Nigeria v. South Korea: Live Report

Nigeria_South_Korea_World_cup_22062010

South Korean supporters before their World Cup match against Nigeria at the Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban. © AFP Karim Jaafar

DURBAN, South Africa (AFP) – SOUTH KOREA HAVE REACHED THE SECOND ROUND of the World Cup for only the second time in eight attempts after battling to a 2-2 draw with Nigeria in their final Group B match.

South Korea will face Uruguay for a quarter-final spot while Argentina — who topped the group with a 2-0 victory over Greece — will lock horns with Mexico.

Nigeria opened the scoring before South Korea hit back with a goal either side of the interval.  Nigeria then equalised but their strikers wasted too many gilt-edged chances in front of goal and South Korea held on for the draw.

Read on for a detailed account of how the Taeguk Warriors held off the Super Eagles to make it into the last 16.

2058 GMT: Nigerian football fans are incandescent with rage at their team’s performance.

“Nigeria’s image as a major footballing nation has gone down with its exclusion from this World Cup. This is the worst World Cup outing Nigeria has ever had in its history,” Dapo Jekayinfa — a 26-year-old mechanic in run-down Obalende district in Lagos — says immediately after the referee blows the last whistle.

“The players should be castrated, then disbanded as a bunch of tired hapless and uncommitted individuals,” says Jenkins Chieloka, who watched the match in a viewing centre.

Edwin Olofun, a 26-year-old spare parts trader in the northern city of Kano said: “I am really disappointed in the Super Eagles. They took the lead but later conceded goals. The same thing happened in our encounter with Greece.

“This shows that they are a team without character. I find them very disappointing,” he adds.

90+3 mins: Full-time! Nigeria 2 South Korea 2

South Korea have qualified for the second round of the World Cup finals. The Nigerian players (especially Yakubu) will be kicking themselves when they see all the chances they missed in this match.

90+2 min: Shittu is booked for clattering into a Korean defender as he tries to reach a long throw into the penalty area.

90 mins: The fourth official signals there will be three minutes of added time.

89 mins: Victor Obinna blasts a long-range effort into the side-netting. The Nigerian fans thought they had taken the lead!

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88 mins: Argentina double their lead against Greece.

85 mins: The game has really gone off the boil and South Korea replace Ke Sung-Yueng with Kim Jae-Sung.

79 mins: Martins wastes another great scoring opportunity for Nigeria! The ex-Newcastle frontman chips the ball over the advancing keeper but fails to control the direction of his shot.

77 mins: Argentina take the lead against Greece if South Korea hang on for the draw they will reach the last 16.

76 mins: South Korea’s Park Ji-Sung cuts inside the defender but shoots his effort into the side-netting. That was a superb chance for Korea to wrap up all three points!

72 mins: Shittu nearly turns the ball into his own net as he mistimes a clearance! The Super Eagle fans breath a huge sigh of relief.

70 mins: The Nigerian coach Lars Lagerback decides to substitute the Everton striker just a few minutes after he scored the equaliser. The crowd are baffled by the decision as Nigeria are still chasing the game!

68 mins: GOAL! Nigeria 2 South Korea 2
Yakubu steps up and gives his side a lifeline as he waits for the keeper to commit himself before hitting it in the opposite direction.

67 mins: PENALTY AWARDED TO NIGERIA The Korean substitute Kim Nam Il is shown a yellow card after he mistimes a tackle and hacks down Obasi inside the penalty area.

66 mins: Oh dear! what an unbelievable miss by Yakubu! Uche and Ayila combine down the left before the Dynamo Kiev winger hits a cross to an unmarked Yakubu four yards from goal…but the Everton striker takes his eye off the ball and scuffs his shot wide! It was an empty net and he just had to tap it in! It really has to be seen to be believed.

62 min: Excellent point-blank save from Enyeama who blocks an effort from Park Chu-young.

62 mins: South Korea make a change and Kim Nam Il replaces Yeom Ki Hun

59 mins: South Korea are let off the hook! Yakubu should have played in his unmarked colleague but wastes a glorious opportunity with a tame shot.

56 min: The crowd reserve the biggest cheer for Kanu as he substituted by Wolfsburg striker Obbafemi Martins

54 min: Park Chu-young takes aim with another free-kick but blazes it high over the bar.

48 mins: GOAL! Nigeria 1 South Korea 2

Nigeria are punished as they fail to deal with another free-kick on the edge of the penalty area.

The Nigerian keeper was completely wrong-footed by the Monaco striker Park Chu-young’s curling shot.

46 mins: Nigeria kick-off for the start of the second half, having made one change in the interval with Uwa Echiejile replacing Yobo

19 25 GMT: Apologies but we have had some technical glitches at our end. Hopefully, they have been resolved.

– 45 mins: Half-time! Nigeria 1 South Korea 1

The players trudge off the pitch with everything still to play for in this match with Greece being held by Argentina in the other Group B match.

42 min: South Korea are really chasing the game and they are all over Nigeria at the end of the first-half.
40 min: YELLOW CARD! Ayila is booked for a late tackle and from the resulting freekick Ki Sung Yueng blasts it straight at Enyeama.
38 mins: GOAL! Nigeria 1 South Korea 1
Heartbreak for Nigeria as they fail to deal with a freekick and Lee Jung-soo sneaks in at the back post to bundle the ball past Enyeama. He tried to kick it but lost his balance and knocked it in with the back of his head.

36 min: Ogbuke-Obasi is booked for a late tackle on Lee Young-Pyo.
-34 min: Nigeria nearly double their lead as Kanu passes to an unmarked Uche whose low shot rebounds off the post. The goalie was well beaten by that shot!
– 30 mins: YELLOW CARD! The Nigerian keeper has a rush of blood to the head and charges out of his penalty area to chase a long ball, but Enyeama gets into all sorts of problems as he is dispossed by Park Ji-Sung.  The keeper is booked for bear-hugging the Korean midfielder to prevent him passing to an unmarked teammate.
29 mins: “A rare occurence here at the Moses Mabhida stadium,” says my collegue Luke Phillips. “The South Korean fans have spurned the foghorns (sorry vuvuzelas) in favour of drums and chanting. Finally, it actually sounds something like a football match.”
26 min: The magic sponge seems to have done its job as Shittu races across his penalty area to shut the door on a dangerous Korean counter-attack.
– 25 mins: Nice work by Manchester United’s Park Ji-Sung who rolls the ball into the path of the fast-charging Park Chu-Young but the Monaco striker sends his shot straight into the arms of the grateful Enyeama.
– 22 mins: Danger for South Korea as Nigeria win a free-kick on the edge of the penalty area but goalscorer Uche sends the ball a whisker over the bar.

-19 mins: South Korea are still struggling to recover their composure after conceeding that goal. They are starting to leave a few more gaps at the back as they go in search of an equaliser.
– 16 mins: Nasty collision between Demichelis and Samaras  — they both had their feet a bit high but neither party more guilty than the other.

It’s 1-0 to Nigeria against South Korea in Durban after Kala Uche’s goal.
13 mins: South Korea’s Cha Du Ri was the unfortunate defender who allowed Uche to sneak ahead of him for the goal, and he tries to make amends with a marauding run and shot which the Nigeria keeper bobles for a corner.
12 mins: GOAL! Nigeria 1 South Korea 0
The vuvuzelas are in full flow as Nigeria take a shock lead, completely against the run of play. Odiah streaks down the right wing before whipping in a cross for Uche who gets ahead of the defender to sweep the ball into the net. Brilliant move by Nigeria.
10 mins: Shittu comes back on but he still limping
9 mins: Bolton defender  Shittu is helped from the pitch after collapsing while chasing a through ball. The trainer is on the pitch but I doubt the magic sponge is going to work as Shittu is screaming in agony.
– 7 min: Celtic’s Ki Sung Yueng has a sight on goal and takes a long-range effort which just goes wide.
– 3 mins: The Bolton star clattered into the Nigeria keeper as he stretched for that pass. He looks in a lot of discomfort after that collission.
– 2 mins: That was close! Korea nearly take an early lead as Park Ji Sung cuts inside the Nigerian left-back and releases Bolton midfielder Lee Chung Young who just fails to reach the ball.

1 min: There is a surprising level of support for the Asian side in the stadium.

“There’s definitely more South Korean flags in the stadium than Nigerian, though there is one Swedish one with ‘I love you, Lars’ written on it in tribute to Super Eagles coach Lars Lagerback, who twice guided Sweden to the second round of the World Cup in 2002 and 2006,” Luke tells me.
– 1830 GMT: AND WE’RE OFF! The referee blows his whistle and South Korea get the match under way.
– 1828 GMT: Kim Jung Woo gives a salute as the South Korean anthem is played. He means business!
1827 GMT: The anthems: The locals seem to have thrown their weight behind Super Eagles and help provide a rousing version of the Nigerian national anthem.
1824 GMT: The referee swipes the Jubalani ball off the plinth as he leads the teams onto the pitch. Nigeria are wearing their traditional green strip while South Korea are in white shirts and blue shorts.
1820 GMT: Nigeria captain Nwankwo Kanu — who is a surprise inclusion for the Super Eagles — earns his 56th cap and makes his first start in the 2010 World Cup.
Kanu and Yussuf Ayila come in for Lukman Haruna and Sani Kaita — who has received more than 1,000 death threats — after he was red-carded against Greece.
Marseille’s Taye Taiwo is replaced by Saltzburg’s Rabiu Afolabi, while Chinedu Ogbuke Obasi takes the place of Peter Odemwingie.
South Korea make one change with Cha Du-Ri coming in for Oh Beom-Seok.
1813 GMT:  The starting line-ups are out!
Nigeria: Vincent Enyeama, Chidi Odiah, Joseph Yobo, Danny Shittu,  Rabiu Afolabi – Dickson Etuhu, Nwankwo Kanu (capt), Yussuf Ayila, Kalu Uche – Yakubu Ayegbeni, Chinedu Ogbuke Obasi
Coach: Lars Lagerback (Sweden)
South Korea: Jung Sung-Ryong, Cha Du-Ri, Cho Yong-Hyung, Lee Jung-Soo, Lee Young-Pyo – Lee Chung-Yong, Ki Sung-Yueng, Kim Jung-Woo, Park Ji-Sung (capt) – Park Chu-Young, Yeom Ki-Hun
Coach: Huh Jung-Moo (South Korea)
Referee: Olegario Benquerenca (Portugal)
1811 GMT: South Africa’s defeat of France in the earlier match has raised expectations ahead of the match.
“The atmosphere is electric around the concourse of and in the Moses Mabhida Stadium,” says AFP reporter Luke Phillips.

“With only small numbers of travelling fans for either side, the stadium is packed with locals and the vuvuzelas are deafening,” he says. WELCOME TO THE MOSES MABHIDA STADIUM in Durban where South Korea face winless Nigeria in a winner-takes-all-encounter to decide who will come second in Group B and face Uruguay in the last 16 of the World Cup finals.

The Taeguk Warriors — who are bidding to reach the second round for only the second time in eight World Cups — kicked off the tournament with a 2-0 win over Greece before a 4-1 thrashing to a Lionel Messi-inspired Argentina.
They are currently second in Group B and can qualify for the knock-out stages with a draw provided Argentina defeat Greece.
Nigeria meanwhile lost their opening match 1-0 to Argentina before a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat to Greece, who lock horns with Argentina in their final group match.
The Super Eagles can still also qualify in their first ever World Cup match against an Asian team — if they can defeat South Korea and Argentina beat Greece.
Nigeria’s last win at a World Cup finals was in 1998 and they must snap this streak if they want to reach the second round.
South Korea will draw inspiration from Manchester United’s energetic  midfielder Park Ji-Sung while Nigeria feature several players in the English Premier League such as Portsmouth forward Nwankwo Kanu and Everton stars Yakubu Aiyegbeni and Joseph Yobo.
Kick-off is fast approaching at 1830 GMT so stay with us to see who will face Group A winners Uruguay in the second round.

– WELCOME TO THE MOSES MABHIDA STADIUM in Durban where South Korea face winless Nigeria in a winner-takes-all-encounter to decide who will come second in Group B and face Uruguay in the last 16 of the World Cup finals.
The Taeguk Warriors — who are bidding to reach the second round for only the second time in eight World Cups — kicked off the tournament with a 2-0 win over Greece before a 4-1 thrashing to a Lionel Messi-inspired Argentina.
They are currently second in Group B and can qualify for the knock-out stages with a draw provided Argentina defeat Greece.
Nigeria meanwhile lost their opening match 1-0 to Argentina before a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat to Greece, who lock horns with Argentina in their final group match.
The Super Eagles can still also qualify in their first ever World Cup match against an Asian team — if they can defeat South Korea and Argentina beat Greece.
Nigeria’s last win at a World Cup finals was in 1998 and they must snap this streak if they want to reach the second round.
South Korea will draw inspiration from Manchester United’s energetic  midfielder Park Ji-Sung while Nigeria feature several players in the English Premier League such as Portsmouth forward Nwankwo Kanu and Everton stars Yakubu Aiyegbeni and Joseph Yobo.
Kick-off is fast approaching at 1830 GMT so stay with us to see who will face Group A winners Uruguay in the second round.

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