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<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><font face="宋体" size="4">We witnessed <country-region wst="on">Iran</country-region> against <country-region wst="on">Mexico</country-region> and <country-region wst="on">Japan</country-region> against <country-region wst="on"><place wst="on">Australia</place></country-region> a day ago. Just now, we also had seen <country-region wst="on"><place wst="on">Korea</place></country-region> successfully drawing up the first victory for Asian teams.</font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><p><font face="宋体" size="4"> </font></p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><font size="4"><font face="宋体"><country-region wst="on"><span lang="EN-US">Iran</span></country-region><span lang="EN-US"> scored an equalizer against <place wst="on"><country-region wst="on">Mexico</country-region></place> 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, <country-region wst="on">Mexico</country-region> was not very active and I was thinking that <country-region wst="on">Iran</country-region> would achieve a good result in drawing with <country-region wst="on"><place wst="on">Mexico</place></country-region>, the favourites in this group. However, Omar Bravo from <country-region wst="on">Mexico</country-region> struck once again in the 76<sup>th</sup> minute to bring <country-region wst="on"><place wst="on">Iran</place></country-region> 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 <country-region wst="on"><place wst="on">Mexico</place></country-region>. <country-region wst="on"><place wst="on">Iran</place></country-region> 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 Bravo’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 <place wst="on"><country-region wst="on">Iran</country-region></place> 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.</span></font></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><p><font face="宋体" size="4"> </font></p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><font face="宋体" size="4">The biggest comeback for <country-region wst="on">Australia</country-region> and the biggest disappointment for <place wst="on"><country-region wst="on">Japan</country-region></place> in their World Cup finals history. <country-region wst="on">Australia</country-region>’s last World Cup Finals were dating back to <chmetcnv wst="on" tcsc="0" numbertype="1" negative="False" hasspace="True" sourcevalue="1974" unitname="in">1974 in</chmetcnv> <country-region wst="on"><place wst="on">Germany</place></country-region> and they came once again on the same soil 32 years later. No victory and not a single goal for <place wst="on"><country-region wst="on">Australia</country-region></place> 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. <country-region wst="on">Australia</country-region> had beaten <country-region wst="on">Japan</country-region> flat in eight minutes, only eight minutes, full or darkness for <country-region wst="on"><place wst="on">Japan</place></country-region>. This was mainly caused by little laggings in <country-region wst="on">Japan</country-region>’s defence in the final minutes, but <country-region wst="on"><place wst="on">Australia</place></country-region>’s victory was well deserved. They were so firm and committed to the match and created much more chances than <country-region wst="on"><place wst="on">Japan</place></country-region>, as seen clearly in the match statistics. <country-region wst="on"><place wst="on">Japan</place></country-region> was much more passive and on the defensive side, especially in the second-half. I would rank <country-region wst="on"><place wst="on">Japan</place></country-region>’s performance unsatisfactory. They seemed contented with just one goal and squandered the chances in the second-half, chances that would seal the Australian’s fate. However, all had gone so well for <country-region wst="on"><place wst="on">Australia</place></country-region> in the final eight minutes, marking their first victory in World Cup finals.</font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><p><font face="宋体" size="4"> </font></p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><font face="宋体" size="4">First success for Asian teams in the World Cup hours ago, <country-region wst="on">Korea</country-region> beating <country-region wst="on"><place wst="on">Togo</place></country-region> 2-1. <country-region wst="on"><place wst="on">Korea</place></country-region> 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. <country-region wst="on"><place wst="on">Korea</place></country-region> 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 <country-region wst="on"><place wst="on">Togo</place></country-region>’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 <country-region wst="on"><place wst="on">Korea</place></country-region>, 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 <country-region wst="on">Korea</country-region>’s second goal, <country-region wst="on"><place wst="on">Korea</place></country-region> 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 <country-region wst="on"><place wst="on">Togo</place></country-region>.</font></span></p> |
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