Park Ji Sung comes up against former Man Utd teammate Carlos Tevez
Argentina vs Korea Republic, Group B, Johannesburg (Ellis Park), Thursday 17 June
Nigeria in the opener were done in by Gabriel Heinze’s powerful header. Other than that goal Vincent Enyeama’s brilliant goalkeeping prevented the Argentinians from scoring further especially Leo Messi with four saves.
So is this the match that Leo Messi finally opens his account? So far it has been a desultory World Cup for all the Golden Boot contenders.
Argentina will be without Juan Sebastian Veron. Which means that there are less chances of a slow methodical build up. His replacement Maxi Rodriguez gives more of a direct route to goal. The left flank of Argentina with the mercurial Angel Di Maria provided most of the attacking thrust against Nigeria and it will likewise repeat against the South Koreans.
Messi will be targeted by the South Koreans, one of the tougher tackling teams who also lead in blocked shots. Against Greece they fouled a fair bit but one expects that number to increase in an effort to stop Messi, Tevez, Di Maria, and Higuain. They also have a very decent shotstopper in veteran Lee Woon Jae who will be very active.
Park Ji Sung is their main threat on attack out on the left but the rest of the Fab Four, center forward Park Chu Young of AS Monaco, Bolton Wanderer’s right midfielder Lee Chung Young, and Ki Young Song of Celtics as center midfielder add versatility to their attack.
Ji Sung comes up against his former Man Utd team mate Carlos Tevez and the duel between the two should have a bit more edge now that Tevez has moved to City with its current pretensions to a Premiership title.
The more technically gifted Argentinians should dominate possession but the South Koreans will try and hit them on the counterattack. The stakes are immense. A win will guarantee a Round of 16 passage.