Argentina crack Greece and Korea Republic goes through

Again, two very different games from each other, while some might've expected Greece - Argentina to have lots of goals and Nigeria - Korea Republic to be tight, it was the opposite.

Here's how group B stands after the two results:

Argentina               (9)
Korea Republic     (4)
Greece                   (3)
Nigeria                  (1)

Messi the man of the match

Greece - Argentina


This game was going to be the ultimate clash, Greece going total defense, and Argentina going total attack, but to tell you the truth, practically nothing happened in the first half. I truly wish I could say more but there was no memorable event in the first half, Veron sprayed a couple of passes wide, Messi tried to dribble a couple of times, and Aguero had a shot on goal, but that's about it.

In the second half however we saw Samaras, Greece's lone striker get behind Argentina's shaky defense often, and in the 48th he was able to get an open goal but he blew the shot wide. A great opportunity that would've been an amazing upset had he scored one of the easiest of goals. Argentina continued with their incessant possession, Messi had a great chance from a long range free-kick which Tzorvas did well to parry, and just minutes later Bolatti lashed a point-blank volley from a corner which Tzorvas held very well.

Then in the 77th Argentina found the back of the net, a lucky bounce from a corner allows Demichelis to rifle the ball into the back of the net from close range for the lead. Then in the 86th we saw Messi smash a post after a great show of dribbling, and finally in the 89th we saw another great dribble and shoot by Messi which Tzorvas parried only to have substitute St. Martin Palermo follow-up for Argentina's second.

Park Chu-Young's free kick sneaking past Enyeama

Nigeria - Korea Republic

The scoring started right away in the 12th minute with Nigeria getting a cross in for Uche to anticipate his defender and shoot past Jung Sung-Ryong. Korea Republic answered soon after with the equalizer in the 38th, Lee Jung-Soo comes in at the back post from a free kick to nip in an equalizer.

In the second half Korea Republic took the lead with Park Chu-Young, a free kick which tricked Enyeama into taking a fatal step the wrong way as he couldn't reach the ball. Then in the 66th minute I saw the worst miss I've ever seen, whether it be Youtube or real life, this miss was unfathomable, be sure to see it somewhere because you will be amazed. Ayila squares the ball across to Yakubu, goal-keeper misses it, so do all the defenders, and Yakubu right in the middle of the six-yard box with an open net and the perfect pass somehow taps it wide.

Then in the 68th Nigeria get a penalty thanks to Kim Nam-Il who sliced down Obasi, Yakubu steps up to take the penalty and thankfully makes up for his missed chance earlier and slots it into the back of the net. Then in the 80th with the score tied 2-2 Martins is 1 on 1 and decides to be cheeky and try and chip the keeper, but it goes wide and Nigeria is eliminated and South Korea goes through.

Zizou, Radebe take different sides

Zinedine Zidane as he is interviewed

As 2010 FIFA World Cup™ hosts South Africa and former World Champions France prepare to square up in their ultimate Group A match, football legends Lucas Radebe and Zinedine Zidane have both thrown their weight behind their respective countries in what is likely to be fiercely contested game.

With both Uruguay and Mexico sitting on on top of the table with four points, South Africa and France have only managed to accumulate a point each. Mathematically, all sides in Group A are still within a chance of advancing to the knockout stages. But in order to do that, South Africa and France will have to fire from all angles and hope for a glut of goals at the Free State Stadium. There is romance in this fixture and some old scores to settle. One of the memorable moments between these two sides - their only World Cup meeeting - was back in 1998 where France emerged 3-0 victors in a fixture where both Radebe and Zidane featured prominently. But a lot has happened since then.

During an exclusive interview with FIFA, Zidane said he hopes the French team will peak in Bloemfontein. “There are no calculations to be made anymore. France will have to go forward and score many goals while hoping to have a profitable result in the other game," said the France 98 champion. "We all know what happened recently in the team and it does not matter to talk more about it. Even if it’s very tiny, there’s still a chance to go through. So France has to go for it. But we should never forget that South Africa is at home and have not done so well so far. They will give the best they can to make their fans happy. To give pride to the country.”

On the other hand, Radebe, who captained South Africa at two FIFA World Cups, in 1998 and at Korea/Japan in 2002, believes all is not lost. He has predicted an offensive game where both sides will be going for the jugular in an attempt to register maximum points. “It’s going to be a tough game, considering that both teams have not done so well, they are yet to collect maximum points.," he said. "This makes it a very tough encounter, they both have to get maximum points not only to go through but also to salvage the image of their countries."

Media reports have hinted at internal problems within the French team, but while Radebe said this might weaken the former European and World Champions, he has warned South Africa to write France off at their peril. “When [France] played Uruguay, they looked lively, but not strong. Against Mexico, they were not good enough, surely there might be some problems in their team. To be honest, we have seen a decline of this French team. But they are former World Champions, you don’t discard them. They will want to do well on this game, they are the former World Cup holders, they have a point to prove.”

France was held to a goaless draw by Uruguay in their first match at Green Point Stadium in Cape Town. They, however, suffered a heavy blow when they were defeated 2-0 by an innovative Mexican side. Zidane said France will have to rise above their current situation in order to defeat what is likely to be a highly motivated South African side. “France has to show superiority. It’s as simple as it is," he said. "Players have to demonstrate on the pitch that they play in the biggest European clubs. We have talked about anything but football in the past days. And am sure the players will have that in mind when entering the pitch. They know that if they qualify, everything will be forgotten.”

Despite their tenacious performance in the opening game at Soccer City against Mexico, South Africa were a shadow of that team at Loftus where they went down 3-0 to an impressive Uruguay. It was a big blow to the host and their aspirations. “That was a painful game. We were not good enough and it hurts," said Radebe. "A lot will be said, but maybe I believe we could have been more offensive, we didn’t put them under any pressure, we didn’t force them to think hard. We had one striker while they packed their defence.

"I don’t want to point fingers because at the end of the day, everyone should shoulder responsibility for what happened, but I hope we won’t see the same performance against France. The boys must know that they are playing for the millions who have supported them throughout. They have nothing to lose, they need to go there ane give it their best."

Feel free to post your opinions and predictions on the upcoming World Cup 2010 third round matches.

My predictions for tomorrow's third round group matches:

France vs. South Africa 0-1
Uruguay vs. Mexico 2-0
Argentina vs. Greece 3-1
South Korea vs. Nigeria 1-1

Argentina win 4-1 and Greece comeback against 10-man Nigeria

Two great matches, finally it seems like the World Cup is lighting up with some goals and attacking play. We'll have to wait and see if Mexico - France is also an attacking match, but these two results are great anyways.

Here's how Group B looks after these two results:

Argentina            (6)
Korea Republic   (3)
Greece                 (3)
Nigeria                (0)

Argentina - Korea Republic


A great match in which Argentina continued to do what they do best, light up the stage with a brilliant Messi supported by a powerful attacking force. Veron didn't start, but Argentina had few problems creating goals, they caused an own goal after just 15 minutes. Messi's free kick swung in, and Park Chu-Young thought that the defender in front of him would hit it out, instead the ball was missed and it bounced off Park Chu-Young's foot into the back of the net.

Higuain had the second goal, a center-forwards perfect goal, heading it past the keeper after Burdisso's flick gave Argentina a 2-0 lead. It was right before halftime when Korea Republic scored with Lee Chung-Yong stealing the ball from Demichelis who was just unaware of the player behind him.

In the second half, Argentina continued to push and found the third, Messi's run finished with him hitting the post and Higuain tapped the rebound in from the far post. The fourth came in the 80th minute with Higuain completing his hat-trick with a nice header to bury Korea Republic at 4-1.

Greece - Nigeria


A must-win match for both of these teams, Nigeria showed to be a bit more solid against Argentina, while Greece looked like they'd have trouble after the loss to South Africa. Nigeria started the scoring with Uche, swinging the free kick in for the cross, but it was left untouched as it bounced into the net, a complete goal-keepers error by Tzorvas.

Disaster struck for Nigeria in the 33rd minute for Nigeria, Kaita received a direct red card in the 33rd minute after getting into a bit of a scrap with Torosidis. The Nigerian had kicked the Greek on the thigh to receive the direct red and send his team spiraling into chaos.

Greece got the equalizer right before halftime thanks to a deflection off of Salpingidis's shot which looped over to the opposite side it was heading for before. After that Greece pushed for the winner and eventually found it with Torosidis, the man fouled by Kaita. The Greek scorer picked up a rebound from a fizzing shot and neatly tucked it away for an epic win.

South Korea, Argentina, and Messi Dominate

Two wins in the second day of the World Cup, while Korea Republic and Argentina might've dominated possession and the amount of chances created, they were unable to finish off many opportunities.

With these two results, Group B is poised like this:

Korea Republic   (3)
Argentina            (3)
Nigeria                (0)
Greece                (0)

Korea Republic is ahead of Argentina because they scored a goal more in their match, and Greece is below Nigeria because they suffered a goal more than the African country.

Argentina - Nigeria


It must be said that this Argentina team is beginning to look quite scary; with Tevez, Higuain, Di Maria, and Messi all starting, you can see that they're going out to score goals. They started right away in the 6th minute from a corner, Heinze completely unmarked was able to bullet his header into the top left corner. It's important to note that a Nigeria player was running towards Heinze to mark him, but Walter Samuel restrains him in the box, practically setting a pick so that his teammate can score. While the Messi show had already begun before the goal, it was about to get a lot better.

The small Argentinean (Messi) mesmerized the Nigerian defence, leaving them standing in their spots as he tried to curl it in, putting it just wide a couple of times. Nigeria's goalkeeper Enyeama was fantastic as he stopped anything that Messi tried to create or finish off. Argentina wasted plenty of tap-ins and 1 on 1 opportunities as Nigeria provided good spurts of pace on the counter-attack, often putting Argentina's disorganized and aging defence under pressure. As Maradona piled on forwards, Argentina racked up 7 shots on target with selfish play often stopping us from seeing the second goal.

While the match ended 1-0, it was definitely full of wasted opportunities by Argentina, and a couple by Nigeria. If you don't want Messi to always win the man of the match award, you'd have to pick Vincent Enyeama, the Nigeria goalkeeper, because he stopped the score-line from reaching embarrassing heights for Nigeria.

Korea Republic - Greece


An imperious showing to say the least, South Korea were extremely dominant, keeping posession and attacking with speed and organization. Greece seemed dumbfounded and shocked the first half as Jung-Soo Lee (completely unmarked) knocked in the first from a set piece about a meter in front of the Greece goal. Then in the 55th minute, Manchester United's Ji-Sung Park followed up stealing the ball from a Greek defender's bad first touch, and slotting it home with his left. South Korea had other good efforts on goal, but they were comfortable keeping possession.

It was about midway through the second half that Greece woke up, Salpingidis and Kapetanos were brought on for Charisteas and Samaras, providing inspiration for the attack. Greece began to press higher up the field, creating chances especially for Gekas as South Korea found themselves limited only to quick bursts of the counter-attack. Both defenses seemed to often mark their man at the very last second, leaving their goalkeepers to do plenty of work.

I knew South Korea/Korea Republic would be good, and that's why I put them as coming out of the group second behind Argentina in all my World Cup pools and competitions. The game ended 2-0 for Korea Republic, the first win in this 2010 World Cup.

There will be a full wrap up on the England - USA match coming up after the game!