The first knockout game of the tournament? Both these teams you'd expect to beat Algeria. Both these teams you'd expect to lose against Belgium. So this is winner-takes-all, right? Well, no. On the evidence of Belgium's narrow, at times fraught, win over Algeria earlier today Group H is as open as any – tonight's tie in the Arena Pantanal might not be the be-all-and-end-all it might have first appeared.
Still – sound the Statement of the Bleedin' Obvious Klaxon – a win for either side tonight would constitute a huge step towards the second round. And, despite a fair amount of evidence suggesting a result to the contrary, I rather fancy South Korea for this one. Yes, they lost to Lebanon in qualifying and drew with Kuwait. And, yes, in the final qualifying stage they finished level on points with Uzbekistan and behind Iran, who appeared very limited in their opening game against a misfiring Nigeria. And, yes, their World Cup record on anything other than home soil is somewhere between poor and dreadful. And, yes, they lost 2-1 to Russia last November. And 1-0 to Tunisia in their penultimate warm-up game. And 4-0 to Ghana in their final warm-up game.
Frankly, it says much for my argument that it's mainly based on narrow wins over Switzerland, Costa Rica and Greece over the past 12 months. And yet – they've got some hugely exciting attacking talent. Son Heung-min, who plays his club football for Bayer Leverkusen, could be one of the breakout performers in the tournament. Ji Dong-won, for all his unimpressive displays in the Premier League, is off to Dortmund this summer. Bolton's Lee Chung-yong and Arsenal's (Arsenal's? Still?) Park Chu-young both have something to prove and the talent to prove it. And, if all else fails, they've got Kim Shin-wook, nicknamed The Wookie, as a 6ft 5in Plan B.
Still – sound the Statement of the Bleedin' Obvious Klaxon – a win for either side tonight would constitute a huge step towards the second round. And, despite a fair amount of evidence suggesting a result to the contrary, I rather fancy South Korea for this one. Yes, they lost to Lebanon in qualifying and drew with Kuwait. And, yes, in the final qualifying stage they finished level on points with Uzbekistan and behind Iran, who appeared very limited in their opening game against a misfiring Nigeria. And, yes, their World Cup record on anything other than home soil is somewhere between poor and dreadful. And, yes, they lost 2-1 to Russia last November. And 1-0 to Tunisia in their penultimate warm-up game. And 4-0 to Ghana in their final warm-up game.
Frankly, it says much for my argument that it's mainly based on narrow wins over Switzerland, Costa Rica and Greece over the past 12 months. And yet – they've got some hugely exciting attacking talent. Son Heung-min, who plays his club football for Bayer Leverkusen, could be one of the breakout performers in the tournament. Ji Dong-won, for all his unimpressive displays in the Premier League, is off to Dortmund this summer. Bolton's Lee Chung-yong and Arsenal's (Arsenal's? Still?) Park Chu-young both have something to prove and the talent to prove it. And, if all else fails, they've got Kim Shin-wook, nicknamed The Wookie, as a 6ft 5in Plan B.
South Korea are an unfamiliar pump clip on the World's Cup well-stocked bar – we may get something hoppy, bright and delicious. We may get something treacly, unctuous and intriguing. Or we may get something flat and forgettable that has to be helped down by a bag of dry roasted and a couple of quid in the quiz machine. Still, I for one am looking forward to trying a drop.
Russia, on the other hand, are something that looked exciting when it first turned up at Euro 2008, but now looks a little tired and uninteresting. I don't know – a Peroni maybe? An Amstel? Akinfeev, Berezutski, Ignashevich, Denisov, Zhirkov, Kerzhakov … all fine players, but by now slightly hard to get excited about. Fabio Capello could have been forgiven for picking a squad with one eye on the tournament in four years time on home soil, but that's not really his way and the glimpses of young Russian talent who will be taking this side forward until Russia 2018 might well be few and far between.
But under the auspices of Capello, Russia qualified ahead of Portugal, no mean feat even if Germany highlighted the other day the failings of Paulo Bento's side. And, as you'd expect from a Capello team, they're as solid as a concrete wildebeast. No side has scored twice against Russia since the USA did so in a 2-2 back in November 2012 – in the 14 games since they've been breached only nine times.
But Capello's international tournament record is cause for concern. He has taken limited teams to major finals before and his nightmare with England in 2010 still lingers in the memory. Has he learned his lessons? Will this Russia side, a blend of old stagers and young pups drawn exclusively from the Russian domestic league, show the flexibility, verve and energy so badly missing from Capello's side in South Africa? We shall see.
Russia, on the other hand, are something that looked exciting when it first turned up at Euro 2008, but now looks a little tired and uninteresting. I don't know – a Peroni maybe? An Amstel? Akinfeev, Berezutski, Ignashevich, Denisov, Zhirkov, Kerzhakov … all fine players, but by now slightly hard to get excited about. Fabio Capello could have been forgiven for picking a squad with one eye on the tournament in four years time on home soil, but that's not really his way and the glimpses of young Russian talent who will be taking this side forward until Russia 2018 might well be few and far between.
But under the auspices of Capello, Russia qualified ahead of Portugal, no mean feat even if Germany highlighted the other day the failings of Paulo Bento's side. And, as you'd expect from a Capello team, they're as solid as a concrete wildebeast. No side has scored twice against Russia since the USA did so in a 2-2 back in November 2012 – in the 14 games since they've been breached only nine times.
But Capello's international tournament record is cause for concern. He has taken limited teams to major finals before and his nightmare with England in 2010 still lingers in the memory. Has he learned his lessons? Will this Russia side, a blend of old stagers and young pups drawn exclusively from the Russian domestic league, show the flexibility, verve and energy so badly missing from Capello's side in South Africa? We shall see.
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