Uruguay and South Korea battled it out on Thursday afternoon (24th November 2022) with the game ending in a goalless draw. The fourth 0-0 draw of the competition so far.
Embed from Getty ImagesDenmark v Tunisia, Mexico v Poland, and Morocco v Croatia were the other three goalless draw before this game but this game in particular had high hopes going into it due to the attacking outlets that both sides have. Luis Suarez and Darwin Nunez started for Uruguay and Son Heung-Min started for South Korea.
Both sides certainly had their chances but just couldn’t get the ball in the back of the net. Uruguay in particular had the best chances of the game hitting the cross bar on two occasions. The first coming with Diego Godin climbing above the Korean defenders and rattling the bar. Towards the end Federico Valverde did the same. His strike from outside the box coming incredibly close.
Godin had a fairly positive game for his nation. For the centre back it was a historic day. Aged 36 and 281 days he became oldest player to ever appear at a World Cup finals. With an appearance he also became Uruguay’s all time top World Cup appearance maker making his 15th start in the competition.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe two teams really didn’t display their attacking powers at all though with 17 attempts between them only resulting with one shot on target. Denmark v Scotland in 1986 is the only game to feature more shots (27) with only one of them being on target.
A goalless draw between these two teams, as mentioned, is the fourth of the competition. That more than half of the record for 0-0 draws in a World Cup campaign. The record – held by four different World Cups – is seven in a tournament. That held by 1982, 2006, 2010 and 2014. The last World Cup in Russia only having one with Denmark and France.
It isn’t all doom and gloom though for Uruguay in particular. This another impressive clean sheet for them. That clean sheet is impressive for the fact that it is their fifth clean sheet in a row. It has also now been 465 minutes since they conceded a goal in a group stage of the World Cup. The last goal they conceded coming from Wayne Rooney’s first and only ever World Cup goal in a 2-1 win for Uruguay over the English.
It was also a massive day for Manchester United youngster Facundo Pellistri. The 20 year old is yet to make a senior appearance for the red devils but was given an opportunity to start in this game. Pellistri looked incredibly lively for Uruguay but struggled to make a big impact on the game. He was taken off but he will be more than happy to have made his World Cup debut for La Celeste.
Embed from Getty ImagesOne man that had a very difficult game in particular though was Luis Suarez. He is certainly known for making an impact throughout his career but failed to do much in the game. South Korea constantly swarmed around the 35-year-old and didn’t allow him to make that impact that we may expect him to. Suarez shockingly only managed 18 touches – only two of which came in the opposition box – before he was taken off the pitch. Could it be time to drop the former Liverpool and Barcelona man?
Embed from Getty ImagesAs for the opposition, South Korea came out with a lot of attacking intent. Tottenham man Son was fit enough to start after suffering from a fractured eye socket injury and proved a threat to the Uruguayan backline throughout.
Korea’s best chance didn’t come from Son though and instead Hwang Ui-Jo. 34 minutes in he was found by Kim Moon-Hwan but fired over the cross bar. Son did have his chance to score though towards the end of the game. Following Valverde’s effort that hit the cross bar Son went up the other end and had the chance to win it. Unfortunately hitting the ball just wide of the mark.
Embed from Getty ImagesSon may not have had the impact that South Korean fans were expecting. South Korea manager Paolo Bento claimed after the match he will still need a bit more time if he is to return to the peak of his fitness.
“He had a serious injury, he was inactive for a considerable time. He only joined the team in the last few days.” said Bento.
“After an injury and being exposed to more aggressive games, it is natural it will take him some step to re-adapt.”
The question on everyone’s mind though is what does this result mean for Group H going forward.
Portugal came away with a solid victory in their opening game with Ghana. These two sides therefore are level in second and third respectively. Group H is one of the more difficult groups in the competition to predict and it remains completely open going into the next two games.
Uruguay take on Group H favourites Portugal as they look to pick up their first win in what is bound to be a tough game. The South American side will need to improve on their goalscoring if they are to get anything from the game. Edison Cavani started this game on the bench and may come into the squad in order to provide a bit more of an impact.
South Korea on the other hand take on Ghana. They will more than likely be more confident than the Uruguayans but as the World Cup has proven already anything can happen. They need a win just as much as Ghana and so we are bound to have an interesting game.
Both teams play on Monday and look to improve on this performance and get their first wins under their belts.
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