Argentine hat trick

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/06/2010 (5952 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Gonzalo Higuaín scored three times in Argentina’s 4-1 win over South Korea at the World Cup on Thursday, a result that put the South Americans on the brink of qualifying for the next round from Group B.

Higuaín scored his first goal in the 33rd minute with a far-post header after Nicolás Burdisso flicked on a cross from Maxi Rodríguez. He added two second-half goals — in the 76th and 80th minutes — to put the result beyond doubt.

“I have to congratulate the players… everything they did worked out well,” Argentina coach Diego Maradona said. “I am very happy.”

Argentina had gone ahead 1-0 in the 17th when Park Chu-young deflected a free kick from Lionel Messi into his own net, and looked to be comfortable after Higuaín’s header. But South Korea pulled one back in first-half injury time when Lee Chung-yong pounced on a defensive mistake by defender Martín Demichelis.

Argentina now leads Group B with six points from two games, while South Korea, which beat Greece 2-0 in its opening match, has three. Greece beat Nigeria 2-1 on Thursday to also have three, while the Nigerians have no points.

With Messi playing in a slightly deeper role, Argentina lacked a cutting edge in the opening stages, its main threat coming down the left wing where Carlos Tévez was drifting into space and linking well with Gabriel Heinze and Ángel di María.

Higuaín, who missed a string of chances against Nigeria, shot high over the bar in the eighth minute and Messi only showed occasional flashes of brilliance as he was marked and often found himself closed down by two or three opponents.

However, the South Korean tactics of targeting Messi, so influential in Argentina’s opening match, freed up Tévez.

— The Associated Press