Gonzalo Higuain helped himself to a hat-trick as Argentina moved to within touching distance of the knock-out stages.
Argentina make it two wins out of two in South Africa
Gonzalo Higuain helped himself to a hat-trick as Argentina moved to within touching distance of the knock-out stages of the World Cup following a 4-1 win over South Korea.
Park Chu-young's own goal and Higuain's first put Diego Maradona's side in the driving seat, although Lee Chung-yong's goal gave their Group B opponents hope of a second-half comeback.
Those dreams were extinguished once and for all late on as Real Madrid ace Higuain completed a hat-trick (76 and 80) to all but secure Argentina's place in the second round of the competition.
Argentina began the game positively and some neat work between Carlos Tevez and Angel Di Maria resulted in the latter slashing a left-footed effort wide of goal.
The South Americans continued to press and Higuain should have attempted to cross with seven minutes played instead of attempting an audacious effort from the angle.
South Korea's frustrations were beginning to show with Yeom Ki-hun rightly booked by Belgian referee Frank De Bleeckere for a rugby-style tackle on the diminutive Lionel Messi.
Just when it looked like South Korea were beginning to settle disaster struck when Messi's whipped-in free-kick was missed by Martin Demichelis only for Chu-young to inadvertently divert the ball into his own goal.
Argentina nearly doubled their advantage within a minute, but Liverpool winger Maxi Rodriquez flashed his shot from distance wide after good work by Messi.
Full stretch
Ki Sung-yong had Argentina keeper Sergio Romero at full stretch on 19 minutes as he fired in a long-range effort. The ball was well struck, but after beating Romero's outstretched hand the ball drifted over.
Maradona was forced into a change soon after when Walter Samuel was forced from the field of play with a hamstring injury allowing Nicolas Burdisso to come on in his place.
Argentina remained in the ascendancy despite the substitution and shortly after Tevez rocketed a shot just over before Maradona's side doubled their advantage with consummate ease.
Messi rolled a free-kick to Maxi Rodriguez and his floated cross was flicked on by Burdisso in the middle giving Higuain the simple task of heading beyond Jung Sung-ryong at the back post.
It continued to be Argentina's half as Chung-young was shown a yellow card for a late challenge on Burdisso while Sung-ryong needed to be at full stretch to palm over Di Maria's left-footed strike.
Just when it looked like Argentina would go into half-time with a commanding 2-0 lead they shot themselves in the foot as Chung-yong dispossessed Demichelis before slotting home past the onrushing Romero to pull one back.
South Korea head coach Huh Jung-moo made his first change during the half-time interval after introducing Kim Nam-il in place of Ki Sung-yong.
Argentina were not going to let the disappointment of conceding just before the break affect them and picked up where they left off by continuing to attack in the second half.
Tenacious
On 52 minutes Sung-ryong need to be on his guard to save Higuain's snap-shot after excellent build-up play from the likes of the tenacious Tevez and gifted Di Maria.
Indiscipline then cost Argentina as Jonas Gutierrez was booked for protesting against the award of a free-kick and Javier Mascherano joined him in the referee's notebook for an over-zealous challenge on Kim Jung-woo.
South Korea could and should have levelled matters approaching the hour mark when Chu-young fired a shot wide after a great midfield burst from Chung-yong to create the opportunity.
The miss proved costly as Argentina soon reasserted themselves on the Group B contest.
They continued to press and probe, but it was only after the introduction of Sergio Aguero for the hard-working Tevez that the game was secured once and for all.
Argentina hit South Korea with pace on the counter-attack and no sooner had Sung-ryong saved Messi's initial shot had the Barcelona genius struck the post with the rebound, providing Higuain with the simple task of tapping home.
They added the icing on the cake moments later as Higuain wrapped up his hat-trick with a close-range header after Aguero's unselfish cross from Messi's flick carved South Korea's defence to pieces.
| Argentina |
Team Statistics |
South Korea |
| 4 |
Goals |
1 |
| 2 |
1st Half Goals |
1 |
| 8 |
Shots on Target |
2 |
| 7 |
Shots off Target |
7 |
| 3 |
Blocked Shots |
7 |
| 6 |
Corners |
2 |
| 19 |
Fouls |
19 |
| 4 |
Offsides |
0 |
| 3 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 86 |
Passing Success |
72.5 |
| 21 |
Tackles |
30 |
| 90.5 |
Tackles Success |
80 |
| 61.7 |
Possession |
38.3 |
| 49.9 |
Territorial Advantage |
50.1 |
|
