PORT ELIZABETH, (Reuters) – South Korea chalked up the first win of this year’s World Cup finals with a fluent 2-0 victory over a Greece side that paid a heavy price for defensive frailties in their Group B opener yesterday.
The Koreans, who reached the semi-finals in 2002 as co-hosts, scored a goal in each half to deliver a strong message to their group rivals with a slick and confident performance to mark their eighth appearance in the finals.
Lee Jung-soo and captain Park-Ji-sung netted early in each half to give South Korea only their second World Cup win on foreign soil and left Greece struggling to advance from a group that includes Nigeria and one of the favourites Argentina.
The Koreans defended solidly against the aerial threat of the Greek players, who bombarded them with lofted passes that yielded few chances for a country that has lost every game they have played at the finals without scoring a goal.
The 2004 European champions were besieged by a torrent of South Korean attacks, with the energetic European-based duo Cha Du-ri and Park Chu-young outrunning their opponents and proving a handful for the Greek defence.
