Maradona’s team, Argentina, seems to be in great form with a spectacular win over South Korea with the final score of 4:1.

Gonzalo Higuain scored a hat trick with 3 goals and Lionel Messi scored one.

With the win, Argentina takes the lead for Group B.



Game Highlights (from here)

80th minute: A thing of beauty that showcases all of Argentina’s creativity. Again, Messi starts it, chipping a ball to Aguero, whose short cross set up Higuain for his third goal of the match.

76th minute: GOAL. Argentina 3, South Korea 1. Messi with a — dare we say it? — Maradona-esque run through the middle of the field and South Korea defense. He created his own chance, firing a low left-footer that was blocked, another blast that ricocheted off the left post, and a tap-in by a well-placed and unmarked Higuain.

75th minute: A yellow card for Heinze, who has played a good game but frankly made a poor decision with the hand ball.

64th minute: Maradona, as a great player-turned-coach, was just compared to Magic Johnson and Larry Bird by ESPN play-by-play voice Ian Darke. Suffice to say neither Magic nor Bird could back-heel a soccer ball while wearing a suit and dress shoes.

54th and 55th minutes: The good and the bad for Argentina in short order. First, Tevez’s work rate this afternoon cannot be overstated. He is the engine for the offense. However, Jonas Gutierrez followed shortly after with a yellow card and will have to sit out the next match for Argentina. Only positive there is if this score holds, Argentina won’t need its A team.



52nd minute: The Argentine touches within close proximity are quite impressive. A quick sequence of Tevez to Di Maria to Higuain almost produced a third goal.

48th minute: Again, an early corner kick fr Argentina, which again is setting the pace. Oh, and yet another shot of Diego Maradona on the sideline. At what point does that become tiresome. Oh, it already is.

Stoppage time: GOAL. Argentina 2, South Korea 1. A complete breakdown by the Argentine defense, which had been questioned time and again during World Cup qualifying. And Lee Chung-Yong takes advantage, picking up the turnover and then shooting in for a 2-1 score.

44th minute: Messi and Tevez are having their way with the South Korea defense. What was particularly sublime about the last chance was the speed and quickness cutting through the defense, followed up by the soft chip that dipped just over the goalkeeper but drifted a touch to the right.

33rd minute: GOAL. Argentina 2, South Korea 0. Higuain finishes a beautiful sequence with a header just inside the right post. It started with Messi and Maxi Rodriguez on the far left side after Tevez drew a foul. Rodriguez’s cross into the box was flicked by Burdisso to Higuain, who was left unmarked in all the commotion.

28th minute: Yet another harrowing set piece faced by the South Korean’s. A deft touch by Messi to Tevez, whose blast just rose over the crossbar. That could have easily produced a 2-0 lead.

17th minute: GOAL. Argentina 1, South Korea 0. A huge mistake for South Korea, as Chu Young knocked in the low, driving free kick by Messi. Argentina is offensively talented enough that it doesn’t need its opponents putting the ball in the goal.

10th minute: Yellow card for the takedown by Ki Huhn. The good news for South Korea is that the tackle (literally) probably stopped a break by Argentina. The bad news is that Ki Huhn will have to be a little tentative the rest of the game with his marking.

7th minute: We knew this before the game started, but Argentina has shown which team will control the action. South Korea is content at this point to sit back and wait for the counterattack.

1st minute: Already a corner kick for Argentina, which is probably doing both teams a favor by pushing the action. Game-time temperatures are below 50 degrees.

Argentina seems to be in great shape and definitely a good contender for the World Cup 2010.