South Korea 2 - 0 Greece
The result, the first victory of the 2010 finals, extended a miserable World Cup record for Greece, who have yet to score a goal or earn a point in the history of the competition.
Huh Jung-moo's side ultimately ran out comfortable winners in front of an army of their delighted fans among a crowd of 31,513 at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth.
Coach Otto Rehhagel had warned his players in advance to beware South Korea's panther-like qualities, and by the time he got them back into the dressing room at the break, he will have been relieved they had not been mauled further.
It took Korea just seven minutes to get their noses in front in the Group B encounter when Lee met Celtic midfielder Ki Sung-Yueng's swinging free-kick unopposed and volleyed it gleefully into the back of the net.
Greece's woes might have increased further with Bolton's Lee Chung-Yong astonished not to be awarded a 15th-minute penalty for a clumsy challenge from behind by full back Vasilis Torosidis as referee Michael Hester waved play on.
But it would have been 2-0 with 28 minutes gone had defender Avraam Papadopoulos not got in a last-ditch challenge on striker Park Chu-Young as he shot to allow keeper Alexandros Tzorvas to make a vital block.
Greece had started the game brightly, Torosidis firing wide when he met skipper Georgios Karagounis' second-minute corner with an instinctive half-volley, but it was largely downhill from there.
The anticipated aerial onslaught never materialised as central defenders Lee Jung-Soo and Cho Yong-Hyung coped admirably with front two Theofanis Gekas and Angelos Charisteas. By contrast, Korea were enterprising in their movement and strikers Park Chu-Young and Yeom Ki-Hun, with support from a fluid midfield quartet, kept the Greek defence at full stretch.
They increased their lead within seven minutes of the restart when Manchester United's Park Ji-Sung made the most of Loukas Vyntra's woeful control in the middle of the park to race in on goal, leaving the central defender and partner Papadopoulos for dead before sliding a shot across Tzorvas and into the bottom corner.
Rehhagel, who had replaced Karagounis with Christos Patsatzoglou at the break, withdrew Charisteas and Georgios Samaras in quick succession and asked Dimitrios Salpingidis and Pantelis Kapetanos to find a way back into the game.
However, Park Chu-Young headed just over from full back Cha Du-Ri's 63rd-minute cross as the Koreans threatened to run riot.
Gekas acrobatically fired high over after controlling a long ball well on his chest with 68 minutes gone and Salpingidis headed weakly at the keeper two minutes later with time fast running out for Greece.
The Hertha Berlin frontman forced a fine one-handed save from Jung with a left-foot shot on the turn with nine minutes remaining, but Yeom, Lee Chung-Yong and Kim Jung-Woo all went close at the other end as time ran down.
Match Information
Stadium: Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Attendance: 31,513
Match Time: 11:30 GMT
Official(s): Michael Hester (Referee)
South Korea
Goals scored 2 (Lee Jung-Soo (7') Park Ji-Sung (52'))
Total shots 17
Shots on target 4
Corners 6
Offside 1
Fouls committed 14
Yellow cards 0
Red cards 0
Ball possession 48%
Saves 2
Greece
Total shots 6
Shots on target 2
Corners 11
Offside 5
Fouls committed 11
Yellow cards 1
Red cards 0
Ball possession 52%
Saves 2
Teams
South Korea
18 Jung Sung-Ryong
14 Lee Jung-Soo
4 Cho Yong-Hyung
12 Lee Young-Pyo
22 Cha Du-Ri
16 Ki Sung-Yueng
8 Kim Jung-Woo
7 Park Ji-Sung
17 Lee Chung-Yong
10 Park Chu-Young
19 Yeom Ki-Hun
Substitutes
9 Ahn Jung-Hwan
1 Lee Woon-Jae
5 Kim Nam-Il
20 Lee Dong-Gook
23 Kang Min-Soo
13 Kim Jae-Sung
15 Kim Dong-Jin
11 Lee Seung-Yeoul
6 Kim Bo-Kyung
3 Kim Hyung-Il
21 Kim Young-Kwang
2 Oh Beom-Seok
Substitutions
Kim Nam-Il for Ki Sung-Yueng (75)
Lee Seung-Yeoul for Park Chu-Young (87)
Greece
12 Alexandros Tzorvas
8 Avraam Papadopoulos
11 Loukas Vyntra
15 Vasilis Torosidis
2 Giourkas Seitaridis
21 Kostas Katsouranis
10 Giorgos Karagounis
6 Alexandros Tziolis
7 Georgios Samaras
17 Theofanis Gekas
9 Angelos Charisteas
Substitutes
Christos Patsatzoglou 3
Kostas Chalkias 1
Sotirios Kyrgiakos 16
Vangelis Moras 5
Sokratis Papastathopoulos 19
Pantelis Kapetanos 20
Nikos Spyropoulos 4
Stelios Malezas 22
Michail Sifakis 13
Sotiris Ninis 18
Dimitrios Salpingidis 14
Athanasios Prittas 23
Substitutions
Christos Patsatzoglou for Giorgos Karagounis (45)
Dimitrios Salpingidis for Georgios Samaras (59)
Pantelis Kapetanos for Angelos Charisteas (61)
Yellow Cards
Vasilis Torosidis (56)
Argentina 1 - 0 Nigeria
Gabriel Heinze headed in the only goal after five minutes but Messi, so often unable to reproduce the Nou Camp sparkle on national team duty, was his team's star. However he and his team-mates were unable to make the margin of victory a more convincing one as Vincent Enyeama in the Nigeria goal denied them time and again.
Whether Argentina could waste so many chances against better sides and get away with it remains to be seen, but for now Maradona must be satisfied to have put three points on the board in Group B.
Messi made a lively start and one mesmerising run from deep saw him ghost past three Nigeria defenders and pick out Gonzalo Higuain with a low cross, but the Real Madrid striker sidefooted an easy chance wide from close range. The Barcelona forward then had a goalbound curling shot tipped over by Enyeama.
But from the resulting corner Argentina went ahead, with five minutes played. Juan Sebastian Veron swung the ball in from the right and Marseille defender Heinze, running towards the penalty spot, sent a powerful diving header into the top left corner.
Messi was then allowed to cut in from the right, leaving Chinedu Obasi on his backside and his curling left-footed shot was destined for goal until Enyeama at full stretch parried it away.
Messi and Carlos Tevez were causing confusion for the Nigerians by taking turns to drop deep and move forward, and when the Manchester City man received the ball in a deeper position after 20 minutes his through-ball found Higuain bursting into the box but Enyeama dashed out to make the block.
Sani Kaita miscued an attempted volley wide for the Africans who stepped up the pressure for a short period. Neat passing from Dickson Etuhu and Ayegbeni Yakubu created an opening for Obasi but his low cross was just too far ahead of Yakubu as the Everton man tried to slot it home.
Messi again tested Enyeama to the limit with another curling effort destined for the right-hand corner of the goal but the goalkeeper stretched out his left hand to claw the ball away.
Walter Samuel headed a presentable chance over the top from a Veron corner six minutes into the second half and the Inter Milan defender almost released Angel Di Maria with a long ball but the Benfica man could not bring it under control.
Messi won a corner after a pacy dribble took him away from the Nigeria defence, with Chidi Odiah blocking his effort. A swift break at the other end saw substitute Obafemi Martins square the ball to Kaita, but his 30-yard shot was far too ambitious and sailed over.
The game was becoming more stretched and Tevez strode forward before picking out Messi, whose low left-footed shot was just wide and the Barca man then teed up Higuain, whose shot was again blocked by the ever-alert Enyeama.
Argentina's failure to kill the game off almost cost them as Peter Odemwingie played the ball inside to left-back Taye Taiwo, and his thunderous low effort had the beating of Argentina goalkeeper Sergio Romero but just skidded wide of the right post.
Argentina goalkeeper Sergio Romero then had to punch clear a shot from Martins as the 'Jabulani' World Cup ball threatened to make a mug of him with its changes of movement in the air.
It was clearly not going to be Messi's afternoon to score as Enyeama spread himself to block after a wonderful interchange with Di Maria as the game entered its final 10 minutes.
Nigeria could have levelled seconds later when Yakubu's cross from the right found substitute Kalu Uche, but the Almeria midfielder struggled to get over the ball and could not keep his left-footed shot down, and Yakubu drilled another shot over the top from long range with three minutes left. But it was Argentina's day as the early Heinze effort proved the difference.
Match Information
Stadium: Ellis Park, Johannesburg, South Africa
Attendance: 55,686
Match Time: 14:00 GMT
Official(s): Wolfgang Stark (Referee)
Match Stats
Argentina
Goals scored 1 (Gabriel Heinze (6')
Shots (on Goal) 20(7)
Fouls 7
Corner Kicks 10
Offsides 0
Time of Possession 65%
Yellow Cards 1
Red Cards 0
Saves 1
Nigeria
Shots (on Goal) 12(1)
Fouls 8
Corner Kicks 4
Offsides 0
Time of Possession 35%
Yellow Cards 1
Red Cards 0
Saves 6
Teams
Argentina
22 Sergio Romero
13 Walter Samuel
2 Martín Demichelis
6 Gabriel Heinze
17 Jonás Gutiérrez
14 Javier Mascherano
8 Juan Sebastián Verón
9 Gonzalo Higuaín
10 Lionel Messi
7 Ángel Di María
11 Carlos Tévez
Substitutes
18 Martín Palermo
20 Maxi Rodríguez
19 Diego Milito
4 Nicolás Burdisso
16 Sergio Agüero
1 Diego Pozo
3 Clemente Rodríguez
23 Javier Pastore
5 Mario Bolatti
21 Mariano Andújar
15 Nicolás Otamendi
12 Ariel Garce
Substitutions
Maxi Rodríguez for Juan Sebastián Verón (74)
Diego Milito for Gonzalo Higuaín (79)
Nicolás Burdisso for Ángel Di María (85)
Yellow Cards
Jonás Gutiérrez (41)
Nigeria
1 Vincent Enyeama
6 Danny Shittu
2 Joseph Yobo
3 Taye Taiwo
17 Chidi Odiah
15 Lukman Haruna
14 Sani Kaita
20 Dickson Etuhu
19 Chinedu Ogbuke
8 Yakubu Aiyegbeni
18 Victor Obinna
Substitutes
Nwankwo Kanu 4
John Utaka 7
Kalu Uche 12
Obafemi Martins 9
Peter Odemwingie 11
Rabiu Afolabi 5
Yussuf Ayila 13
Uwa Echiéjilé 21
Austin Ejide 16
Dele Adeleye 22
Brown Ideye 10
Dele Aiyenugba 23
Substitutions
Obafemi Martins for Victor Obinna (52)
Peter Odemwingie for Chinedu Ogbuke (60)
Kalu Uche for Taye Taiwo (74)
Yellow Cards
Lukman Haruna (77)
England 1 VS USA 1
Steven Gerrard had given the Three Lions' World Cup campaign a flying start with a fourth-minute opener in Rustenburg.
England were holding that advantage until Green committed the kind of howler David Seaman, Paul Robinson and Scott Carson have all done down the years and allowed Clint Dempsey's harmless shot to slip through his fingers.
Capello could only watch on in horror and wonder why fate had dealt him such a shocking hand given he had preferred Green to David James and Joe Hart as his first-choice goalkeeper, dismissing the latter man for fear his inexperience would cost England in a similar manner to that the West Ham man actually did.
There was to be no atonement, even though England dominated at the end. And with one of his favourite sons, James Milner, hauled off after half an hour, Ledley King failing to return for the second half and his replacement Jamie Carragher getting himself badly exposed on more than one occasion, it will be an uncomfortable six days for Capello and his players before England try to rebuild their reputation against Algeria in Cape Town next Friday.
Capello resolved to start his World Cup campaign with Green in the problematic goalkeeping position and Milner on the left-hand side of midfield. Within three minutes he was wearing the broadest of smiles.
Glen Johnson and Frank Lampard were both involved in the initial stages of a move that ended with Emile Heskey doing what he does best, allowing a team-mate to score.
Usually it is with brawn. This time it was the silky touch of a delicate through ball for Gerrard, who had motored into the box. The new England skipper steadied himself, then tucked a precise finish under Tim Howard and raced away to the far corner flag pursued by a posse of ecstatic white shirts.
Rather than a majority of United States supporters, as had been suggested, the stadium was clearly packed with England fans, who celebrated with natural glee. Unfortunately, it was not long before the smiles turned to worried frowns.
England still kept creating chances. Lampard and Wayne Rooney tested Howard with a couple of speculative efforts, Steve Cherundolo turned away a teasing low cross from Aaron Lennon and Heskey almost got on the end of a Lennon ball into the six-yard area. But for all this, the United States were causing England a major headache.
They may have won the previous meeting so famously in 1950 but the stars and stripes boast a far more professional outfit these days and they quickly began to show how they reached the Confederations Cup final 12 months ago.
As so often, Landon Donovan was the architect of their best work, exposing Milner at the same time. Ill during the week, the Aston Villa man, one of Capello's favourites, was badly exposed and had already been booked for a foul on Cherundolo before he was replaced by Shaun Wright-Phillips.
The move was Capello's ruthless response to a growing number of threatening American attacks, the best of which provided an open goal for Jozy Altidore when he jumped for Donovan's free-kick, yet inexplicably missed the ball completely.
Another long-range Donovan effort had Green at full stretch before the moment that will be repeated so often and the West Ham goalkeeper has to live with for the rest of his life arrived.
Dempsey turned Gerrard neatly but was still 25 yards when he took aim. The new Jabulani ball made the effort worthwhile. There is no way it should have ended up in the net though.
Green could only bury his head in the ground as he came to terms with a fumbled attempt to save that ended with the ball slipping through his grasp and agonisingly out of reach as it bobbled over the line.
When England returned from an interval that must have included attempting to raise Green's spirits, King had been replaced by Carragher.
But any thought the Liverpool veteran would shore things up at the back was quickly dispelled as first he was booked for a foul on Robbie Findley, then he was left for dead by Altidore, which at least allowed Green to redeem himself with a fine save as he pushed the American's shot on to the post.
Prior to that, Heskey had failed to beat Howard having been sent through by Lennon. Heskey also wasted the last of three decent England chances; Lampard and Rooney did much better from much further out with the others as the Three Lions asserted themselves at the end without managing to fashion a winner.
Match Information
Stadium: Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg, South Africa
Attendance: 38,646
Match Time: 18:30 GMT
Official(s): Carlos Eugenio Simon (Referee)
Match Stats
England
Shots (on Goal) 18(6)
Goals scored Steven Gerrard (4')
Fouls 12
Corner Kicks 8
Offsides 5
Time of Possession 57%
Yellow Cards 3
Red Cards 0
Saves 3
United States
Shots (on Goal) 12(4)
Goals scored Clint Dempsey (40')
Fouls 14
Corner Kicks 4
Offside 2
Time of Possession 44%
Yellow Cards 3
Red Cards 0
Saves 5
Teams
England
12 Robert Green
6 John Terry
20 Ledley King
3 Ashley Cole
2 Glen Johnson
4 Steven Gerrard
8 Frank Lampard
16 James Milner
7 Aaron Lennon
10 Wayne Rooney
21 Emile Heskey
Substitute
17 Shaun Wright-Phillips
9 Peter Crouch
1 David James
18 Jamie Carragher
22 Michael Carrick
19 Jermain Defoe
11 Joe Cole
15 Matthew Upson
14 Gareth Barry
5 Michael Dawson
13 Stephen Warnock
23 Joe Hart
Substitutions
Shaun Wright-Phillips for James Milner (31)
Jamie Carragher for Ledley King (45)
Peter Crouch for Emile Heskey (79)
Yellow Card
James Milner (26)
Jamie Carragher (59)
Steven Gerrard (61)
United States
1 Tim Howard
5 Oguchi Onyewu
15 Jay DeMerit
3 Carlos Bocanegra
6 Steve Cherundolo
13 Ricardo Clark
4 Michael Bradley
8 Clint Dempsey
10 Landon Donovan
17 Jozy Altidore
20 Robbie Findley
Substitutes
DaMarcus Beasley 7
Edson Buddle 14
Jonathan Spector 2
Clarence Goodson 21
Brad Guzan 18
José Torres 16
Benny Feilhaber 22
Stuart Holden 11
Marcus Hahnemann 23
Jonathan Bornstein 12
Maurice Edu 19
Herculez Gomez 9
Substitutions
Edson Buddle for Robbie Findley (77)
Stuart Holden for Jozy Altidore (86)
Yellow Cards
Steve Cherundolo (39)
Jay DeMerit (47)
Robbie Findley (74)
Source : ESPN.
