Match 49: URUGUAY v SOUTH KOREA  [ Round of 16 ]

Date: SAT 26Jun10

Venue: Port Elizabeth NELSON MANDELA BAY STADIUM

PANDO! or GORDO? PANDO!

+ Both sides came out a bit nervy but URUGUAY put their foot forward and controlled much of the play .. ..

1^st Half > Whenever URU came forward, DIEGO FORLAN always runs the show .. .. Popped up on the L/Flank and sent in a hard cross that gave KOREA GK JUNG SUNG-RYONG a moment to pause and that moment cost him as he was late to come out and the cross found an unmarked LUIS SUAREZ scooting into the R/Box and hit his R/Footer first-time > U/Left .. ..

KOR’s playmaker PARK CHU-YOUNG had their best chance to post a crooked number when his L/Flank FK came off the L/Post .. .. KOR just can’t hold the ball as well as URU and the quality in the ‘golden-third’ just isn’t there .. ..

2^nd Half > To their benefit, KOR came back out composed and controlled a good bit of the play and grabbed the equalizer luckily on a deflected ball that fell right to Bolton’s LEE CHUNG-YONG and he headed it under the GK .. .. Perhaps against the run of play, LUIS SUAREZ gathered the ball at the T/Box and hit a R/Footed curler perfectly off the R/Post for the winner .. ..

URU MoM: LUIS SUAREZ

Deadly Ajax striker on target again today with two skillful+ goals .. ..

KOR MoM: PARK CHU-YOUNG

The next step in KOR’s progress > Sublime ball skills and sees the game well .. ..

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Match 50: UNITED STATES v GHANA  [ Round of 16 ]

Date: SAT 26Jun10

Venue: Rustenburg ROYAL BAFOKENG STADIUM

 PANDO! or GORDO? WE LOST = GORDO?!

+ HERE WE GO AGAIN > WHAT WAS RICO THINKING? AT LAST LOOK YOUR NAME WAS NOT LIONEL CLARK .. ..

HERE WE GO AGAIN > TIM WASN’T THAT BALL ROLLING TOWARDS YOUR NEAR POST? MAYBE IT DID GO THROUGH JAY’S LEGS, BUT YOU NEED TO STOP THAT BALL .. ..

1^st Half > Both sides actually looked a bit tired at the start but GHANA was just faster off the whistle, but per usual, really didn’t threaten the goal outside of the BOATENG goal in just the 5^th minute .. .. Their 9 crosses = 0 shots .. .. The USA attack was a bit bogged down, but MICHAEL BRADLEY was on his game early with his touch and slide-tackles in the middle of the park .. ..

It really should have been 0-0 at the half .. ..

2^nd Half > Wish we could have started like this – With BENNY FEILHABER on we became another team .. .. With more quality on the field & GHA dropping off, we get results and LANDON DONOVAN converts the PK off the R/Post .. .. The USA is controlling play and with fulltime showing 1-1, the match is ours .. ..

ET > I’ve come to hate the start of halves .. .. ASAMOAH GYAN settled a clearance, shrugged off Rennes teammate CARLOS BOCANEGRA and crushed a L/Footed bomb through TIM HOWARD .. .. =((((

HINDSIGHT IS 100% - In the end, you always get what you have coming to you > We all knew we had problems in back + front and both got exposed (again) today .. .. Oguchi was rusty and our defence was just workmanlike .. .. And, we just didn’t have enough up top .. .. JOZY ALTIDORE had a bad season and ROBBIE FINDLEY is not world-class .. ..

Even though the path ahead laid out perfectly for us, it looks like we just weren’t meant to get there (not enough healthy quality) .. .. Can we fast-forward to BRAZIL 2014 now?

USA MoM: LANDON DONOVAN

It just wasn’t happening today – and, did you see that PK go off the R/Post (gasp)!!

GHA MoM: ASAMOAH GYAN

Just keeps banging in goals and can create something from absolutely nothing ..