June 12 - Group B - South Korea vs. Greece [R]

[DJT]

4:30 AM PDT
5:30 AM MDT
6:30 AM CDT
7:30 AM EDT
8:30 AM ADT
9:00 AM NDT
1:30 PM SAST

@ Port Elizabeth

[Jeremy]

catched the last 20 minutes of the 1st half, and I'd say it's 50/50 so far (except the korean goal)

[the biologist]

Good first half overall, more openly played than many tought. Surprised by the pace at the beginning and certainly didn't expect an early goal like that (7th minute). I tought that SK would try some pushes just to see what would happen with Greece trying to capitalize on the counter. I like what I see of SK with their speed, they got the best chances, although Greece tried more seriously to equalize in the final 10 minutes of the half. If SK can stick together 2 or 3 good touches with their speed in the attacking third, they could be lethal and maybe sneak into 2nd in the group. Maybe.

[Jeremy]

And the goal!!

[Trillium]

And the goal!!

South Korea with two looks .. in good shape to finish the game up on the Greeks...they re fit and showing good skill and organisation... not sure what the greeks have on the bench to change what is happening.

[Jeremy]

S Korea can not control the ball in the greek territory, they always cross it or have a go at net from long range... maybe they should try linking some passes together like Biologist said.

[the biologist]

Wow. The Greek back line looks totally lost out there. That's why the crosses/long balls are working. I didn't expect their D to be lost like that against a middle-class team like SK. It's gonna be ugly against both ARG and NIG if they are to continue that trend.

[the biologist]

Bye Bye Greece. It's now 4 games in-a-row that they conceded 2 goals. Bad. Really bad. They conceded 17 shots ! (only 4 on goal but still, if both Argentina and Nigeria get 17 chances to shoot on goal against Greece, bet on them to put more on target than that). In fact, it's more Greece that gave the win to SK than SK winning the game with their play. Like Jeremy said, not many streaks of succesful passes by SK. The CBs were totally awful and look like rookies. In fact rookies would have been better then them. They should pay some beers to their GK cause it could have been 3 or 4-nil.

[jpg75]

The Greeks were awful. Showed absolutely no offensive creativity, especially when they fell back 2-0 and had to come from behind. Constantly thumping the ball upfield from the back and relying on grinding out goals - which didn't even come close to working. And for a supposedly strong defensive team their backline was shaky. These guys are going 0-3.

[Jeremy]

These guys are going 0-3.

Easy money !

[Grizzly]

Yes once again Europe shows that they need more spots. They need to hope that the unjust inclusion of New Zealand will save them once again from having the worst team in the tournament.

[Free kick]

I was looking around briefly on the fifa site (during the game) to see Greece's qualifying path because I couldn't remember who they faced in qualification. Clearly, this is an example that, outside of the top dozen to two dozen sides that qualify out of Europe, there will always be teams that just get there from benefiting from a sweet draw of opponents. I cant recall who they beat out but Russia, Scotland, Ireland, N. Ire, Belgium, Czech Republic and several others would have put up a better game today.



Edit: Found it! I think that this says it all as far as why Greece is in South Africa:

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/europe/matches/team=43949/index.html

[SCF08]

I was looking around briefly on the fifa site (during the game) to see Greece's qualifying path because I couldn't remember who they faced in qualification. Clearly, this is an example that, outside of the top dozen to two dozen sides that qualify out of Europe, there will always be teams that just get there from benefiting from a sweet draw of opponents. I cant recall who they beat out but Russia, Scotland, Ireland, N. Ire, Belgium, Czech Republic and several others would have put up a better game today.



Edit: Found it! I think that this says it all as far as why Greece is in South Africa:

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/europe/matches/team=43949/index.html
Greece's draw was a joke. That group was terrible. They were also extremely lucky to beat Ukraine who had a good qualifying campaign and finished ahead of Croatia.

[ken]

I expected Koera to win, but they looked a lot better than anticipated. It seemed that Greece gave up from about the 15 minute mark of the first half until the 75 minute mark. Korea vs Nigeria should be interesting.

[nolando]

The attendance for this one seemed terrible. Why all the empty seats?

I never understand why they aren't at the very least filled with local schoolchildren chaperoned by parents or teachers. Chance of a lifetime for kids - full stadium for TV. Am I missing something?

[the biologist]

^ "Not fair" (sic) for those who paid to get this privilege... that's how business works and man is the WC a mega business now.

[nolando]

^ "Not fair" (sic) for those who paid to get this privilege... that's how business works and man is the WC a mega business now.

Well, your mega business looks a lot crappier on TV when half the seats are empty.

[the biologist]

^ Do you know what "sic" means ? It looks not as you call it "my" mega business. Anyway...