Maradonas men march on merrily

Near miss

Minutes earlier,Messis hard left-foot shot hit the near post. A well-deserved victory,no doubt about that, Greece coach Otto Rehhagel said. We wanted to avoid an early goal,we managed to do that,but of course Argentina has more class and that earned them the win. Maradona made seven changes to the lineup that beat South Korea 4-1 five days earlier. Captain Javier Mascherano and strikers Carlos Tevez and Gonzalo Higuain were all benched. However,Messi did start and he was given the captains armband for the first time.

It made Messi,who turns 23 on Thursday,the youngest Argentina captain ever. That was something very special, Messi said. I felt the constant support of my team mates. It was a beautiful experience. Midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron returned after missing the previous game with a right-calf injury. Only goalkeeper Sergio Romero,Demichelis,midfielder Maxi Rodriguez and Messi have been in on the team for all three of Argentinas games,ensuring the squad will be well rested for the round-of-16 clash with Mexico. They deserve a lot of respect, Maradona said of Mexico. Even though they lost,they have their identity.

Korea draw,advance

South Korea reached the second round of the World Cup by holding Nigeria to a 2-2 draw on Tuesday 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 leveled the score.