DAEGU (South Korea), June 9: Hosts South Korea and a US team that tripped up talent-packed Portugal clash Monday in the heat of Daegu after opening their campaigns with their best World Cup performances in half a century.
Winners in two of the tournament’s upsets, each needs another victory for a chance at the last 16 and the opportunity to erase memories of a disappointing finals in France in 1998.
Temperatures have hit 35C (95F) in Daegu, South Korea’s hottest city and largest World Cup venue with a capacity of more than 65,000. The forecast for the match on Monday afternoon is 31 degrees Celsius (88 Fahrenheit).
“Let it rain,” South Korea’s Dutch-born coach Guus Hiddink told reporters on Saturday.
A moist surface would make for an exciting game with two sides that are both quick on the break.
“There are on both sides speedy players,” Hiddink said. “What is important is to maintain the style we have and try to get a grip on the dangerous American counterattack.”
An early US barrage netted three goals in 36 minutes as they downed group D favourites Portugal 3-2.
“Our World Cup is not over and our goal is to make the second round,” US coach Bruce Arena told reporters later.
Speed helped South Korea beat Poland 2-0 for their first World Cup win on their sixth appearance in the tournament, a win that ended a 48-year drought and triggered nationwide rejoicing.
The two sides have a win apiece from their last two clashes.
“It was always a 50-50 situation,” Hiddink said of previous encounters. “That’s a condition for a spectacular game, I think.”
Meanwhile, the South Korea-United States game will witness the tightest security so far because of concerns about anti-American protests and attacks.
“There will be special organisation that is much tougher than all the matches before,” Walter Gagg, the head of security at world governing body FIFA, told a news conference Sunday.
“The fact that the president of Korea is not attending the game due to security reasons means they are very concerned.”
Security has been stringent around the US team at their hotel and training ground in Seoul after the Sept 11 attacks. A special group of American intelligence officials will travel with the team.—Reuters