Day 12 - The Last 16 Is Open For Business

In a way, the knockout stages began last night. At least, it's the knockout stages of the first phase of the... you know what I mean ;)

We've gone full circle twice and last night, 8 teams from both Groups A and B, fought it out for the right to progress through to the next round. In Group A, Uruguay and Mexico faced each other knowing that a draw would automatically guarantee them qualification.

The only way one of them couldn't, would have been for one of them to suffer and defeat and for there to be a 5 or 6 goal swing, in favour of one of the teams from the other game which pitted the hosts, South Africa and the French together.

Now, this is also the annoying stage where, because of the scandal of the "Shame of Gijón" back in '82 - when West Germany and Austria played out 80 minutes (after the Germans scored in the 10th) of mutually beneficial, non-attacking football so that both teams could progress - all the last games of the group stages are played at the same time.

This means that usually, you have to decide on one game or another (unless you're in a bar/pub that has both matches on simultaneously which then usually results in you getting a sore neck from turning to face different tellies every couple of minutes) and because of Lauren (my good friend and work colleague) is from South Africa, we decided to watch the Bafana Bafana vs Froggies game.

The game was good, although understandably super tense for Lauren, with both sides showing a little more gusto than in previous matches, but in the end, I must say that I was rather surprised (though maybe I shouldn't have been) to see the sorry demise of a French side resembling a cart, full of top-notch fruit in it... but with nobody there to push it to the market.

It's kind of what their team is really. Loads of talent but no cohesion and riddled in scandal, they’ve had a appalling World Cup. After drawing in a tepid match against Uruguay back on the 11th of June and getting well beaten by the Mexican's, there was to be no bizarre/miraculous revival as they succumbed to the hosts 2-1.

The faster they forget this World Cup, the better I think. I watched a CNN report this morning that showed crowds of French people by the Eiffel Tower - watching the game on big screens - actually cheering when the South African's scored their first goal!!!!! Ahhh... you gotta love the French sometimes ;)

So thanks to a grand final game by Bafana Bafana, the French are going home. And look! South Africa even gave them a plane to go back on ;) Isn't that nice :o



In the other game, apparently (cus again, I couldn't watch it), the Mexican's were terrible but because they only lost 1-0, they went through with Uruguay who topped the table in a total shock to World Cup Group A. My pre-tournament prediction turned out to be an exact mirror image of what actually happened!

France 1st, South Africa 2nd, Mexico 3rd and finally Uruguay in 4th. What do I know about football, eh? I'm just happy I've never been a gambling man ;)

To Group B! Here in Seoul, for some reason, nobody was watching Argentina vs Greece ;) What? Messi is on the other channel and no-one is watching it???

That's right, because here, at 3.30am, everyone was out on the streets or in bars, restaurants or at river side parks with millions of others, cheering on and expectantly hoping that South Korea beat Nigeria and made it through, past the group stages for the first time ever off of home soil.

It was a nail biting game though as Nigeria, who might also have progressed if they won and if The Argies beat the Greeks, started the brighter of the two and scored early on through Kalu Uche in the 12th minute.

The Red Devils - playing in white this time round - got one back though through Lee Jung Soo who found himself on the end of a free kick crossed in the from the left. The defender kinda scooped down to head the ball and actually missed it but somehow, luckily it hit his leg (somewhere!) and it went in! And the streets here went crazy!

If the scores stayed like this, South Korea were through!

Into the second half and in the 49th minute, South Korea got a free kick on the edge of the box. AS Monaco striker, Park Chu Young lined up what looked like a cross but instead he expertly curled it in to the bottom left corner, leaving keeper Enyeama totally helpless! Delirium as people everywhere jumped up in the air, tipping chairs and beers all over the place!

So now they just needed to hold on but to their credit (and maybe some peoples dismay) they kept it lively, going for a third and the game started to see end-to-end action all round. As the match wore on though, it was the Nigerians in the ascendancy as the Koreans started to get understandably nervous, trying to hold on to the result when they didn’t score the comfort goal.

Still, you had to think it was their night though as on around 65 minutes, Yakubu missed a chance to level the score from less than 4 yards out and with an open goal. How did it happen? You need to ask him. Amazingly, a cross came in low and beet the keeper, only for the Everton striker to knock it back between Jung Sung-Ryong, the post and out for a goal kick.

It wasn't the miss of the tournament; it was the miss of ALL tournaments!

But 4 minutes later, Nigeria were awarded a penalty and Yakubu, with balls of steel or something, stepped up to redeem himself and put Nigeria back on level terms. In the other game, the Argies finally scored after 77 minutes of trying, which suddenly meant that if Nigeria could score another, THEY would go through!

The final 10 minutes was frantic with the South Korean's doing everything they could to run down the clock, keeping the ball as much as possible or hoofing the ball up field. Each time, the latter was greeted with screams of ecstatic delight from the locals here!

It was heart-in-mouths time but South Korea held on for the draw and with the other game ending 2-0 to Argentina, they automatically qualified in 2nd.

So, the first part of the draw is complete! Uruguay will play South Korea and Argentina will play the Mexicans!

And tonight... it's England! A win and their through. Simple. A draw and they'll be looking over at other results with the USA likely to pip them for 2nd place. That would be interesting.

Also, in Group D, Ghana could become the first (and probably only) African team to go through if they win or draw against Germany. If they lose, they still go through unless the Serbs win.

There is also a small chance Australia could do it if they beat Serbia and make up the 5 goal difference on Ghana ooooor if Ghana straight up beat the Germans and the Ozzies win their game, then Ghana and Australia would go through!

Go Ghana and Australia!!!!

It’s hotting up I tell ya!