Uruguay 2-1 South Korea: controlling the tempo and more clinical finishing sees Uruguay through
The starting line-ups
Uruguay progress, but got away with sitting back for half the game. Korea took too long to get going, although were probably on top for much of the second half.
Uruguay maintained their rough shape from their win over Mexico. Diego Godin returned at the expense of Mauricio Victorino. South Korea also made one change – Kim Jae-Sung played ahead of Yeom Ki-Hun, and played an advanced midfield role.
Firstly, there was a different tilt to the Uruguay attacking trident. Diego Forlan played slightly higher up the pitch, with Edinson Cavani deeper on the right-hand side. He sometimes switched flanks, which left Uruguay very lopsided, although this did allow Suarez to make runs down the right-hand side – a position from which he opened the scoring.
Uruguay dominated the midfield battle, because South Korea’s two central midfielders were sitting too deep. They were overly concerned with marshalling Forlan, and rather conceded the midfield ground to Uruguay’s two central midfielders. Egidio Arevalo-Rios and Diego Perez played very solid roles and played simple balls forward and into wide areas. Alvaro Pereira played as a carrilero, starting in a central position before moving into a wide-left role. That made the formation 4-2-4 when he got forward, and it could also shift to 3-4-3 when Maxi Pereira motored down the right, allowing Cavani to move more central.
South Korea started awfully; their passing was too long and direct. They wanted to play a high-tempo game, but Uruguay were dominating possession and so the match was played to their slow, methodical preference. Korea were in a difficult situation – they wanted the game to be more frantic, but by knocking long balls forward to Park Chu-Young, who didn’t get enough support, they were handing the ball back to Uruguay immediately. Korea also deployed their full-backs in quite a conservative fashion early on, which was frustrating considering Cha Du-Ri was often in acres of pace on the right, with Suarez not tracking back.
Uruguay go 1-0 up, then sit back
Uruguay went ahead through Suarez’s angled shot at the far post – thanks mainly to some awful Korean defending and goalkeeping. But after that, the South Americans sought to sit back and soak up pressure, when their early attacking strategy seemed to have been causing Korea plenty of problems. Both Pereiras were suddenly much more conservative, Cavani dropped deeper and deeper, and they left Suarez and Forlan upfront with little support.
Korea grew into the game, and after half-time they really started to dominate. Their passing was more patient and they spread the ball across the pitch with more sophistication than the rushed long ball game of the first half. There were three key factors here – firstly, the full-backs were given much more license to get forward; Cha provided overlaps on the right, and Lee Young-Pyo brought trickery and dangerous balls into the box from the left. Secondly, Huh Jung-Moo realised he didn’t need to have two holding midfielders doing the same thing when Uruguay’s central midfielders weren’t looking to get forward, and pushed Ki Sung-Yong into a more attacking position. Thirdly, Park Ji-Sung was moved into a central role where he could influence the play and provide driving runs at the Uruguayan defence.
Those defenders seemed content to stand off challenges when players ran at them, and despite the general success of defending deep so far at this tournament, it didn’t seem to suit Uruguay. In particular, it looked less convincing because they were generally only defending with seven players. Cavani, Suarez and Forlan stayed up the pitch, and Korea were able to shift the three midfielders laterally, and create space for balls into the box. When Tabarez realised this problem, he moved Cavani even deeper – to a position he was uncomfortable in, and he was lucky not to give away a penalty ith a rash tackle. Park Chu-Young was doing an excellent job upfront, and was joined by Lee Dong-Gook to provide another central threat.
Korea equalise, but Uruguay step it up again
They got a goal back with a goal from a set-piece – their main source of goals throughout the tournament – and had some other very good chances that weren’t taken. But Uruguay seemed able to step up their game to get a second goal when it was needed – and it arrived from a stunning strike from Suarez following a corner. Suarez was actually very wasteful when in possession throughout the game, but his finishing for both goals was lethal.
Uruguay again dropped deep and tried to close the game out – although this time Oscar Tabarez had the good sense to remove one of his forwards, Suarez, and put on Alvaro Fernandez, and defended with two clear banks of four. Still they conceded chances to Korea – Park Ji-Sung’ss superb through ball to Lee Dong-Gook was met with a tame finish – and Uruguay’s defending as a whole was surprisingly poor considering they hadn’t conceded a goal until this match.
Conclusion
Korea have provided some excitement in the tournament so far, but were found out today. They had opportunities but didn’t take them, and defended poorly for both Suarez goals.
Uruguay were always able to control the game, and play to the tempo they wished. The only question is why they didn’t control it in a more positive fashion when 1-0 up, and instead sat back and expected to get to the end of the match with the clean sheet intact. Their system seems to work quite well, but playing with three such attack-minded players and sitting deep doesn’t appear to be a tactic that maximises their strengths.
Uruguay 2-1 South Korea: controlling the tempo and more clinical finishing sees Uruguay through
I really think Suarez’s inability to hold up the ball or distribute to Forlan and Cavani eventually led to the equalizing goal. As ZM said, he did nothing useful besides getting two goals. At late stage of the game, when Forlan was the lone striker, he did his job much more intelligently and allowed other midfielders to come up to support him.
Totally. Uruguay didn’t seem to be able to defend well by giving South Korea the ball possession. In fact, they had that same problem against Mexico. There were near goal opportunities that Mexico wasted, and the same happened with South Korea.
It seems to me that Uruguay is actually better at defending while possessing the ball. When they went to score the 2-1, South Korea didn’t seem dangerous at all. I thought that Tavarez would keep that scheme after the 2-1 (realizing that giving the ball South Korea was practically suicide), but no… he didn’t. He decided to pull back again and, not surprisingly, South Korea had the chance to tie the game for a second time.
Also, I gotta say this as well, but their attacks do not really seem that convincing. They had some moments were using ’surprising the rival by launching a quick counter-attack’ would be crucial to score another goal and they just wasted it. If they face Ghana in Quarter Finals, I think that they’ll have a very difficult time scoring. Perhaps the same would happen against the United States.
I think that they need to work on their offensive and speed.
Still, they deserved to win…
I am surprised that there’s a certain time period Uruguay’s four defenders stand so close to each other in the middle and leave the flanks completely unprotected. Korea only really begin to use this space in the 2nd half, though without much success. Korean players in the middle never turned pass from the wide position into threat. Korea was lack of cutting edge up front. Uruguay didn’t create many chances either (probably less than Korea, actually), largely because they were not going forward for the large part of the game. A wonder strike send them through at last.
Uruguay is far better retaining the ball (if they want to). This helped them control the tempo of the game – and made them win the game eventually. In contrast Korea appeared always in a rush and give away the ball too easily sometimes.
About half way through the 2nd half it looked like there would only be one winner. SK looked far fitter and energetic in their attacks. Uruguay were struggling to get out. Lee Young-Pyo was getting lots of joy down the left.
However, and this is why tactics accounts for maybe 2/3 of the reason a team wins: Uruguay had the “big” personalities who were not afraid to step up and finish the game.
The overall play of the SK team was probably superior, however, the mentality of the Uruguay players was probably superior.
agree with you zm. i really don’t understand why uruguay sit back and defend when they only lead by 1 goal. south korea didn’t look dangerous at all when uruguay attacks and press the players from the front.
Anyone else think that Uruguay’s defense is going to have trouble with Ghana’s speed? I would expect Uruguay to win that game, but the way they played today, I am having my doubts.
Then again, on second thought, Suarez wont miss all those opportunities like the US strikers did.
Both sides would prefer to sit back and defend deep, can’t see Uruguays defence getting tempted out. I would tip Uruguay to win, but as we saw against Korea they seem happy to soak up pressure and defend when that doesn’t look the best option for them.
I’d like to see a game between Ghana and Chile…
ZM, you might want to note that the referee seemed to be sided with Uruguay.
I wouldn’t say that. In the first half, Uruguay an one-on-one opportunity which was called off-side; and there’s a handball inside of penalty area by Korea which can be penalty + yellow or even red.
Not a tactical matter.
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Yes, the poor defence and finishing (especially by Dong Gook Lee) after Park Ji Sung’s superb through pass were at the centre of Korea’s defeat. I was expecting Lee Won Jae to replace as Korea’s keeper in the knock-out stages because he’s far more experienced and a very good penalty saver. When Tavarez made tactical substitutions in the second half, Korea coach Huh should have responded to nullify Uruguay’s attempt to control the game. But he failed to do so. Huh hardly makes substitutions that change the game. This is where the difference lies between a medicore coach and a top coach. If Korea had a Hiddink, they could have won the game. As Danny pointed out in the above post, Korea’s run to the round of 16 is largely due to the Eurpoean based players like Park JS, Lee CY and Park CY. Their gragile back four has been a problem for over a year but the coach failed to correct that. Also, again Lee KH (dropped at the last minute from the squad) was sorely missed. Korea is a perfect example of how a few European based stars can make a difference but also how a team’s weakness can be fully exposed by a daft, incapable coach.
same post? check out Victor’s.
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In another note, I think Korea’s defense has been atrocious throughout the entire tournament except for the game against Greece. Versus Argentina, we all saw the mastery of the Argentine offense vs the grade school level defense of South Korea. It seems to me that the manager was oblivious to these defensive mishaps that kept happening due to a lack of communication between the keeper and his defenders or simply because defenders were out-muscled and outplayed. Jung Sungryong (the Korean keeper) showed his lack of experience by doubting some decisions as well as his lack of leadership. If you’re a goalie that has suffered the way Korea has in the tournament, you should have your back 4 as tight as possible making sure all gaps are protected. They even utilized a holding midfielder (Kim Jungwoo) to support the backline had the Uruguayan offense spur a counterattack. A very disappointing defense from Korea has really let them down and it should be a priority for them to get some DM and Full backs over to Europe for some experience if they want to solidify their game.
I remember quite vividly that there was a sitter Yeom Kihun had missed vs Argentina. It’s no surprise that Korea lacks a good finishing touch; it has hampered all of South Korea’s chances. The main reason for this is that a) their strikers (except for Park Chuyoung) don’t have much experience against REAL teams (only domestic), and b) South Korea is known to have probably the worst finishing of all teams at the World Cup.
The true power lies within their midfield as players like Lee Chungyong, Ki Sungyueng and Park Jisung have constantly created good runs and passes to aid the striekrs with some nice chances that were otherwise wasted due to their finishing.
Uruguay had their style go against them at times since switching to a defensive mode allowed Korea dominiate the midfield battle and got some close chances in the final third. I don’t understand either the fact that they decided to stop off the gas, since they pretty much had the ability to control the tempo of the match… Uruguay reminds me of the Swiss..
A very entertaining match and in the end, the more deserving team won. Korea had their chances, but once again, their finishing and awful defense has truly let them down. It’s still an amazing feat for the country and now stands true as a real contender at the world’s greatest sporting event. They can certainly hold their ground and have proven that asia can become a powerhouse. They just need to improve their defense and finishing… it’s a lot to ask, but hopefully they’ve learned their lesson.
Onto 2014!