Switzerland vs. Korea Republic

by Golden Goal | June 22, 2006 at 09:20 pm

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Switzerland and Korea Republic can both advance to the next round on Friday, although it is possible one could be eliminated if France gets the right result against Togo. With a win, either side would be guaranteed of a berth in the last 16 with the other left to sweat the France-Togo result. A draw would be enough to see Switzerland through, but the Koreans would have to have France lose or draw or have them win and and finish with an inferior goal difference.

Golden Goal reporting:

Another Monday starts and
another week of World Cup action kicks off. The tournament is really
heating up as teams are fighting for their the final spots and a shot
at glory. However, there is much to be decided in this final set of
action before the knock out rounds begin.

Over the weekend,

Saturday: Portugal 2 - Iran 0

Czech Republic 0 - Ghana 2

Italy 1 - USA 1

Sunday: Japan 0 - Croatia 0

Brazil 2 - Australia 0

France 1 - South Korea 1

Monday: The first game on Monday witnessed Switzerland
finishing strong with a 2- 0 win over Togo. Togo will be sent home, but
they have played well and should be a bit disappointed, but also proud
of their run at the World Cup this year. While the Swiss will be moving
on to the next round with one game left to play...

The Ukrainians had had a tough time after losing their opening game by four goals, and
the papers at home were not at all kind to this team, calling them all
kinds of dis-heartening names. So it was not suprising that this team
came out blazing, scoring four goals of their own, showing their
critics a thing or two about football, and possibly securing a spot in
the next round: Saudi Arabia 0 - Ukraine 4

It had appeared that Tunisia would be playing the role of the
upset kid yesterday. However it was Spain who returned in the second
half to play a complete game. Once they got the scoring ball rolling it
was all over for Tunisia as the Spanish team was lead by El nino
(Torres), and secured the number one spot in the next Round of 16: Spain 3 - Tunisia 1

Update:

Germany was filled to the brim with celebration last night.
The streets were alive with excitement, which provided a great party
atmosphere as Germany secured the number one spot for the round of
sixteen. It was a bit suprising that Ecuador did not really show up
after playing so well in the opening two games. But they will be
advancing as well, and they will need to put this game past them and
prepare for the elimination round where there is no recovery from a 3-0 loss...

England will also be advancing with Sweden in their group. England just needed to
win or tie to advance as the number one team in this group, and they have gotten their wish as they tied Sweden 2-2 in an exciting action packed game. Both teams will now advance to round of sixteen while their counter parts Trinidad and Paraguay will be heading home after solid performances. Paraguay beat Trinidad 2-1 in their final match...

Wednesday:

Angola was unable to advance as they tied with Iran 1-1. The African
team was leading 1-0 with about 15 minutes to go but could not stop
Iran from scoring, and sending them home without advancing to the round
of sixteen.

Instead Mexico moves on to the elimination round
along with Portugal even though they lost to the number one Portugese
team 2-1 in the first match of the day. Portugal played a very strong
game early, but held on to hold off a Mexican attack which was able to
score one goal in the first half, but could
not find a equalizer in the second half of the match...

And in the final matches the Ivory Coast played a great game and came from
behind to beat Serbia 3-2. Both teams will be going home after today,
but they surely put on an exciting exit. The two top teams in the group
also played, the Netherlands and Argentina drew 0-0 in a suprisingly
slower paced game, grinding out the 90 minutes needed to determine
which team would take the first place spot. So, Argentina will stay in
the number one spot, while the Netherlands finishes second...

Thursday: Earlier today Italy and Ghana advanced by upending the USA and the

Czech Republic. Italy played Italian football by grinding out a 2-0 win over the highly ranked Czech Republic. While Ghana wrote themselves into the history books with a 2-1 win over the USA, and their subsequent entrance into the final round of sixteen...

It was a bit different in the afternoon as both games were played at a uptempo pace. Brazil made soccer look easy in the second half of their match with Japan, besting them 4-1. Brazil will finish in the top spot for this group, while Australia will represent the second spot. In a wild game the Australians tied a very good Croatian team 2-2 late in the match, coming back to equalize in what was another fast paced game. The tie proved good enough to advance them into the final round of sixeen.

Well, we are down to the final day of qualification for the round of sixteen. This will be the round where the losers go home, and the winners stay on another day to play for the highest stakes in the world...

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Let the fun begin. Switzerland/Korea Republic!

The players are ready to enter Hannover's AWD Arena. The South Korean fans, who call themselves Red Devils, are dancing and cheering. The Swiss fans are proudly waving their countries flag. The stadium is a sea of red and the atmosphere is truly inspiring. The two big questions are: who will enter the next round? And can South Korea repeat their sucess from the Worldcup in 2002?

12: 00 Kick off

12: 01 First free kick to Switzerland ...

12: 03 South Korea almost scored ... the Korean's start the game with high-pressure ...

12: 05 Hakan Yakin (#22) had a first scoring opportunity ... but the Korean defense covered the attack ...

12: 07 Nice shot by Ji-Sung (#7) but the Swiss goalie caught the ball ...

12: 09 Barnetta (#16) just missed a great opportunity to score ... he made a wonderful shot on the Korean goal, but his kick was off target ...

12: 12 The Swiss fans are chanting ...

12: 13 Another Swiss throw ...

12: 15 Frei (#9) just had a chance to score with a long kick ... but the Korean goalie caught the ball again ...

12: 18 Another promising attack by the Swiss team ... but Barnetta (#16) was offside ...

Update: France 0 - Togo 0

12: 22 Foul! Yellow card to Park Chu-Young (#10) ... free kick to Switzerland ... and ...

Goal!!! Goal!!! Goal!!!

Senderos (#4) scored a goal for his country ... but his nose is bleeding ... what happened? He headed the ball and then clahed heads with a Korean player ... both footballers are bleeding ....

Switzerland 1 - Korea Republic 0

12: 27 Attack by the Korean team ... and ... Swiss' goalie stops the attack ...

12: 30 The Swiss team continues to play with a lot of confidence ... There is a lot of pressure on the Korean players, since Korea needs to win this game in order to make it to the next round ...

12: 33 Free kick for Switzerland ... another goal?? No, the Korean goalie catches the ball ...

12: 34 Jae Jin (#19) is on the ground ... he limps off the field ...

12: 37 Yellow card for Jin Kyu Kim (#6) ... free kick for Switzerland ... and ... nice save by Korea's goalkeeper ...

12: 38 Yakin (#22) almost scored .... but his kisck was slightly off target ... another corner for Yakin ... this looked awfully close again ... but Korea's team was able to get a hold off the ball ...

Update: France 0 - Togo 0

12: 41 Korea just missed two great scoring opportunities ... second corner for Korea ... and ... Jin - Kyu Kim (#6) almost kicked the ball in the net ...

12: 43 Free kick to Korea ... but Swiss' defense is holding strong ... and another chance for a Korean striker ... but the kick was a few inches offside ...

12: 45 Yet another scoring chance for Korea ... and ... great save ... the 25 year old Swiss goalie catches the long kick ...

12: 46 Corner for Switzerland ... and ... a big miss ... that could easily have been the 2nd goal for Switzerland ...

12: 48 Halftime

Switzerland 1 - Korea 0

France 0 - Togo 0

1: 00 We are back in the second half ...

1: 07 Djourou (#2) is replacing Senderos (#4)

1: 12 Yasin almost scored ... Yellow card for Yasin (#22)

Update: France 1 - Togo 0 (Vieira #4 scored)

1: 15 The Red Devils are keeping the spirits up ...

1: 18 The Swiss team had another good chance to score ... A Swiss striker was attacking ... but there was no support by his teammates ...

1: 21 Frei (#9) had a great scoring opportunity ... but the ball hit the pole ...

1: 22 Korea is attacking ... but the Swiss defense is fending off the attack ...

1: 23 Substitution for the Korean team ...

Update: France 2 - Togo 0 (Henry scored)

1: 27 Yellow card for Wicky (#8) ... free kick for South Korea ... but Swiss' defense is holding strong ...

1: 28 The Swiss playmaker for this match, Yakin (#22) is replaced ...

1: 29 Great defense by Chun-Soo Lee(#14) ... he steals the ball from a Swiss striker before he is able to finish the attack ...

1: 32 The noise in Hannover's AWD Arena is earsplitting ... the fans are drumming and singing ...

1: 33 Goal!!! Goal!!! Goal!!!

The captain of the Swiss team Frei (#9) scored ... the goal evokes a controversy ... it appears that Frei was offside ... but the referee did not make the call ...

Switzerland 2 - Korea Republic 0

1: 36 Yellow card for Chun-Soo Lee (#14) ...

1: 37 Corner for Switzerland ... Korea's goalie catches the ball ...

1: 39 Yellow card to Sycher (#17) ... Corner for Korea ... great scoring chance ... but the ball hit the crossbar ...

1: 43 Another try by the Korean's team ... but the Swiss goalie stopps the ball ...

1: 46 Yellow Crad for Dijourou (#2) .... free kick for Korea ... but the Korean's had no chance to break through the Swiss defense ...

1: 48 another Korean scoring attempt is fended off by Swiss' goalie ...

1: 49 The game is over ....

Switzerland is the group winner and the Red Devils have to go home ...

Switzerland will meet the Ukraine in the second round ...

Switzerland 2 - Korea Republic 0

France 2 - Togo 0