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
Bravos 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. Australias 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 Japans defence
in the final minutes, but Australias 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 Japans performance unsatisfactory. They
seemed contented with just one goal and squandered the chances in
the second-half, chances that would seal the Australians 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 Togos
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 Koreas 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