South Korea stun France
South Korea stun France
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Sunday, 18, Jun 2006 10:24
South Korea’s Park Ji-Sung snatched a late equaliser against France to jeopardise the 1998 World Champions’ hopes of progressing in the tournament.
France will feel aggrieved not to have taken maximum points from this fixture, particularly as a first-half header from Patrick Vieira, which clearly crossed South Korea’s line before being palmed away by their goalkeeper, was adjudged not to have done so by the referee.
However, despite their dominance, the French appeared to adopt an all-too casual approach in the second half and were punished for their inability to close out the game by an industrious South Korea side which fought gamely until the final minute.
Buoyed by the return of Florent Malouda to the left wing, the French side started in confident style, a far cry from their introspective performance against the Swiss in the opening game of the World Cup.
In the ninth minute, effective harrying from a resurgent Patrick Vieira presented Sylvain Wiltord with an opportunity on the left edge of the area.
The former Arsenal player’s deflected shot fell luckily to Thierry Henry, who showed an exquisite touch before side-footing the ball past South Korea’s goalkeeper, notching France’s first World Cup goal since Emmanuel Petit’s winner in the 1998 final.
Despite displaying a tidy passing game, the Koreans rarely threatened the French side, particularly because of their tendency to hit a long final ball to their small front pairing, but while the French failed to nail home their advantage, they always had a chance.
However, with ten minutes to go, Park Ji-Sung reacted fastest to a knock-down in the box from Cho Jin-Jae to hand the South Koreans a shock equaliser.
France were stung into action and good work substitute from Franck Ribery enabled Les Bleus to fashion some decent chances, but, with Thierry Henry in particular missing a presentable opportunity, they could not fashion a winner.