South Korea, which has made it to the round of 16 on foreign soil for the first time, will have little time for celebration before it takes on the South American team on Saturday for a ticket to the World Cup quarterfinals.
After a 2-2 draw with Nigeria in the last group match on Tuesday at Durban Moses Mabhida Stadium, South Korea finished second behind Argentina in the Group B standings and advanced to the knockout stage with four points.
Uruguay finished atop the Group A with two victories and a draw. The game will take place at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth.
"Among South American teams, Uruguay is particularly known for its tough play and power. It has a number of excellent players," South Korean coach Huh Jung-moo said after the match with Nigeria.
"If we prepare well, we can expect to achieve good results. We're not satisfied with the advance to the second round. Our players are expected to compete harder to reach the quarterfinals."
The Korean coach also said the preparation would be focused on reducing "small mistakes," stressing that an instance of carelessness could ruin the team's chances of beating the South American side.
Uruguay didn't give up a goal in the opening round. Its offense is led by skilled and versatile forwards Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez, who combined for three of the team's four goals in the first three matches.
South Korea has never beaten Uruguay in four all-time meetings so far, including the 1-0 loss in the first round of the 1990 World Cup. But South Korea does have fond memories of Port Elizabeth, where it beat Greece 2-0 to start its World Cup campaign.
Uruguay is among the final 16 for the first time since 1990. For South Korea, it's the first appearance in the knockout stage on foreign soil, after the improbable Cinderella run in 2002 at home took the team to the semifinals.
In fact, in seven previous World Cup appearances, South Korea had failed six times to advance from the group stage, the third-highest total in World Cup history. Only Scotland, with eight close calls, and Mexico, which has come up short seven times, have missed the second round more often.
And the road wasn't easy this time, either. The Nigerians opened the scoring in the 12th minute, as midfielder Kalu Uche connected on a low cross from Chidi Odiah.
South Korea leveled in the 38th, as Lee Jung-soo scored his second goal of the South African finals. Nigeria received three yellow cards in the first half of the physically intense game.
AS Monaco forward Park Chu-young put South Korea ahead in the 49th minute after netting a free kick.
Yakubu missed an opportunity to tie the match in the 66th minute when he had an open goal in front of him but tapped the shot wide. He redeemed himself three minutes later by successfully landing a penalty kick, given after Kim Nam-il fouled Ogbuke Obasi in the penalty box.
Nigeria had plenty of scoring chances in the second half but the South Koreans held on.
As the final whistle blew, Korean players hugged each other, and some hundreds of fans of the Asian Tigers cheered, waving South Korean flags at the stadium, filled predominantly by supporters of Nigeria.
"We're extremely happy that we reached the goal of advancing to the round of top 16 for the first time overseas," Huh told a post-match press conference. "Our players have played their part without losing their nerve on the World Cup stage. I'm extremely giddy."
Huh commended his players for moving the game forward unfaltered despite allowing the Nigerians to score first, but acknowledged that the team did face difficulty in the second half after allowing a penalty kick.
Park Ji-sung, the South Korean captain and "Man of the Match," thanked his team and underscored the tough road for his country advancing beyond the group stage.
Ahead of the World Cup, coach Huh said the team's World Cup run would be "a fun challenge," imploring his players to keep their heads up and enjoy the ride.
The 20-something midfielder duo of Lee Chung-yong, a rising star for Premier League's Bolton Wanderers, and Ki Sung-yueng, of Scotland's Celtic FC, played as if they were immune to pressure. It was Ki's curling free kicks that set up the team's first goal against Greece and then against Nigeria. Lee's nifty goal following a steal near the end of the first half against Argentina gave South Korea momentum before the team ultimately crumbled.
Coach Huh withstood second guessing from the fickle public. Notorious for his trust in players, Huh stuck to his guns and placed struggling Park Chu-young and Yeom Ki-hun as his strikers for all three games in the first round.
Park rewarded the coach's faith with a sharp free kick goal Wednesday, in the process making up for the goal off his leg against Argentina. Before he was substituted in the second half, Yeom, who had been a target of cyberspace derision throughout the tournament, did yeoman's work as Park's sidekick.
Three of South Korea's five goals so far have come on set pieces. It was a testament to the team's preparation and cohesion. Forward-turned-defender Lee Jung-soo got two of the free kick goals, both set up by Ki from the left side.
On the other hand, the defensive line left much to be desired. The backs were badly exposed by the highly skilled Argentine forwards. The score could have been more lopsided had it not been for goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong's saves.
The fan favorite Cha Du-ri was inserted back into the starting lineup against Nigeria, in favor of the ineffective Oh Beom-seok. Huh went with Cha apparently for his physical play, but the Germany-based wingback failed to mount much of a challenge against the charging Kalu Uche on Nigeria's first score. And missed man-to-man coverage by Cha and company led to dangerous second-half chances that could have foiled South Korea's bid.
South Korean football legend Hong Myung-bo, captain of the squad that reached the semifinals of the 2002 World Cup, once opined that this year's team may be South Korea's most gifted unit ever. But natural talent can carry a squad only so far.
At least for now, such talent has sent this team to the next round at the World Cup. How much further it can go may depend on whether the boys can keep having fun and enjoy the ride while it lasts.//Yonhap
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com