matches yet to come. Tonight we lick our wounds, tomorrow we’re back!
Live BlogUnited States
Liveblog/open thread: #USA v #GHA
[Final score: Ghana 2, USA 1
Ghana advances to the quarterfinals, where they will face Uruguay. An African team continues on in this the first African World Cup.]
The one we’ve all been waiting for (well, for all of the last 3 days, since The Goal). Again, we won’t be doing min-by-min, play-by-play commentary (for that, we recommend the Guardian or NYT’s Goal blog).
We’re about 20m from kickoff. Starting lineups below, live entries coming up after the jump. We’re going to make a run around the corner to our local Brooklyn bodega for some refreshments, and to look in on the local soccer scene (Scopello, Mullanes, Der Schwarzer Kolner). We should be back on by kickoff..
Live Blog
Liveblog (or open thread?): Uruguay (#uru) v South Korea (#kor)!
And here we go..doesn’t it feel like a whole new tournament is starting today? The past 2 weeks were prologue; the most important time in history is now, the present(*).
All eyes here in the US are looking forward to the 2nd match of the day, USA v Ghana (kickoff 2:30pm ET). But we here at CultFootball HQ are nearly as excited about Uruguay v South Korea. Why? Well, the Korean branch of the CultFootball fam is both numerous and uncompromising in its support of the Reds. And on the other hand, this CultFootballer is, among all the South American teams, partial to Uruguay, for reasons both personal and historical.
We are about 15minutes from kickoff. Some intro material lifted from the Guardian’s liveblog and then our live entries after the jump!
Tactics
Uruguay v South Korea preview – by @Zonal_Marking
Lifted from Zonal Marking’s very readable, must-read second round preview:
Uruguay v South Korea
Uruguay have been one of the most impressive teams so far – playing for and achieving a draw against France, destroying South Africa and recording a solid 1-0 victory over Mexico.
They started the competition with a 3-5-2 shape, which became more like a 5-3-2 when the wing-backs had to contain France’s wingers. They’ve since switched to a 4-3-1-2 with Diego Forlan playing behind the main two forwards, and they’ll surely play the same formation after their two wins.
South Korea’s first XI is fairly predictable. The only changes they’ve made so far have been at right-back, bringing in Oh Bum-Suk against Argentina – but he was the worst player on the pitch, so Cha Du-Ri has regained his place.
The formation will probably be 4-2-3-1. Playing Park Ji-Sung on the left-hand side might be useful to track the forward runs of Maxi Pereira, although he was fielded in the centre of the three against Argentina.
Picking up Forlan is the obvious task – with two holding midfielders, Korea will have a man tracking him, but must worry this will concede the midfield ground to Uruguay. Korea should look to play down their left-hand-side, because Uruguay’s shape tends to be slightly lopsided. Alvaro Pereira, generally a left wing-back, is playing a more central role but tends to drift back out wide, sometimes meaning Uruguay look like two banks of four minus a right-sided midfielder.
[via World Cup second round preview (part one) | Zonal Marking]
Thoughts?
CommentaryUnited States
Extremely Brief USA v Ghana Preview Suited To Our Era Of Distraction
This weekend, the American team continues its fabulous march to destiny with a match against Ghana, the sole remaining Africans, in a meeting with uncomfortable hegemonic overtones, not that American fans give a shit. Here is a reductively short perversion of what both teams need to do to win the match.
Ghana Has To Do Two Things:
1. Find A Goal
Ghana have only scored two times. Both were penalties by forward Asamoah Gyan. Gyan runs the channels well, links up play and helps his teammates, but he does not really look for goals. Ghana are formidable defensively because they don’t throw players forward, ever, but the Americans are weak at tracking back up the middle. Make the likes of Maurice Edu, Ricardo Clark, Benny Feilhaber and Jose Torres defend their area and you can hurt the USA. Let them attack all day and you will lose.