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11 min Uruguay is in my top five flags,” says Steve Brennan. “Only bettered by France, the Serene Republic of Venice, Dnipropetrovsk Province and the Isle of Man.”
Mine, off the top of my head: Uganda, Macedonia, Colombia, Italy, Ghana.
10 min A serious challenge from Valverde puts Uruguay away, but he can’t make the most of a throw-in inside the Korean half and Korea are immediately out. They cannot take advantage of the opportunity, but they have not come to frustrate. Uruguay, for its part, does not play the 4-4-2 that it expected; Núñez is on the left, Pellistri on the right and Valverde in the middle.
8 min This time Son goes low at the near post, sort of Anderton for Sheringham’s effort, but again Nunez is there to intercede.
7 min Another big switch from left to right sees Sangho isolate Olivera and get him through the line. This is a very brave move, and his low cross is deflected back, giving Korea another corner.
6 min South Korea looking for big changes but Nnuez intercepts one and moves down the left, so Sangho turns it over. This is nicely paced and some very solid challenges have already been presented.
4 min South Korea have started well, quick and skilful in midfield, and when In-beom gets around Vecino, he is immediately punished with some Uruguayan justice.
Matias Vecino cuts Hwang In-beom. Photo: Lee Jin-man/AP
Updated at 13:12 GMT
4 min “Uruguay’s victory in the second round against South Korea in 2010 is one of those games that has stuck in my mind”, confesses Kári Tulinius. “In memory, the Koreans were much better than Uruguay and had, by conservative estimates, a million chances to win it after the tie, but Suarez scored an absolute beauty and that was it. Not the best story he ruined during that World Cup mind you (still bitter).
You are not the only one. My wife is British-Ghanaian so we were robbed of some serious celebrations.
2 min Son climbs towards the near post, where Núñez heads it well. Immediately, Uruguay counter-attack, Rochet gets ahead of Valverde well, but South Korea runs again and Núñez is soon offloaded.
Tottenham’s Rodrigo Bentancur leaves for Uruguay. Photograph: Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images
Updated at 13.06 GMT
In the 1st minute Suarez turns his first challenge over, then Napoli’s Minjae sends a decent ball to Sangho on the right, who forces Gimenez into a corner.
1 min The audience demonstrates their ability to count down from 10, before telling us their favorite colors and favorite shape… then we’re on.
“Looking at the referee’s name, surely we need this game to end in a refereeing controversy so the ‘Road Robbery’ headlines can be aired,” suggested Shaun Wilkinson.
It is one of the great contradictory names. Can anyone think of others?
South Korea’s is great too, slow building with a chorus to follow properly.
Oh yes, Uruguay’s national anthem is insane, and the players, led by Godin, show it off in the best possible way. They are in the mood.
In the BBC studio, Ashley Williams says Suarez is the best striker he has faced. I can believe it – I haven’t seen many runs in better form than his once he got going, and the ones that come to mind as close equivalents are Ruud van Nistelrooy, Ronaldo and Thierry Henry.
Here comes our teams!
E-mail! “Wow, those wins were 92 and 72 years ago respectively!” says Ben Bernards about Uruguay. “By that logic, Preston is still a British heavyweight and my GAIS team here in Sweden is still a big man on campus despite their four Swedish titles in 1919, 1922, 1930 and 1954 (in the real world, they just rise from the third tier). return to the second). Uruguay will stand out mightily if they reach the quarters.”
I disagree, because Uruguay are still good and their pedigree is part of that because it’s part of the football culture that helps make them good.
What is the best nickname for the national team? Le Celeste from Uruguay is certainly among the first, although this may be my Anglophonia, and I attribute a heavenly quality to it. Ghana’s Black Stars are also up there, as are Italy’s Azzurri and Zambia’s Chipolopolo.
FYI
We Will Rock You are playing PA Stadium, an eclectic, left-field option if ever there was one. How do these things think?
We share joy here, so here’s a little: I recently discovered brining meat. Water, seasoning (more exciting than salt), onion powder, honey (a sugar substitute), heat, cool, meat in the fridge. Then dip in whatever sauce you previously used as a marinade, cook and slather, either on the barbecue, under the grill, in the pot or in the oven.
Updated at 12.56 GMT
My guess is that South Korea will hope to outnumber Uruguay in midfield, although I expect Valverde to come close. They will also, I’m sure, want Son, Uijo and Sangho behind Godin and Gimenez.
Embolo was born in Yaoundé; what time was his goal.
Looking at South Korea’s XI, Son’s presence in it is obviously the big story. Since his injury was facial, he should be able to get going more easily than if it had been muscular. I’m also looking forward to seeing how Inbeom fares – he plays for Olympiakos and, at 26, should come into this competition at the right time.
My son! Photograph: Alessandra Tarantino/AP
Updated at 12.50 GMT
Cameroon will rue the chances they missed in the first half of this one. With Serbia and then Brazil, they have a lot of problems.
Here’s one we did earlier:
Who expected Federico Valverde to arrive so quickly? Not me, I have to confess, but he comes into this World Cup in downright disgusting form, which I suppose is an interesting wrinkle in a mid-season tournament. I also like that Darwin Núñez is doing something here: while his touch and finish can tend towards the avant-garde, he has an invaluable ability to make things happen and to arrive at the scene as it happens, so tournament football should suit him. . Otherwise, start Facundo Pellistri, who has struggled to get a game at Man United or Alavés, which makes sense: if you play with two strikers, you need at least one full-back, and he has the ability to go either way.
Tangentially, to continue with an Atléti tip, Álvaro Morata scoring the seventh goal in a 7-0 win is one of my World Cup moments so far. I stand by my theory that Diego Simeone only bought him to ensure that he maintained an appropriate level of incandescence in each training session.
Taking a closer look at the squads, it’s worth noting that Ronaldo Araújo is unavailable for Uruguay. I doubt he would have played – Godin and Giménez are too well equipped and know each other too well – but I bet he is better than at least the former, as he enjoys his style of defense at first glance.
Luis Suarez shows off his gnashers ahead of the clash with South Korea. Photograph: Patrick Smith/FIFA/Getty Images
Updated at 12.35 GMT
Update after yesterday’s Yellow Car Dead Arm controversies: Green Car Hair Skriffle has been very well received by the younger Harris. I haven’t tried it in central Harris yet, but you’ll know when I do by my eternal absence from blogs like this one.
Only 15 minutes of TV build-up before this one; pah How do you get 42 reports “from the England field” and 27 “from the Wales field” in such a short time? At this point, including today, we only have five days of four-game Tetris left. Make the most of them, people.
Teams!
Uruguay (4-4-2): Rochet; Cáceres, Godín, Gimenez, Olivera; Valverde, Veí, Bentancur, Pellistri; Nunez, Suarez. Substitutions: Muslera, Sosa, Coates, Varela, Viña, Rodríguez, Ugarte, Torreira, Canobbio, De La Cruz, Arrascaeta, Torres, Gómez, Cavani.
South Korea (4-3-3): Kim Seunggyu; Kim Mooonhwan, Kim Minjae, Kim Younggwon, Kim Jinsu; Jung Wooyoung, Hwang Inbeom, Lee Jaesung; Son Heungmin, Hwang Uijo, Na Sangho. Replacements: Song Bumkeun, Jo Hyeonwoo, Yoon Jonggyu, Paik Seungho, Cho Guesung, Hwang Heechan, Son Junho, Hong Chul, Lee Kangin, Kwon Kyungwon, Kwon Changhoon, Kim Taehwan, Cho Yumin, Jeong Wooyeong, Song Minkyu.
Referee: Clément Turpin (France)
Updated at 12.07 GMT
preamble
It would take a particular kind of nonsense to call a country that has won the World Cup twice, made the last 16, the last 16 and the last four in the previous three tournaments and been champions of the Americas as dark horses from the South 15 times. . But Uruguay start this competition as outsiders, despite a pedigree rooted in both history and the contemporary.
In part this reflects the difficulty of the group they are in, but even so, the 40-1 they were available at last night does not reflect a classy and ferocious team. With José María Giménez at the back, Federico Valverde and Rodrigo Bentancur in midfield, with Darwin Núñez and Luis Suárez up front, Uruguay should not be played.
Neither, although South Korea. Son Heung-min is fit, if not fit, while Jeong Woo-Yeong’s Freiburg have made a strong start to the Bundesliga season. This gives them a good goal threat, while in midfield and in defense they have the solidity and assurance of players who have been together for a long time.
What to say that the Group of Death is leaving!
Start: 16:00 local, 13:00 GMT
Updated at 11.49 GMT