No go for Togo while France disappoints

South Korea tops Group G after this morning’s set of games which saw the Koreans defeat Togo 2-1 and a scoreless draw between a disappointing France and a solid Swiss outfit.

Even with coach Otto Pfister back in the job after a week of controversy, Togo couldn’t hold on to a one-goal lead after half-time, allowing South Korea to score two second-half goals to claim victory at Frankfurt’s Waldstadion.

With neither side able to take control of the contest, Mohamed Kader managed to latch on to a defence-splitting cross from the right, move into the box and shoot past Korean keeper Woon Jae Lee and in off the upright to give the Africans a surprise lead.

South Korea looked sluggish in the first half and manager Dick Advocaat needed to make changes to give his side the ascendancy in the second stanza. But it was an unwanted change in the Togolese side that gave the Koreans their equaliser.

Togo skipper Jean-Paul Abolo was sent off in the 54th minute after bringing down from behind Ji Sung Park, who had broken through the Togolese defence, and Chun Soo Lee bent the resulting free kick over the wall and past keeper Kossi Agassa to restore parity.

Almost 20 minutes later substitute Jung Hwan Ahn revived memories of four years ago when he scored the winner against Italy by putting a long shot – which copped a deflection off an unlucky Togo defender – into the top corner to give South Korea victory.

In Stuttgart, Switzerland held France to a nil-all draw and could won after having the best chance of the game.

While the French attack had the likes of Thierry Henry, Zinedine Zidane , Franck Ribery and Sylvain Wiltord failing to hit the back of the net, it was Swiss midfielder Tranquillo Barnetta who hit the upright in the first half with a floating free kick with Alexander Frei somehow putting the rebound over when it was easier to score.

It was a tightly-refereed contest, with eight yellow cards shown, some for seemingly bizarre reasons.

Zidane was the creative force for France, but his well-weighted passes weren’t taken advantage of, with France’s best opportunity coming in the first half through Ribery, who made a break into the Swiss box, but he was hesitant to shoot, and passed to a teammate whose shot was blocked by the Swiss defence.

This leaves South Korea alone on top of the group, and victory over France next Monday morning would guarantee the Koreans passage to the second round, while Switzerland will be looking to beat Togo on Monday night to give themselves every chance of moving on in the tournament.

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