Greece is let down early by some horrible marking on a South Korea direct kick that is essentially a corner. A don’t know if they were playing a zone and got flooded or what, but the back defender was hung out to dry.
These are two team from which little is expected, so an exciting game is all I ask. About 15 minutes in, I’m rather delighted. The Koreans seem to be winning in the air. One would think that given their relative stature that wouldn’t happen against the Greeks.
Official may have missed a penalty, but if I’m forced to write “may” I can hardly fault the ref. It looks to me like a foul in the box on replay and I thought so during live action, but it’s not certain, so you’ve got to give the ref the benefit of the doubt. By and large this game, like the others have been well officiated. Again, I expect FIFA to ruin the tournament in this respect by the end of week 2.
Well, I think the ref misses one in the 24th minute when a Korean spins his way into the Greek box, but maybe it was something called by the assistant referee (aka linesman).
Great counter from Korean saved by the foot of the Greek keeper in the 27th minute. A little better finish would have had him, but props to the keep. By all rights a one-on-one like that should end up in the back of the net. Ah, replay shows the defender getting a marginal piece of it too. Still a great save.
Bad trap at the top of the Greek defensive third is punished with a nice goal by the Korean captain about 7 minutes into the second half. The Koreans’ 2-0 lead should prove insurmountable given that Greece has shown no offensive spark thus far.
Couple of decent chance for both sides in the second half, but nothing outstanding. Korea wins 2-0 and may well advance to the round of 16. Greece has two more games, but can realistically, based on what I saw today, start packing their bags already.