Higuain’s hat-trick grounds
S Koreans

South Korea’s midfielder Lee Chung-Yong scores during their Group B match in Soweto on Thursday. — AFP

Johannesburg, June 17
Gonzalo Higuain scored the first hat-trick of this World Cup as Argentina took a huge step towards the second round when they thrashed South Korea 4-1 in their Group B match at Soccer City on Thursday.

Diego Maradona’s confident side went ahead when Park Chu-young put through his own net after 17 minutes. They doubled their advantage when Higuain stayed onside after eluding the defence to pick his spot with a header 16 minutes later. Higuain made it 3-1 with a tap-in after 76 minutes and got hat-trick with another header in the 80th.

South Korea had pulled a goal back at the end of the first half with the score at 2-0 when Argentina defender Martin Demichelis failed to control a simple ball and Lee Chung-yong captilaised on it to fire past Sergio Romero.

The result left Argentina top of the group with six points from their opening two matches followed by South Korea with three from their first two games.

Nigeria and Greece, who meet at Bloemfontein, are looking for their first points. If the Greeks fail to win Argentina will be the first team to qualify for the knockout stages.

Argentina played some of the best approach work seen at the tournament so far and World Player of the Year Messi, Carlos Tevez and Angel Di Maria were outstanding in attack.

Messi went close to scoring what would probably have been the goal of the finals in the first half when he swapped passes with Tevez and breezed past three defenders but then saw his chip over goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong go narrowly wide.

Tevez, Messi and Higuain combined early in the second half with a sweeping move before the latter’s shot was saved by Jung.

Korea's goal from the last kick of the first half raised their spirits but, while they played far better after the break and should have equalised through Yeom Ki-hun just before the hour, Argentina never lost control and ran out easy winners. — Reuters

Pretoria, June 17
An inspired Diego Forlan scored twice as World Cup hosts South Africa's hopes of progressing to the knockout stage suffered a heavy blow with a 3-0 loss to Uruguay on Wednesday.

A 24th minute strike and then a controversial 80th minute penalty from Forlan, which saw home keeper Itumeleng Khune sent off after he was ruled to have brought down Luis Suarez, did the damage.

A last-minute header from Alvaro Pereira rubbed in the defeat and sent the despondent home support at the Loftus Versfeld rushing to the exits.

Impressive Uruguay are now in a strong position on four points from two games while South Africa have just a point.

"We lost a game where we would have liked at least a draw," said South African coach Carlos Alberto Parriera. "The result was not a true reflection of the game. But if we can beat France 1-0, we could go through."

The defeat was the worst for a host nation since Mexico lost 4-1 at home to Italy in the 1970 quarterfinal and there was a good deal of Italian style about the way Uruguay went about clinically and patiently dissecting their opponents.

A night that had begun with an electric atmosphere from the passionate home crowd ended in dismay for the "Bafana Bafana" support, many of whom left before the end, vuvuzelas tucked dejectedly under their arms.

Uruguay began with some urgency, moving the ball well through midfield and they grabbed the lead in the 24th minute through a slightly deflected, dipping drive from Forlan which crashed in off the underside of the bar.

The goal woke the home side up and with Steven Pienaar influential, they began to finally get a grip in midfield but with Katlego Mphela frequently left alone as a striker, they lacked attacking options.

Midfielder Kagisho Dikgacoi was cautioned two minutes before the interval meaning that he will miss the final group game but Brazilian coach Parriera was left with plenty of questions to answer at the break.

There was little change to the pattern of the game with Uruguay in control for large stretches and South Africa lacking potency and options in attack.

Suarez had shouted for a penalty turned down after he tumbled under challenge from Bongani Khumalo and Diego Lugano missed a good chance for Oscar Tavarez's Uruguay side.

Suarez then went down under challenge from Khune's flaying legs and while the decision was greeted with strong protest, Forlan kept his composure and blasted home the penalty.

Pereira completed the scoring with a header from a good cross from the right by Suarez but by then, the game was over and with it, perhaps, the dreams of the host nation. — Reuters

Bloemfontein, June 17
Vasilis Torosidis scored Greece’s winner as they beat Nigeria 2-1 to seal their first ever World Cup victory and keep alive their chances of progressing from Group B on Thursday.

Torosidis pounced in the 71st minute after Dimitris Salpingidis’s first half strike had cancelled out a Kalu Uche freekick for Nigeria, who also had Sani Kaita sent off.

Greece’s win puts them on three points with South Korea who earlier lost 4-1 to table-topping Argentina on Thursday, while Nigeria have no points from two games.

Nigeria grabbed the lead on 16 minutes when Uche’s 35 metre freekick floated past everyone, including stricken goalkeeper Alexandros Tzorvas and nestled in the net.

The African side were in control until a moment of madness in the 33rd minute saw Kaita red carded for foolishly kicking out at Torosidis - the midfielder remorsefully walking off with his shirt over his head.

The game turned immediately in Greece’s favour. Coach Otto Rehhagel replaced defensive midfielder Socratis Papastathopoulos with striker Giorgos Samaras, who minutes later had a shot cleared off the line. Then came an equaliser.

Salpingidis etched his name into Greek record books by scoring his country's first ever World Cup goal with a 44th minute strike that wickedly deflected off Nigeria midfielder Haruna Lukman before flying into the net.

Salpingidis, who celebrated jubilantly with the whole Greek squad, had previously scored the winner in the World Cup playoff against Ukraine to take his country to South Africa.

The second half started at frantic pace. Greek striker Fanis Gekas was superbly denied by goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama, while at the other end substitute Chinedu Obasi missed an open goal after a swift Nigeria counter-attack.

With their usual defensive approach firmly abandoned, Greece went close again through Samaras before Torosidis stabbed home a second after Enyeama had spilled a low Alexandros Tziolis shot.

Greece had lost all four of their previous World Cup games without scoring. — Reuters

Port Elizabeth, June 17
Serbia know there is little room for error after losing their first World Cup match and have warned Germany they will be no pushovers when they meet in their next Group D game tomorrow.

Germany thrashed Australia 4-0 in their opener while Serbia lost 1-0 to Ghana and need top pull off a shock result against the three-times world champions to boost their chances.

“They have a plethora of versatile players and are difficult to contain but we will be no pushovers,” said winger Zoran Tosic, who could be brought in to spice up the attack.

“There is no more room for error and we have to show what we are made of,” he said of the game at Nelson Mandela Stadium.

Coach Radomir Antic will select Neven Subotic in central defence for the suspended Aleksandar Lukovic, who was sent off against Ghana after receiving two yellow cards.

Zdravko Kuzmanovic, who conceded a late penalty against Ghana, is likely to replace the ineffective Nenad Milijas as Serbia aim for a first win over one of the world’s top-ranked sides.

Germany coach Joachim Loeb will probably keep faith with the side that thrashed the Socceroos and silenced the critics who had begun to write off a young squad. Bastian Schweinsteiger will be ready, despite a cold, and should link up in midfield with Sami Khedira, who has filled the midfield role previously held by injured Ballack.

Germany will likely opt for a cautious approach as they know the stakes are high for Serbia and are preparing for an attacking approach. Lofty marksman Nikola Zigic will be the main threat for Germans.

“Serbia will play (as if it’s) their last chance to remain in the tournament. We have to be as careful as hawks when we play them,” said Germany’s assistant coach Hansi Flick. — Reuters

Cape Town, June 17
England face Algeria tomorrow with bigger issues at stake than whether they can beat the north Africans to regain control of the World Cup Group C.

If Fabio Capello’s team have any ambitions of advancing beyond their usual quarter-final terminus then beating Algeria, which lost 1-0 to Slovenia in their opener, must be ensured.

England have never lost to African opposition but their manager must still answer many questions swirling around his team and find a way to get his forwards scoring goals.

With the top spot in the group likely to be decided on goal difference, and the runners-up set to face Germany in the second round, England need a big win to put them back on course for an easier last 16 meeting with Ghana, Serbia or Australia.

Their opening 1-1 draw with a well-organised United States team, particularly seen in the context of so many other major nations’ stuttering starts, was not a terrible result.

England’s Italian manager does have to get his players back to the constructive approach that saw them cruise through qualifying rounds.

Already missing injured captain Rio Ferdinand, England are now without his replacement Ledley King for tomorrow’s game with Jamie Carragher set to step in.

Capello seems likely to keep faith with goalkeeper Robert Green, whose blunder handed Clint Dempsey the Americans' equaliser, though David James could come in.

The manager will be delighted to be able to recall Gareth Barry, one of his favourites, to a holding role in midfield. Up front, for all Wayne Rooney’s undoubted talents, he has not scored an international goal since last September.

Algeria are bracing themselves for a tough onslaught. “They (England) are a super team, as I’ve said, among the favourites," said Algeria coach Rabah Saadane. “It’s going to be a very, very difficult match for us but we have nothing to lose.” — Reuters

Dambulla, June 17
Defending champions Sri Lanka will look to crush a beleaguered Bangladesh and enhance their chances of making the Asia Cup final when the two sides clash here tomorrow.

Four-time champions Lanka, which defeated Pakistan by 16 runs in their first outing on Tuesday, need one more victory to virtually qualify for the June 24 summit clash.

For Bangladesh, tomorrow’s clash has become a do-or-die contest as they are coming into the match after a six-wicket defeat against India and one more drubbing would be enough to spell their ouster.

Given the advantage of playing in home conditions, Sri Lanka are not likely to be troubled by Shakib Al Hasan’s team. Their bowlers, especially paceman Lasith Malinga, are in superb form and a formidable batting line up makes them an outright favourite against the Asian minnows.

Considering that they are in the process of building the nucleus of their side for the 2011 World Cup, the defending champions would be tempted to play Suraj Randiv instead of the wily Muttiah Muralitharan, who was savaged by Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi the other day.

Muralitharan went for 71 runs from his 10 overs, conceding five sixes to Afridi, who made 109, his first ODI century in four years.

Lanka could also possibly seek a change for Farveez Maharoof who looked far from impressive on his comeback. He failed with both ball and bat, apart from struggling to come down on the ball in the outfield.

While Kumar Sangakarra has only these aspects to look into, his Bangladesh counterpart has far too many issues to address. Not surprisingly Shakib Al Hasan has called on his boys to perform as a unit.

“We played well as individuals but not as a team. That is an area we need to improve on a lot,” Shakib had said after Bangladesh’s six-wicket defeat against India.

Emphasising on the need to perform as a team, a visibly perturbed Shakib said, “We need to climb one step ahead and put team performances together, only then can we win some games.”

Shakib was happy with the performance of his openers, but was dissatisfied with the middle order batsmen who struggled against the Indian spinners. He was hoping that before the match against Sri Lanka. — PTI

Match starts at 2.30 pm

New Delhi, June 17
Two senior officials from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, two representatives of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), along with International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Randhir Singh, left tonight for Lausanne, the headquarters of the IOC in Switzerland, to discuss the contentious Ministry guidelines restricting the tenures of the office-bearers of the IOA and the National Sports Federations to 12 years with an upper age cap of 70, with the IOC tomorrow.

The Ministry's discussion with the IOC on the guidelines will be spearheaded by joint-secretary Injeti Srinivas, and another senior official while the IOA will also be led by two veteran officials.

The Ministry’s firm stand of enforcing the guidelines limiting the tenures of the office-bearers of the sports federations and the IOA had invited strong reaction from the IOC and the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) as they insisted that it was a clear violation of the Olympic Charter.

The IOC had threatened to take penal action against India, including a possible withdrawal of permission to hold the Commonwealth Games and denial of participating in the Asian Games in China, if the Ministry insisted on enforcing the guidelines.

The strident opposition of the NSFs on the Government guidelines got a shot in the arm when the Badminton Association of India and the Swimming Federation of India held their election of the office-bearers, disregarding the guidelines.

While VK Verma, who got re-elected as the BFI president despite completing 12 years at the helm, made light of the challenge of former Indian cricket captain Mohd Azharuddin, who had threatened to throw his hat into the election ring but chickened out, Nanavati got reelected as the secretry of the SFI for the umpteenth time, making a mockery of the guidelines.

Sports Minister Dr MS Gill is keen to get a definite answer about many ambiguous clauses in the Olympic Charter and hence, he has deputed two senior officials of the Ministry to dicuss the matter threadbare with the IOC officials.

Randhir Singh, who is also the secretary-general of the IOA and the OCA, said the Friday meeting would be crucial, for if the Government did not withdraw the guidelines, the matter would be put before the IOC Executive Board later this month, which would then decided the course of penal action against India. He said the office-bearers of the sports federations were elected in a democratic manner and the government had no business to interfere in the autonomous functions of the NSFs.

“The IOC Charter makes it clear that no interference in the autonomy of the sports federations and National Olympic Committees would be tolerated,” Randhir Singh added. He said there as no conflict of interest as the IOA and the NSFs wanted to work in harmony with the government, but without compromising their autonomous status.