We witnessed Iran against Mexico and Japan against Australia a day ago. Just now, we also had seen Korea successfully drawing up the first victory for Asian teams.
Iran scored an equalizer against Mexico only eight minutes after they conceded one. We had then seen the light for the first Asian team playing in the World Cup. In the early second-half, Mexico was not very active and I was thinking that Iran would achieve a good result in drawing with Mexico, the favourites in this group. However, Omar Bravo from Mexico struck once again in the 76th minute to bring Iran to the lead again. It was the mistake from the defenders that ruin the match which the Iranians were working so hard to at least claim a point from Mexico. Iran was seen lively and created chances to score. They certainly had the determination, but all it was for one mistake, giving the ball away to a Mexican. The ball was fed nicely to Bravo in the penalty area, and with BravoÂ’s great finish, the hopeful Iranian side was struck heavily. Three minutes later, Iranians might still be recovering from the blow and the negligence in defence had left Zinha totally unmarked, enabling the small sized player to score from a header. We had seen Iran playing well in the match and it was looking good for them, but just for a little carelessness and they were caught, letting off the Mexicans, jubilant for their victory.
The biggest comeback for Australia and the biggest disappointment for Japan in their World Cup finals history. AustraliaÂ’s last World Cup Finals were dating back to 1974 in Germany and they came once again on the same soil 32 years later. No victory and not a single goal for Australia in World Cup finals history, the Japanese side was looking good for the win after the controversial goal in the first half. If the Japanese could just hold on, victory would be on their side. However, the Australians had made a legend by scoring three in the last eight minutes. They had scored none in World Cup before this match and in just eight minutes in one match, they put in three, not one, not two, but three. Australia had beaten Japan flat in eight minutes, only eight minutes, full or darkness for Japan. This was mainly caused by little laggings in JapanÂ’s defence in the final minutes, but AustraliaÂ’s victory was well deserved. They were so firm and committed to the match and created much more chances than Japan, as seen clearly in the match statistics. Japan was much more passive and on the defensive side, especially in the second-half. I would rank JapanÂ’s performance unsatisfactory. They seemed contented with just one goal and squandered the chances in the second-half, chances that would seal the AustralianÂ’s fate. However, all had gone so well for Australia in the final eight minutes, marking their first victory in World Cup finals.
First success for Asian teams in the World Cup hours ago, Korea beating Togo 2-1. Korea made a comeback in the second-half with two goals, one good free kick and another beautiful shot outside the penalty box by Ahn Jung Hwan. Korea made used of their two great chances to score all two and took good use of the advantage in numbers to secure a win in their opening match. Twice TogoÂ’s defence did not close up enough, allowing the long shots to pass through so fantastically and let the Koreans celebrating. However, it was not very good performance by Korea, especially in the first-half. They started in a very slow pace, slowest I had ever seen in this World Cup finals. They did not look good and their side was not very active, with some constant lost of the ball. If not for the two little mistakes in the wall for the free-kick and the defenders failure to close up the gap KoreaÂ’s second goal, Korea would not get the full three points. It was not very satisfactory for them as we could see; they did not organize very good attacks, lost the ball quite easily and played slowly. A big worry for the Korean fans seeing their team not performing well. However, win is a win, Koreans should be happy in their opening match against Togo