Uruguay became the first team to qualify in the World Cup 2010 quarter-finals after beating South Korea by 2-1 in the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium of Port Elizabeth. Luis Suárez was the MVP of the match scoring both goals for Uruguay (8′ and 80′), South Korea came briefly back in the game at 68′ with Lee Chung-Yong’s equaliser.
Uruguay started stronger in the game and managed to take control of the midfield area while taking advantage of their players’ strength and better technical abilities. South Korea on the other hand tried to limit Uruguay’s chances counting on their superb physical condition, and for the biggest part of the game they were successful in doing so. Uruguay scored an early goal after goalkeeper Jung Sung-Ryong made a huge misjudgement: Diego Forlán sent a left side long ball into the heart of South Korea’s defence, Jung Sung-Ryong thought that the ball was going outside and even though he fell on the right side he did not block it, ending up on Suárez that had no problem pushing it inside the empty net. South Korea tried to react but had to break the excellent Uruguay defence, and for the rest of the first half there was really no danger for goalkeeper Fernando Muslera apart from a few wide shots.
During the second half the game completely changed, with South Korea having the absolute control and ball possession while missing chance after chance. Uruguay was cornered for the biggest part of the 45 minutes, trying to defend the 1-0 lead any way possible. Park Chu-Young in 50′ and 57′, Park Ji-Sung in 52′, and Cha Du-Ri a minute later lost fantastic opportunities to score an equaliser for South Korea that finally came in 68′: captain Diego Lugano tried to defend a foul shot and send it away but the ball ended up on Lee Chung-Yong that scored with a close range header.
So Uruguay had to come out and play football, and had a few good chances with Suárez in 73′ and Forlán a couple of minutes later. 10 minutes before the final whistle Uruguay was pressing hard with consecutive corner shots, Suárez took the ball inside the penalty area and scored the winning goal with an excellent effort and shot. Park Chu-Young had another great chance for South Korea in 87′ with Lugano stopping the ball before going in, and the game ended with Uruguay advancing to the quarter-finals while South Korea’s good run in the World Cup 2010 finals was coming to an end.
