England 1 United States 1
Seems like every time the United States play in a 1-1 tie against a European country in the World Cup, the Americans always score fluky goals. In the 2006 World Cup, the United States scored a goal on a Cristian Zaccardo own goal in a game against Italy; that game ended in a 1-1 draw. In this game, the United States scored a goal when English goalkeeper Robert Green botched a sure save on a Clint Dempsey shot in the 40th minute. Dempsey became just the second American to score a goal in two World Cups.
Steven Gerrard scored England’s lone goal in the 4th minute.
For the United States, it felt like a victory even though the scoreboard didn’t say so.
American forward Jozy Altidore nearly gave the states a 2-1 lead in the 65th minute, but Green got a hand on the ball, which then struck the goalpost.
Argentina 1 Nigeria 0
Gabriel Heinze’s diving header in the sixth minute off a Juan Sebastian Veron corner kick lifted Argentina to a 1-0 victory over Nigeria and gave Diego Maradona his first victory in the World Cup as a coach. Lionel Messi, FIFA World Player of the Year, touched the ball a total of 103 times and passed the ball a total of 69 times, but failed to score a goal in this game.
Argentina fired a total of 20 shots (8 by Messi), but only seven were on goal. Nigeria fired 12 shots, but only one was on goal. Neither club was called for offsides during the entire course of the match.
South Korea 2 Greece 0
Goals from Lee Jung-Soo and Park Ji-Sung lifted the South Koreans to a 2-0 victory over the Greeks. Lee scored his goal on a Ki Sung-Yeung free kick from the corner of the field in the 7th minute, and Park scored his goal after intercepting a pass and swerving by a defender in the 52nd minute. Both goals were consequences of defensive miscues by Greece.
Park Ji-Sung, who also scored in the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, became the first South Korean to score in three World Cups.
This is South Korea’s 7th consecutive trip to the World Cup while Greece has only made the World Cup once before (1994).
