Martin Palermo said the trust Maradona

Argentina won their third straight game at the 2010 World Cup to top Group B and eliminate a Greek side that paid for their almost complete lack of ambition.

Greece coach Otto Rehhagel knew his team would probably require a victory to progress bu he again stuck with the defensive tactics that he feels he must use if his side is to succeed against technically superior opponents.
His plan of keeping it tight against Argentina and striking on the counter-attack unravelled when Martin Demichelis smashed home the opening goal of a largely forgettable contest with 13 minutes left.
The Bayern Munich defender pounced after his initial header had struck Diego Milito and rebounded invitingly - and he crashed the ball into the roof of the net from the edge of the six-yard box.
Lionel Messi, skippering his side in the absence of the rested Javier Mascherano, had a frustrating evening as he received close attention from his opponents but he almost struck a second after a jinking run ended with a thunderous strike that crashed against the post.

But the second goal did come when another Messi strike was palmed into the path of substitute striker Martin Palermo, who slotted home with his right foot.
Exactly 24 years after scoring his infamous "Hand of God" goal against England at the 1986 World Cup, coach Diego Maradona, leapt for joy in his technical area.
His team will play Mexico on Sunday in the round of 16, with South Korea qualifying from second place in Group B.
But the legendary Argentine had cut a frustrated figure for most of the evening as his team dominated territory and possession but often struggled to break down well-organised opponents.
Sotirios Papastathopoulos man-marked Messi, following him faithfully all over the park as the Argentine skipper tried to find some space from which to exert an influence on the game.
It was a tactic that spoiled the contest as a spectacle but saw Rehhagel's team successfully reach the interval on level terms.
Argentina, with seven changes from the side that defeated South Korea 4-1, stroked the ball around with ease in the middle of the park but did not really threaten Tzorvas's goal until striker Sergio Aguero drew a save with a crisp strike from a wide position after 18 minutes.
Tzorvas tipped over long-range strikes from fit-again Juan Sebastian Veron and Messi, while Maxi Rodriguez was denied from 14 yards and Loukas Vyntra blocked from Diego Milito.
But as the opening half wore on there were signs that Greece's negativity, combined with their willingness to break up play by fouling the opposition, was starting to frustrate Argentina.
And there had been the occasional indication that Greece could trouble the Albiceleste's backline, with two long-range passes in particular catching Demichelis out of position.
Even so, Greece, who lost 4-0 to Argentina at the 1994 World Cup in a match that saw Maradona score his 34th and final international goal, had not mustered an effort at goal by the interval and the superb atmosphere at kick-off had waned considerably.
Unfortunately, the contest somehow managed to deteriorate further in the opening minutes of the second half, although Greece did at least get a shot at goal.
Demichelis again found himself isolated after another long ball towards Georgios Samaras, who looked set to pounce after a slip by the Bayern Munich defender but the Greek forward shot wide.
There was a continued lack of urgency to the contest, although virtually everything of worth came from Maradona's side, with Tzorvas palming a Messi free-kick around the post and saving a header from defensive midfielder Mario Bolatti.
For all Greece's defensive exploits they almost gifted their opponents a goal with a piece of comical defending when Tzorvas smashed a clearance into Vangelis Moras and was slightly fortunate to see the ball fly wide of his goal.
But after Argentina opened the scoring, the Greek side fell away.
Reflecting on their second World Cup campaign, they will have to be content with having registered their first World Cup win, having beaten Nigeria on Thursday.

Greece	0-2	Argentina	FT
	(HT 0-0)	Demichelis, 77 Martin Palermo, 89
Team
Greece 12 Tzorvas 05 Moras 08 Papadopoulos 11 Vyntra 15 Torosidis (03 Patsatzoglou, 55) 16 Kyrgiakos 19 Papaststhopoulos 06 Tziolis 10 Karagounis (04 Spyropoulos, 46) 21 Katsouranis (18 Ninis, 54) 07 Samaras		Argentina 22 Romero 02 Demichelis 03 Rodriguez 04 Burdisso 15 Otamendi 05 Bolatti 08 Veron 20 Maxi (07 Di Maria, 63) 10 Messi 16 Aguero (23 Pastore, 77) 19 Milito (18 Martin Palermo, 80)
01 Chalkias, 13 Michail Sifakis, 02 Seitaridis, 04 Spyropoulos, 22 Malezas, 03 Patsatzoglou, 18 Ninis, 09 Charisteas, 14 Salpingidis, 17 Gekas, 20 Kapetanos		Substitutes: 01 Diego Pozo, 21 Mariano Andujar, 06 Heinze, 12 Ariel Garce, 13 Samuel, 07 Di Maria, 14 Mascherano, 23 Pastore, 09 Higuain, 11 Tevez, 18 Martin Palermo
Venue: Peter Mokaba Stadium Referee: R Irmatov Attendance: 38,891

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Korea Republic will face Uruguay in the last 16

South Korea will face Uruguay in the last 16 of the World Cup after a hard-fought draw with Nigeria was enough to secure second place in Group B.

The Asian side have previously never been past the opening stage of a World Cup held outside of their own country and were made to fight to the last minute for the point which put them through after Greece were beaten 2-0 by Argentina.

Nigeria created chances throughout and took the lead when Chidi Odiah squared for Kalu Uche to tap in early on.

But South Korea hit back through Lee Jung-Soo, who scrambled the ball past Vincent Enyeama from Ki Sung-Yeung's free-kick.

Park Chu-Young's curled free-kick restored South Korea's lead four minutes into the second half but Yakubu coolly slotted in a penalty after Kim Nam-Il fouled Chinedu Obasi Ogbuke to level the game.

Nigeria started the game looking like a different proposition to the side that produced disjointed displays in their defeats by Argentina and Greece.

Lars Lagerback's side finally showed purpose on the break and kept the ball well in midfield with the main catalyst being the coach's decision to hand captain Kanu a first start of the tournament.

Despite the 33-year-old veteran reaching the twilight of his career, a combination of his sublime skills and familiar laid-back style both calmed and inspired his team-mates in equal measure.

However, when Nigeria took the lead after 12 minutes, it was not Portsmouth striker Kanu but the impressive Odiah who was creator.

Odiah was given too much space on the right flank and burst down the line before crossing to the edge of the six-yard box, where the unseen Uche got in front of oblivious right-back Cha Du-Ri and stroked past the goalkeeper.

Nigeria could have doubled the lead but Obasi Ogbuke slammed a strike wide when he should have squared to one of four team-mates in the box, while Kanu once again linked play delightfully when he played in Uche, whose 25-yard strike clattered against the right post.

However, Kanu's impact alone was not enough to hold the South Koreans as the 2002 World Cup quarter-finalists began to pick up the majority of the loose balls.

South Korea eventually levelled when Lee Jung-Soo was left unmarked at the back post and awkwardly bundled in Ki Sung-Yeung's cross.

And the stuffing was further knocked out of Nigeria minutes into the second half when Park Chu-Young's free-kick from the left somehow curled past goalkeeper Enyeama and into the corner.

South Korea began to capitalise on tired Nigerian legs as Chu-Young smashed a free-kick wide and had a close-range effort saved by Enyeama.

But as the momentum of the game swung once more Nigeria had a glorious chance to get back into the game, only for Yakubu to incredibly side-foot wide from four yards out when confronted by an open goal.

However, redemption came quickly for the Everton striker and when substitute Kim Nam-Il felled Ogbasi Ogbuke in the area, Yakubu calmly stroked the penalty into the right corner.

A frantic final 20 minutes ensued as both sides missed chances but the draw was enough for South Korea to progress and leave Nigeria as the third African team to exit the tournament after South Africa and Cameroon, who still have one game to play.

Nigeria	2-2	Korea Republic	FT
Uche, 12 Yakubu (pen), 69	(HT 1-1)	Lee Jung-Soo, 38 Park Chu-Young, 49
Team
Nigeria 01 Enyeama 02 Yobo (21 Echiejile, 46) 05 Afolabi 06 Shittu 17 Odiah 12 Uche 13 Yussuf 20 Etuhu 04 Kanu (09 Martins, 57) 08 Yakubu (18 Obinna, 70) 19 Obasi Ogbuke		Korea Republic 18 Jung Sung-Ryong 04 Cho Yong-Hyung 12 Lee Young-Pyo 14 Lee Jung-Soo 22 Cha Du-Ri 07 Park Ji-Sung 08 Kim Jung-Woo 16 Ki Sung-Yeung (13 Kim Jae-Sung, 86) 17 Lee Chung-Yong 10 Park Chu-Young (15 Kim Dong-Jin, 90+3) 19 Yeom Ki-Hun (05 Kim Nam-Il, 63 )
16 Ejide, 23 Aiyenugbu, 03 Taiwo, 21 Echiejile, 10 Brown, 15 Haruna, 22 Adeleye, 07 Utaka, 09 Martins, 11 Odemwingie, 18 Obinna		Substitutes: 01 Lee Woon-Jae, 21 Kim Young-Kwang, 02 Oh Beom Seok, 03 Hyung-ll Kim, 15 Kim Dong-Jin, 23 Kang Min-Soo, 05 Kim Nam-Il, 06 Kim Bo-Kyung, 13 Kim Jae-Sung, 09 Ahn Jung-Hwan, 11 Lee Seung-Youl, 20 Lee Dong-Gook
Venue: Moses Mabhida Stadium Referee: O Benquerenca Attendance: 61,874

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