South Korea advance, Nigeria eliminated

DURBAN, South Africa (AP):

South Korea reached the second round of the World Cup by holding Nigeria to a 2-2 draw yesterday in their final group game.

Defender Lee Jung-soo and Park Chu-young scored for South Korea, after Kalu Uche had given Nigeria the lead in the 12th minute. Ayegbeni Yakubu netted a 69th-minute penalty to draw Nigeria level again, but the Africans squandered a couple of good opportunities to score a winner.

"During the game, we conceded the first goal and that was a tough situation," South Korea coach Huh Jung-moo said. "But the players stayed cool and levelled the score."

Argentina won Group B by beating Greece 2-0 in the other match, meaning Nigeria would have advanced with a win despite losing their first two games. Argentina won all three games to finish with nine points, while South Korea have four points, Greece three and Nigeria one.

Disappointed

Nigeria coach Lars Lagerback was left ruing his team's inability to finish.

"I was disappointed about all the chances," Lagerback said. "The players have done really well. They worked hard over time."

The only other time the Koreans got beyond the group stage was when the team surged to the semi-finals in 2002 on home soil as tournament co-host with Japan.

"Our goal was to reach the last 16. We succeeded in doing this for the first time away from home," South Korea captain Park Ji-sung said. "So I'm very happy we accomplished this in South Africa. All of the players know how important this is."