Argentina 4-1 South Korea: Attacking talents overwhelm Korean defence
A game that Argentina dominated from the first minute, and the scoreline is an accurate reflection of the balance of play. Diego Maradona changed Argentina’s shape slightly, resulting in a more balanced and dangerous side when going forward.
That change was enforced, because Juan Sebastian Veron had picked up a slight injury and therefore wasn’t risked. Maxi Rodriguez replaced him in the side, playing a different role – moving the ball more quickly and simply.
South Korea also made a change at right-back, a surprise as Cha Du-Ri had a good game against Greece. In his place was the more defensive-minded Oh Beom-Seok.
Korea set out in a Benitez-esque deep 4-2-3-1, that really looked like a 4-4-1-1 most of the time. Park Ji-Sung was brought in from the wing to play a central role, looking to close down Rodriguez and Javier Mascherano.
Getting two banks of four behind the ball and keeping it tight between the lines seemed to be the plan for Korea, attempting to deny Lionel Messi and Carlos Tevez space in front of the back four.
They actually did this part of their job fairly well – although Argentina’s attackers were seeing plenty of the ball, they were being denied space to work in. The main problem was Messi, who dropped deep to pick up the ball in midfield positions, before running at the two central midfielders.
Messi dictates the game
The Korean insistence on keeping their two banks of four meant that Messi was allowed to pick up the ball deep with little pressure from defenders, and was able to turn and run at the Korean midfield. Really, with Korea having 2 v 1 in that area, they probably should have instructed one central midfielder to track Messi deep, with the other one covering behind – when Messi picked up speed and ran at them, he constantly got past both.
Both of the Argentina goals in the first half came from set-pieces – first the unfortunate Park Chu-Yong turned a free-kick into his own net, and then Gonzalo Higuain was left unmarked at the far post to head home after a free-kick was taken short. In that sense, you could argue that it was defensive organisation at set-pieces that was the problem for Korea, rather than the formation and line-up.
But the free-kicks were both conceded by Oh, the man who had surprisingly come into the side and had problems all day at right-back. He was supposedly brought in to give a more solid option at full-back, but instead lived up to his nickname of “The King of Fouls”, and South Korea played the price for his indiscipline.
South Korea lacked any real attacking intent and struggled to keep possession. Their goal came from a classic mistake from Martin Demichelis after a hopeful long ball, rather than from good attacking play, and they lacked creativity from the centre of the pitch. Park was quiet and Ki Sung-Yeung, a player with good touch on the ball, was not allowed any license to break forward, which surely would have been beneficial as Javier Mascherano is often left completely isolated in front of the back four.
A more detailed representation of Argentina's movement
Korea also failed to exploit the clear weaknesses of Jonas Gutierrez at right-back, with Yeom Ki-Hun not willing to test him for pace – Park Ji-Sung would have been better on the left flank to run at Gutierrez.
Argentina more cohesive
Argentina’s shape from the first game changed with the introduction of Maxi Rodriguez. Since he is a natural winger rather than a central midfield player (and was replacing the static Veron), he tended to play as a carrilero, drifting to the right-hand side.
This meant that the roles of Carlos Tevez and Gonzalo Higuain changed, as they were not forced to provide right-sided width. Tevez instead played on the left and caused Oh no end of problems, whilst Higuain was allowed to play a more central role and benefited by claiming a hattrick, all finished from ‘poaching’ positions he might not have been taking up in the first game.
It is harsh on Tevez, as the game opened up in the final twenty minutes, but Sergio Aguero used the ball far more effectively than the Manchester City striker – linking up well with Messi for both the second half goals. These goals also came down the side the hapless Oh was meant to be patrolling.
Defence still a concern
Argentina have problems in every position in their defence:
Jonas Gutierrez is simply not a right-back. He takes up poor positions both too central and too high, and looks vulnerable whenever someone dribbles towards him. The way the side was structured, with no permanent right-winger, means that he has to get forward – and he did a decent job in that respect, but is suspended for the next game and might not get his place back.
Martin Demichelis never looks confident, either in the air or on the ground. He brings the ball out of defence well, but his mistake was no surprise.
Walter Samuel looks uncomfortable playing in a reasonably high defensive line, having been used to playing a very deep line for Inter all season, and went off in the first half with what looks like a calf problem.
Gabriel Heinze gets dragged to the centre of the pitch far too easily, and leaves the whole left flank exposed. With Angel di Maria playing a narrower position than a classic left-winger, South Korea constantly found space on their right – Yeom missed a great chance to make it 2-2 early in the second half, and then Korea had an overload in that position seconds before Argentina’s third goal, which wasn’t exploited because of a poor pass.
Javier Mascherano has been playing well, but is constantly exposed, as the only defensive-minded midfielder in front of the back four. He is tempted into rash tackles too easily, and is even more of a concern after he picks up inevitable yellow cards.
Brilliant attacking play will get the headlines, but the longer-term story is that Argentina will be ripped apart by decent sides unless they improve their defence.
Conclusion
Not a fascinating game tactically – one characterized by a poor selection decision in the Korean right-back position.
Of more interest was the movement of Argentina’s players with the introduction of Maxi Rodriguez. Argentina seemed more fluid and dynamic when attacking, but slightly less secure defensively. Veron’s passing range is always great to watch, but sometimes slows Argentina’s attacks. Veron also looks for long, diagonal and sideways balls, when their best route of attack is to get the ball to Messi and Tevez in central positions and getting them to run at the opposition defence.
Argentina 4-1 South Korea: Attacking talents overwhelm Korean defence
Have the same opinion on Veron – he slows down attack (which is not good at all for counter attacks), but provides vision (which is good for breaking up organised defense). There are spaces in S.Korea defense but somehow Argentina failed to exploit until they get counter attack chances or set pieces. Also, the Argentina side have an tendency to attack on the left, which worsened the situation of Oh.
You can run at Veron- he has problems with pace, and Gullit thought that they might not use him against the Koreans. Turns out he was injured, but his lack of ability to deal with pace could be a problem. If they face a group A opponent (I think that’s right, anyway), I don’t think the Uruguayans will run at him or attack through his responsibilities on the pitch. They also lost twice to Argentina in qualifying- cagey affairs, apparently. The Mexicans most definitely will- I think that could be a fantastic match.
I’m curious to see who will play in DM after Mascherano gets his second yellow, which is certain to come.
Also, the diagram of actual positions from the FIFA site (http://bit.ly/9d3zlr) show the Korean wingers playing a little narrower than your picture suggests – proving your point that they failed to exploit the back of Heinze and Jonás. Really can’t help but feel Korea would’ve done much better with a 4-1-4-1, giving the number 8 a patrolling role and freeing SungYeung to mark higher up the pitch precisely as you describe.
Aren’t yellow tallies cleared after the group stage? Mascherano might rest against Greece or only play 45′. Even if he does get a yellow there it won’t affect the ko round.
If Mascherano gets a yellow against Greece the automatic suspension kicks in and he’s out of the second round match. The slate is wiped clean only of you have one yellow in the first three games.
Fifa has changed the rules. Yellows are kept until after the quarter finals. ther is no wiping out after the Group stages. This way they want to eliminate the possibility that a player is suspended from the final. Haven’t found an English source but it was mentioned on TV and in some German papers.
BTW. really great site and impressive work ZM.
I agree with this. I thought the Korean coach got it wrong. I mean its a game they were expected to lose and still go through with their win against Greece. I’d have liked Lee Chun Yong given more of a roaming role like he did against Spain in their friendly and Park Jisung sticking to the left flank. This gives the right back space to run at Heinze or to draw the defensive line wider for central midfielder Ki sung yeung more chances to shoot as he has a great shooting/passing range.
Veron’s importance would come against teams like Italy or France versus Korea or Portugal.
Probably Bolatti, who scored a crucial goal in the qualifiers for Argentina but has looked average at Porto and Fiorentina.
Yeah. Massive quality gap between Bolatti and “el jefecito”, but that’s the most direct replacement.
Eventually Demichelis could be emergency DMF – he’s anchored the midfield a couple of times for River and for Bayern – but in light of Samuel’s injury it might not be an option.
It is harsh on Tevez, as the game opened up in the final twenty minutes,—
ZM, it seems you were not happy about taking out Tevez. But I was really hoping Maradona took him out. I felt he lost too many balls, mostly around the Korean p.box and not always but there were times when he seemed more interested to take the ball to the opposite direction of Messi. And the effect of Sergio/Messi/Higuain was there to see right away. Tevez does a lot of hard work, but he was wasting it often too. Whatever, two best moments from this game – Messi still shooting within 6 defenders and Messi’s beautiful pass for Sergio for the last goal.
It would be nice, if you also give your comment on who is the man of the match for each game. By the way, who are you? an ex player/coach?? am very curious.
I actually rather liked Tevez in the game – he’s imposing enough and was pretty good in the first half on the left. It’s tough to judge whether Aguero really changed the team that much. I think it’s more likely a combination of that and the fact that Korea just went all out at about the 70th minute and were terribly exposed when trying to get the equalizer.
I liked Tevez as well as he is the hard worker that wore down the left side to make Korea look bad in the final 20 minutes. I have to disagree with the diagram though on his positioning. It would not have been a good game for him had he actually played as high on the pitch as Higuain – but unlike Aguero he didn’t play this high. He was responsible for a lot of the link up play on the counter and a lot of press defense and hold up play that made up for mediocre defending of his teammates. If anything Tevez played at least as deep as Messi with Higuain the only man who was level with the last defender.
Hi there ZM.
Appreciate the hard work put in to upload articles this quick
I got a simply question.
My friend said that Demichelis is overrated.
Personally I’ve only watched him a couple of times.
Against Manutd this season and the CL Final.
So i cant come up with anything about him.
Would be glad if anyone can offer more insight on him
I have been quite impressed with Cha Du Ri too in the first game, I was very disappointed to see him on the bench.
An interesting aspect of the way Korea plays is the lay on for a right-back to thunderbolt. Both Cha and Oh have been wayward in their efforts, but it’s seemingly a planned initiative. Oh silenced Mata in the warm-up game against Spain, hence why Huh’s presumably thrown him in to cork a more natural winger. To face Greece, Cha was used against Samaras, (nominally a striker).
Zonal Marking has become an integral part of my world cup experience. If there were 48 hours in the day, I would rewatch all the games, after reading these articles, watching purely for tactics. Thanks for the amazing site.
I agree with these sentiments 100%. Thank you so much for this site and your quick work ZM. I’ve learned more about football in the two months I’ve been reading this site then in my prior 27 years. As an American not born with the intuition to understand the sport your explanations really help me understand this game I love so much.
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Messi adapted seamlessly to a very different role than he played in the first Cup match. The diversity of his skill set and the flexibility he offers an Argentinian side that is thin in central midfield are remarkable. He dictated the game’s play.
Early on fouling Messi tactically seemed a key part of S. Korea’s planning. They fouled him early on receipt of the ball to his feet and attempted to deny him momentum. In this regard, Argentina’s effectiveness on set pieces and that first goal in particular were critical. Those factors forced S. Korea to rethink tactical fouling and that in turn helped Messi find more space. In turn the men he drew to him opened up the space the other attackers needed to work, Higuain’s classic poacher goals in particular.
In addition to his different role in attack, it was interesting to see Messi play a different defensive role as well. When S. Korea did have possession and advanced, Messi expended energy to return deep to help defend and did so effectively. He was not waiting in midfield to receive ball as others defended. Very few attacking players have the defensive presence Messi has. Usually it’s seen on the high press with Barca. Today those defensive skills were evidenced much deeper on the pitch.
I saw a commentary by one of his youth trainers who said that Messi actually played as a defensive mid during his early years but wound up making so many long runs leading to goals that they had to move him up the field into an offensive position.
I feel that Maradona has chosen Jonas for the right-back position for the group stage only. He may think that he needs more attacking options and less defensive game outlook against Nigeria, South Korea and Greece. Jonas fits that role description, as his defensive qualities are suspect, but his forward runs are effective. Starting from the second round, however, Maradona will choose a more secure defensive outlook by selecting dedicated defenders, like Otamendi, to close the right flank of his defense line. This will free Jonas from most of his defensive duties and give him more license to attack, but this will be at the expense of the number of Argentinian players attacking. This expected tactical change is understandable against stronger teams in the knockout rounds, but right now, he is experimenting more and more with his attacking options. Starting Veron and playing Milito in the first match, then starting Maxi and introducing Aguero in the second match. Maradona is surely aware of his defense’s weaknesses, but he is simply tuning his tactics according to the opposition he is playing.
Ah, a note I forgot to include! I think that Jonas deliberately picked up a yellow card today. Argentinians may think that they can do well in their match against Greece without Jonas, and they want him to cancel out the first yellow he picked up against Nigeria. This may well support my speculation that Jonas’s position in Maradona’s team is secure, and they want him in the knockout rounds free from any suspension fears, especially as he is very active physically along the pitch and can pick cards easily. As I said earlier, his roles in the future will be more directed towards attack, which suits him more than the defensive roles he has struggled with so far. However, I don’t know who may cover for Mascherano should he pick up a second yellow card? Any Ideas?
That’s easy. Cambiasso or Zanetti could slot into Mascherano’s spot without missing a beat.
Oh, wait . . .
It is harsh on Tevez, as the game opened up in the final twenty minutes,—
how many goals did Argentina scored when tavez was doing all the work? Both the goals scored from set pieces. When Sergio was on who story changed, whether it is defense failure or good play from Argentina, all the goals were field goals and due to some good link-up play.
- Is playing Tavez on left, some what restricted Di Maria’s movement on the left flank?
- Isn’t both Messi and Tavez coming deep to collect the ball, some what a issue in the first 60mins?
where do you get the pictures?
I’m perplexed as to why you are renaming the koreans in your diagram, yes their family name is the first of their names, but why re-arrange it? Park is the family name of Park Ji-Sung, so Park JS could be forgiven although they clearly prefer to use their own names on their shirts such as Ji Sung (for obvious reasons too as they share the same 5 surnames or so).
How Park Ji Sung becomes JS Park is very strange.
In England, last name/family name comes after first name. It is the reverse in many Asian countries. I think both orders are acceptable when you address an Asian name in English. In formal documents (eg. Passport) though, last names usually come after first name when the name is addressed in English.
The first two goals showed me enough about the game. The South Koreans were conceding too many free kicks in dangerous positions and they had no organization in set pieces and defense. It must be very difficult to defend agaisnt a very talented attack, but I’ll never understand how Higuain wasn’t picked up properly in all three goal scoring occasions. It must have been the easiest World Cup hat trick since 2002.
Actually, I think it’s the only World Cup hattrick since 2002.
I also believe like a previous poster, that this so far has been the group stage line-up if you like and we will see a different defense in the knock out games. What was important for them was to gain confidence in attack and set the movements right. But given that they play such a high defensive line, maybe Milito should have been picked. Would have been a swell idea.
But as said, to me, we will see a more defensive team and probably Otamendi back at rightback. Although they are not 100% through yet, I believe that the Greece game will be played with different players not having played much yet and we will see much more about the possible options Argentina got.
I do not think too much should be made of the increased fluidity in Argentine attacks after Tevez was taken off. S Korea were already chasing the game a bit, they definitely did not maintain the shape they had over the first half and the early second half and may have been losing legs as well.
For me Tevez had a very involved game and was a major influence helped by the questionable right back selection as well as Korea’s obsession with covering Messi near their own box which gave Tevez a little more room to operate. And while I will not dare dispute ZM’s analysis that de Maria played narrow, there were occasions where de Maria stayed very wide and linked well with Tevez and the duo threatened to penetrate Korea’s railway track defence.
I had seen Argentina play a friendly against Spain in Madrid last year and they looked so dire then that I had been predicting a first round knockout for them (as well as the occasional off day for Spain). However, as an Argentina fan since ‘86 and a major Messi admirer, am glad they are proving me wrong. Though it is difficult not to see the glaring problems with their defence, am just hoping they again surprise us with an unexpected bout of improvement.
well i have to admit that Maradona’s substitution was really good.Aguero had big impact to their last two goals,i agree with you.Now let’s see what Rehhagel has for him,i hope something good.Are you going to have an analysis for Greece vs Nigeria match
Why did you not post an analysis after the South Korea Greece game? I enjoy this site very much btw. I have learned a lot about football from this site
Can only do two games a day, sorry.
A major difference between the two games was the utilisation of Di Maria. In the opening game he was rarely used as Heinze went inside with the ball and/or Messi would opt to go on a hero run. One notable exception was the one-two Messi and Di Maria played to put the former clean through. In general Di Maria showed for the ball and got into space both wide left and centrally but was effectively a passenger. Contrast that to this game and Di Maria was far more involved and added another dimension to the Argentine attack.
??? Did you only watch one half. Korea were much better in the second half and put more pressure on the ball. Whilst they only had one good breakaway chance they did get into promising positions.
“Both of the Argentina goals in the first half came from set-pieces [...] In that sense, you could argue that it was defensive organisation at set-pieces that was the problem for Korea”
Basically, Oliver Kahn said the same thing during the post-match analysis on German television. The defense was standing way too deep, so every deflection could be lethal and the was no chance of getting the Argentina forwards into an offside trap.
The Korean coach got his selection, tactics and substitutions all WRONG! While Aregentine players were so much better in terms of individual talents, a clever or brave coach would have made Argentine’s game far more difficult. It turned out the first time coach Maradona was far more tactically astutue than Huh. Huh’s first mistake is to have Oh in the right back, instead of Cha. Cha is more physical and quick although Oh might have better technical abilities. Oh did not play in the Greece match either, and hence was not match fit. Second, Yum is poor at keeping the ball. He should have been dropped. Korea rather needed a fast and skiilful attacker like KH Lee (who was sent home from Austrian camp) or a target striker like Lee Donggook. Yum was slected because he is a left footer but it backfired dramatically when he missed the best chance they created as he was trying to shoot using his left foot while any other player with a right foot would have made a goal.
Substitution: Korea coach sent Kim Nam Il by sacrificing Ki. Kim Nam Il was a very good holding midfieder under Hiddink in 2002 but now he is old, slow and erro prone. Ki’s attacking ability should have been better utilised by shifting in the more attacking position while asking full backs (like Oh) to refrain from attacking. Korea looked like a team more comfortable for attacking than sitting back and absorbing the pressure. They shoudl have played more like North Korea with 9 players defending or attacked from the first minute. It tutrned oout they were neither. They are not DPR Korea!
great to see argentina getting the best out of messi an a central AM role. could this performance signal the end of veron? don’t see how he fits into the diamond. they’ll obviously struggle against better teams with only mascherano in central midfield, but maybe getting the best out of messi is the priority, and argentina will adopt a ‘however many you score, we’ll score one more’ approach? argentina vs mexico looks likely in 2nd round, could be a classic
My first comment on ZM, and it’s late where I am so forgive me if this has already been said – but if Jonás loses his spot at right back during his suspension, it will be down to an absolutely world-beating performance from (I would think) one of the Nicoláses: Otamendi or Burdisso.
He certainly isn’t a right back, but that doesn’t seem to have affected Maradona’s opinion of him in the slightest.
Age doesn’t matter, it’s what you got between your ears that does.
Without context (entry was deleted) this sort of is off the mark :p