Well we asked, and hoped, for more goals, after something of a goal drought in the opening group games and we have certainly had our prayers answered. There were 3 last night, and 5 in the second game of the second round of matches, played today. This surge in goals is clearly evident of a more positive style of play, rather than the tentative, nervous play we witnessed earlier on. Teams know that this is the time to step it up a gear and take risks, otherwise they can say goodbye to the competition.
After a narrow but largely one-sided 1-0 victory against Nigeria, Argentina were coming into this game with the intention of showing the world exactly the kind of football that we expected from them to begin with. Argentina got off to a great start when a set piece fired in from Messi, out on the left, accidentally came off Monaco's Park Chu-Young and settled in the back of the net to give them the 1-0 lead. Before that goal, Argentina had been the team with the most possession and attacking threat, as South Korea decided to sit back and defend. You could tell that South Korea came into this game meticulously prepared and organised, and knowing exactly what to expect from an Argentina side brimming with talent. They were very structured in their defending, always sticking to their lines and as soon as Messi got the ball, a swarm of South Korean players were immediately hounding him. This was clearly a tactic that they had devised specifically to control the likes of Messi in this game. That's probably why Messi has failed to score a goal so far in the tournament. He's had chances, but he's been reduced to shoot from distance because he get's crowded by the opposition. That's the price you pay for being the world's best striker.
Still, with all the attention on Messi, the other players often get forgotten about and it is they who end up getting the goals. Messi would be quite happy to sacrifice his own goal scoring endeavours for the sake of his team. And this is exactly what happened during this match. The second goal came after some great strength and determination shown by Carlos Tevez to win the ball, eventually getting fouled and receiving the subsequent free kick. The free kick was taken by Messi again, and after some fine build-up play, found its way over to Gonzalo Higuain, who unmarked, had the simple task of nodding the ball into the net. Argentina were 2-0 up, thanks to some poor defending and some great attacking. But, it wasn't to be quite plain sailing just yet. South Korea, out of nothing and totally against the run of play were able to pull one back, when Demichelis failed to do anything with the ball at his feet, with 2 minutes of the first half left to go. He allowed Lee to steal the ball off him, and then with cool composure slot the ball past Romero. It was an unexpected goal but one that gave South Korea hope as they went into half time. During the first leg of the CL match between Bayern Munich and Man Utd, I noticed that Demichelis was quite shaky in defence there too. This time, I think it was just sheer complacency. His side were 2-0 up, it was nearly half-time, he clearly switched off but unluckily for him, South Korea were switched on and able to take advantage of his carelessness. No matter what the scoreline, be it 1-0 or 5-0, as a defender you have to have total concentration for the full 90 minutes, otherwise you're gonna be caught out.
As the players emerged from the tunnel for the second half, you could tell that the late goal had given South Korea a real boost. They were raring to go and you could see they believed that they had it in them to get another goal. And, they almost did. They started off the game much better than Argentina and were able to get forward and create chances for themselves, something we hadn't seen much off in the first half. Hun had an amazing chance to level the scores, when he was one-on-one with the Argentinian keeper, but could not get his aim right, and shot wide. He was then made to rue that chance as Argentina, once more, began to dominate in possession. Before Hun's chance, Argentina did have a few shots on goal but the South Korean keeper did magnificently to keep them out. Unfortunately, he was unable to do so for the third goal that all but put the game to bed. He was able to stop Messi's shot, which was hit again, only to be saved by the post. But, he could not prevent it from finding its way to Higuain and the Real Madrid striker had the simple job of guiding it into the net.
Higuain got his deserved hattrick after some great play by Messi and Atletico Madrid's Sergio Aguero. It was the first hattrick of the tournament and capped off a pretty comfortable win for Maradona's side. Although Messi didn't get a goal, he was central to most of Argentina's creative play...he is the playmaker after all. There is this strategy taken on by some teams, of simply targeting Messi, but that's what gives other players like Higuain the chance to score. So maybe, those tactics need to be somewhat revised. Also, it would be nice to see some more Messi magic and a few Messi goals to really light up this tournament! As for the South Koreans, well, all is not lost for them - they can still qualify, and they have some good counter-attacking moves too. Despite, ruffling the feathers of Argentina slightly, they were unable to capitalise on their chances which would have surely turned the game around. They need to be more ruthless in front of goal if they are to go further in the tournament.
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