An awful game for Greece and a well deserved win for S. Korea. A goal by Lee Jung Soo in the 7th minute to open the score and a second by Park Ji Sung in the 52nd minute to seal the deal.
Greece was worse than I could imagine. It seemed like the players did not know what to do with ball. The players just kept the ball and tried to outmaneuver the much quicker Koreans. No passing, no organization, no real effort to move the ball forward. At times the ball was moved from outside the S. Korean box back to mid-field and close to Greek box!! Today’s effort (or lack thereof) brought to mind the memories from the 1994 World Cup.
The second Korean goal was a perfect example of having a mental block during the game: Loukas Vyntra was in possession of the ball and took an eternity to decide what to do with it. In the meantime, Park Ji Sung quickly pounced on the ball stole it from Vyntra and quickly run into the penalty area and shot past Alexandros Tzorvas into the Greek goal.
The strikers were not only totally disconnected from mid-field but they also squandered the few opportunities created (except an amazing save on a blazing shot by Gekas in the 82nd minute.) Even the set pieces that were supposed to be a strength for Greece was rendered a meaningless endeavor. Greece executed 11 corners and not one of them was even close to Jung Sung Ryong’s goal. No one took any chance; And when you take chances good things happen. It looked like the team was unprepared for such an important game.
After the game Coach Rehhagel said: “We really have to get our act together. We’ve got to improve a couple of things and be brave and courageous.” Improve ‘a couple of things’ is a serious understatement. We need a defense, a strong mid-field, aggressive strikers, team mentality, faster execution, established plays, etc.
Theoretically that was the easiest game for Greece so barring two miracles Greece will fulfill expectations and go three-and-out. Congratulations to South Korea.
For posterity, the starting eleven players of today’s game:
Top row, left-to-right: Charisteas, Vyntra, Papadopoulos, Katsouranis, Tzorvas, Tziolis.
Bottom row, left-to-right: Gekas, Karagounis, Torosidis, Seitaridis, Samaras.
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