The Korea national team opened its 2010 World Cup campaign on Saturday with a convincing 2-0 win against an outmatched Greek squad before a raucous pro-Korea crowd in Port Elizabeth. Lee Jung-Soo and Manchester United forward Park Ji-Sung scored for the Korean side, which now sits atop the Group B standings with a superior goal differential against Argentina—which also won on Saturday, but managed only one goal in dominating Nigeria in the other group matchup.
The Tigers of Asia pounced quickly, when just seven minutes in, Lee snuck past the Greek defense and tapped in a ball off of a beautiful free kick from the corner to score the fastest goal in Korean World Cup history. The 2004 European champions spent the rest of the first half desperately seeking the equalizer, but Huh Jung-Moo’s squad responded with a stout defensive effort, led by stingy goalkeeper Jung Song-Ryung. In the 27th minute, AS Monaco striker and national team standout Park Chu-Young nearly doubled Korea’s lead with an accurate shot on goal off of a brilliant through ball from captain Park Ji-Sung.
The Koreans did add a second goal in the 52nd minute when Park Ji-Sung, perhaps the team’s most internationally recognizable star, stole an errant pass and split two Greek defenders before netting an elegant left-footed shot against Greece’s sprawled-out goalkeeper, Alexandros Tzorvas. The team captain has now scored at least one goal in three successive World Cups, dating back to 2002. Even after Park’s goal, the Korean side continued to press the attack, seemingly not content with a 2-0 lead. The Koreans, after all, know well that a 2-0 lead is hardly insurmountable; for instance, the 1994 national team scored two goals in the final five minutes in a World Cup tie against Spain to salvage a 2-2 draw. There was no chance of a similar occurrence tonight. Korea’s backstop, Jung, made certain of that with some very key saves during the latter part of the second half, including a fantastic stop of a Theofanis Gekas laser in the 80th minute.
Meanwhile, Park Chu-young very nearly made it a Korean whitewash in the 62nd minute with a dangerous header that missed the top right shelf by (at most) one meter. The younger Park more than made up for his skittish performance in the 2006 World Cup with solid play that kept the Greeks off-balance the entire match and led to three legitimate scoring chances for the 24-year-old rising star.
All in all, it was a dominant performance against a solid Greek side. Of course, the competition will get considerably tougher in the next match, when Korea faces off against South American powerhouse Argentina on Thursday. But if the Red Devils play as well as they did today, they have to like their chances.
Dae Han Min Gook!
Photo Credit: AP
