Suarez brace sees Uruguay through
Posted: Jun 26 2010
Luis Suarez’s world-class finish 10 minutes from time saw Uruguay beat Korea Republic 2-1 in Port Elizabeth and book their place in the quarterfinals.
Suarez had given his side a ninth-minute lead, but Lee Chung Young leveled in the second half for the Koreans, who had dominated for most of the 90 minutes.
The game started at a frenetic pace, with the Koreans almost getting the opener after only five minutes. Maximiliano Pereira conceded a silly free-kick on the edge of the area, but Park Chu Young could only look on as his effort hit the upright and bounced away to safety.
Uruguay soon got in on the act and after Diego Forlan volley tamely and straight at goalkeeper Jung Sung Ryong, the South Americans took the lead on nine minutes through Saurez. Again Forlan was involved, crossing from the left for the Ajax Amsterdam striker to side-foot home, though the goalie will take some blame for not cutting the cross out.
After a scrappy period, the Koreans regained the composure shown early on and dominated the rest of the first half, though their efforts at goals were restricted to shots from long range.
Kim Jung Woo was just over from 20 yards, as were two efforts from Cha Du Ri. Park Chu Young came closest to an equalizer in the first half, with his left-footed drive from the edge of the area having Fernando Muslera at full stretch, but just missing the upright.
But for all the Asians’ dominance in the first half, Uruguay should perhaps have added to the score before the break, with Suarez’s close-range header from a free-kick straight at the keeper, and the same player then having a penalty appeal waved away by German referee Wolfgang Stark when his volley appeared to strike a defender’s hand.
Uruguay had an early chance in the second half when Kim Jung Woo passed the ball straight to Saurez just outside his own 18-yard area, but the Ajax man hit a tame shot straight at Jung Sung Ryong.
Korea were soon on the attack though – Bolton Wanderers left-back Lee Young Pyo, who had been a constant threat through the first half, waltzed past two players before crossing to Kim Jae Sung, but Jorge Fucile took the ball off his foot as he was about to pull the trigger.
On 51 minutes the Asians should have taken the lead when the ball fell kindly to Park Chu Young 10 yards from goal, but he tried to blast the ball home rather than place it, and only ended up finding a fan in the cheap seats.
Park Ji Sung’s header forced Muslera into a diving save, before another confident penalty appeal was turned down; this time after Edinson Cavani had felled Kim Sung Yueng.
Finally, on 68 minutes and with the rain pouring down, the Koreans’ pressure paid off when the Uruguayan defence failed to clear a deep free-kick, allowing Lee Chung Young to head home. It was no more then they deserved after dominating for so long, but the attack didn’t stop there.
Lee Chung Young almost got his brace just three minutes after the goal after being played through on goal, but his scuffed shot was straight at Muslera.
The goal seemed to wake the Uruguayans from their 60-minute slumber. First Saurez’s shot from a tight angle was tipped over, before he misdirected a header with which he should have done a lot better.
It proved third time lucky for the striker on 80 minutes though. A corner fell to him on the left of the area and, showing some excellent composure, he curled the ball around Jung Sung Ryong, who had no chance.
Substitute Lee Dong Gook almost netted an equalizer with three minutes to go, but Muslera got enough on the shot before the defence got it clear.
Ryan Cooper
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