June 30, 2010
World Cup 2010 - Uruguay Defeats South Korea and makes it to the Quarterfinals
By Stephen Lars
Uruguay became the first soccer team to qualify to the World Cup South Africa 2010 quarterfinals after the team defeated their South Korean counterparts by a 2-1 margin in an interesting match last weekend.
From the start, the Uruguayan team seemed a bit overshadowed by the Koreans who kept on dominating the ball and pushing the lines forwards. Park Chu-Young took a great shot from some 28 meters. The free-shot found its way through the defensive barrier and managed to bounce off Fernando Muslera’s, the Uruguayan goalkeeper, right goal post.
After this first offensive play it was Uruguayan striker Diego Forlan who tested Jung Sung-Ryong talents as a keeper with on potent shot from outside the penalty box. The South Korean keeper managed to control the ball with ease despite the good shot.
Just a couple of minutes after Forlan’s first try, Uruguay went for goal yet again. The triad of Diego Forlan, Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez kept proving one of the most effective offensive combinations in this tournament.
It was Forland who took charge of the scoring play. He managed to pass the ball to Suarez who sprint his way into the South Korean penalty box. From there, and without missing a beat, he took a clear shot at goal. Despite his effort, the Asian keeper was unable to stop or deflect the ball and the Uruguayans made it 1-0.
Midfielder Egidio Arevalo was quite close to scoring Uruguay’s second goal of the game but his mid range shot went a bit high over the goal. After the first goal, the south Korean squad made an important effort to revisit their strategy and played more offensively. The South Americans on the other hand seemed to be relying mostly on a chance for a fast break.
Uruguay had yet another chance to score. Suarez was penalized with a forward, yet again it was a bad call from the referees since he was well placed among the defense when he received the ball and scored. Wrongfully enough, the goal did not count towards the Uruguayan team. Korea went on to take advantage of the miscall and kept on shooting on goal.
Lee Chung-Young made a slightly off centered shot at goal and just a couple minutes later it was Kim Jung-Woo who took another try but the ball went over the goal. Before the midgame break Park Chu-Young took yet another shot but he missed the goal once again.
The Asian Tigers were in control of the midfield. They kept on opening spaces to take shots against Fernando Muslera. But it was not the best day for the South Korean star Park Ji-Sung as he did not have such a brilliant game. Most fans were expecting him to push like he had on the first three games in the World Cup.
At the beginning of the second half, Uruguay seemed unable to make it pass their own side, and were mostly kept under the radar. Suarez once again took a shot on goal but the South Korean keeper made a great save to maintain the 1-0 difference.
The Asian team kept on pushing for the drawing goal and they had a couple of chances to tie. But they were missing some opportunities on the front end. Chun-Young took a header and scored for the draw.
The Uruguay National Soccer team reacted and moved its lines forward. 10 minutes before the end, Luis Suarez ran in from the side to complete the 2-1 win with which the South Americans move on the next round. They will face Ghana on July 2nd for the quarterfinals.
About the Author
Stephen Lars has been a prominent writer on regular 2010 South Africa World Cup news, sports news and the sportsbetting industry for many exceptional sports web sites. You may reprint this article in its full content, please note no modifications to it are accepted.