They say goals change games. A seemingly obvious and straightforward statement but one that was evident after Uruguay defeated South Korea in the first of the Round of 16 confrontations. It was very much a tale of two halves where dominance seesawed throughout the match. The defining factor today however was Ajax star Luis Suarez, whose goals were the difference in getting Uruguay through to the quarterfinals.
Uruguay started the livelier of the two teams. The goal did not take long to come either as Forlan crossed the ball in and Suarez finished from an acute angle. It was a combination of good finishing and bad defending, as the goalkeeper should have done better with the cross and Suarez's run should have surely been tracked by one of the defenders. Uruguay were the dominant force in the first half, and South Korea struggled to make any headway towards Muslera's goal. South Korea came close to play themselves back in the game through Park Chu-Yong's free-kick, but unfortunately failed to do so as his shot smashed against the upright. All this changed however as the second half whistle was blown. South Korea began enjoying their football and playing their way into the Uruguayan penalty box. South Korea added more and more pressure and turned the screws on Uruguay, whose defense looked shakier after each attacked they narrowly repelled. The goal ultimately came at the 68th minute from an unlikely free-kick as Godin failed to effectively clear the ball which Lee Chung-Yong headed into the back of the net.
The game changed again at this moment as South Korea sat back and allowed more and more space to Uruguay's forwards. Uruguay had all of a sudden regained the upper hand. Just like with South Korea's goal, Uruguay's goal also came off a set piece. The ball was whipped in by Forlan only to meet a South Korean defender who cleared it behind towards the sideline and towards what seemed like safety. The ball however fell to Luis Suarez who skipped past two defenders and, from the top of the box, curled in a stunning effort past the goalkeeper and into the back of the net at the far post. In pouring rain, poor pitch conditions, and under the pressure of the situation, it was what has to be considered the strikes of the tournament. South Korea quickly regained the initiative in the remaining ten minutes of the game. Two more chances fell to them as Park Chu-Young and Lee Chung-Yong found themselves through on goal and in 1-on-1 situations, but both failed to fire past Muslera. The Best chance fell to substitute Lee Dong-gook whose shot Muslera was unable to hold and slowly rolled behind towards the line, until Lugano cooly intervened to clear the danger. An earlier chance had also come as Park Ji-Sung rose above the Uruguayan defense to head in a cross towards goal, but Muslera was again equal to it as he pulled out a great save to safely stop the shot and diffuse the danger.
Thus, with history against them, Suarez's 80th minute strike proved to be the winning goal as the Uruguay held on to move to the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time since 1970. Overall, South Korea were the better team of the encounter however. They enjoyed the most of the possession and moved the ball well when they attacked. In contrast, Uruguay operated mostly on the counter, especially in the second half. As they had shown it in the group stages, Uruguay were solid in defense and broke forward through their attacking trio of Forlan, Suarez and Cavani. Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez once again had his tactics spot on in this encounter. The player who stood out, in spite of Suarez's great performance, was central midfielder Diego Perez. This is not the first time Perez has played well. He however seems to be an unsung hero of this Uruguayan side. Perez is the archetypical "water-carrier" as it is known in most football circles. A label that is seen very negatively as of late by most football pundits and audiences. But Perez's role has been key to Tabarez's tactical set up, with his tough-tackilng and uncompromising approach to the game.
The danger of this Uruguayan side is that they not only boast of a great defense (comprising of experienced center-backs Godin and Lugano) protected by the dogged Diego Perez, but also an extremely potent attacking trident. Luis Suarez has been banging in the goals for Ajax, scoring 74 goals in 97 appearances since his 2007 switch, and netted 35 times in 33 games this season for the Dutch giants. Cavani has also enjoyed a great season for Serie A club Palermo and his turn of pace makes him particularly dangerous on counters. Diego Forlan saw off a difficult start to the season with Atletico Madrid but the appointment of former Valencia and Benefica coach, Quique Sanchez Flores, saw him help his side reach the final of the Copa del Rey and the Europa League where the club lifted the European trophy. In other words, all of Oscar Tabarez's forwards come into this tournament in great form. with an able and disciplined defense behind them, Uruguay could prove to be one of the surprise packages of this World Cup as they take up their place amongst football's elite once again.
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