Uruguay 0-0 South Korea
Uruguay’s star-studded attack failed to break down South Korea on Thursday as the two teams played out a 0-0 draw in their Group H opener.
World Cup 2022: Uruguay vs South Korea was always going to be a hard-fought game but with Darwin Nunez, Luis Suarez, Edinson Cavani and Federico Valverde in the South American’s attack you’d have thought they could score at least one. They hit the woodwork twice but the Korea defence put in a superb effort to keep the chances to a minimum.
Uruguay fans will have watched Argentina’s difficult start to the campaign in the hope they can fly the flag for South America. Well Uruguay didn’t lose but now it falls to Brazil to break the South American duck.
Highlights of the game
Spurs forward Heung-Min Son made a start despite suffering a horrific eye injury just a few weeks ago and he was instrumental in much of South Korea’s attacking play as they made a bright start. But it was Uruguay who came close to striking first when Jose Gimenez played a brilliant 50-yard pass into the path of the in-form Federico Valverde but the Real Madrid man chipped his shot over the Korean keeper and the crossbar.
Centre back Gimenez played another great ball to Facundo Pellistri out on the wing and he crossed for Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez, who was just about to pull the trigger when Min-Jae Kim got a crucial touch to deny the striker. At the other end of the pitch Son continued to stretch the Uruguay defence, and he put in a dangerous ball after evading two challenges but Mathias Olivera headed clear; and then Ui-jo Hwang blazed over Korea’s best chance of the half.
Just before the break Uruguay came within a whisker of breaking the deadlock when veteran centre back Diego Godin met a corner with a brilliant header, powered down towards the bottom corner, but it crashed back off the post when the whole stadium expected the net to bulge.
Korea had the better of the second half opening without really testing the Uruguay defence and South Americans reacted by replacing Luis Suarez with Edinson Cavani on the hour. And that changed the game as Uruguay had a period of sustained possession and started to crank up the pressure against a well organised Korean rearguard. Cavani presented an additional areal threat but the Koreans were equal to everything thrown at them.
South Korea could still sniff a win, bringing on striker Cho Gue-Sung on 75 minutes and he put in a fine effort almost straight away, taking a superb touch and firing just wide of the upright. And as the game opened up a little, Nunez fired wide from 20 yards and Cavani met a cross from Rodrigo Bentancur but couldn’t direct his header goal-wards.
Valverde then came so close again when he hit a screamer which rattled the angle of post and crossbar.
This is a talented Uruguay attack; but on the day South Korea’s defence was every bit as good, with a little help from the woodwork.
Key statistics
The first half Uruguay vs South Korea highlights were lively enough but, despite Godin hitting the post, neither side managed a shot on target. And in the second half we saw the woodwork hit again but the keepers had nothing else to do but make the odd catch, as the Uruguayans won the overall shot count by ten to seven.
The pre-match Uruguay vs South Korea betting odds backed a win for the South Americans but they played out the fourth goalless draw of the competition from 14 games, and it was their first draw in nine World Cup games, previously winning six and losing two of the last eight.
But Uruguay have won just one of their opening games in the last eight World Cups.
This is South Korea’s 11th World Cup appearance and their tenth in succession, a run stretching back to 1986, but among 22 nations to have played over 30 matches in World Cup finals they have the lowest win ratio, with six victories from 35 games.
What’s next?
Next up, Uruguay face Portugal on Monday, Cristiano Ronaldo and all. The Selecao legend is making his first appearance since his departure from Manchester United when Portugal face Ghana on Thursday and the world will be watching. The Koreans play Ghana on Monday.
Before all that, tournament favourites Brazil take centre stage on Thursday night when they face Serbia as the final Group G gets underway, and we’ll be there with all the action right here at SBOTOP. Pull up a chair and enjoy!
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