Uruguay qualified for the round of 16 by finishing top of Group A on 7 points. They got a scoreless draw against France in their 1st game. That was followed up with wins over World Cup hosts South Africa & Mexico. Athletico Madrid striker Diego Forlan is their top scorer with 2.
South Korea qualified for the round of 16 by finishing runners up in Group B with 4 points. They started off with a comfortable 2-0 win over Greece. Then they were defeated by Argentina 4-1. They needed a result in their final game against Nigeria to qualify & they got a 2-2 draw. South Korea's top scorer is Lee Chung-Soo with 2 goals.
Uruguay 2 (Luis Suarez 8, 80) South Korea 1 (Lee Chung-Yong 68)
Park Chu-Young hit the post with a curling free kick on five minutes. Against the run of play Luis Suarez put Uruguay in front. That was after a cross from Forlan had eluded the Korean defenders and goalkeeper. All that Suarez was left to do was side foot a controlled effort into the empty net from an angle. Both sides had chances later on in the half but couldn't convert.
South Korea started the 2nd half well. They had chances to equalise but failed. They got the goal their play deserved. A free-kick put into the box was headed into the air by a Uruguayan defender which came down to Lee Chung-Yong who got his head on it and steered it into an empty goal.
With 20 minutes left in the game it looked as though we were going to get extra time until Luis Suarez came up thrumps for Uruguay. With 10 minutes to go a Uruguayan corner came to Luis Suarez who produced a fantastic curling shot from the edge of the box which went in off the upright. That was the match winning goal which sent Uruguay to the quarter finals for the first time since 1970. South Korea will rue a handful of missed chances that would have put them ahead or brought them back into the game.
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