As the knockout stage began, the excitement and beautiful play at the World Cup has increased. No longer can teams play defense for 80 minutes and then attack when the opponent is tired. One small mistake and you are fighting for your tournament lives. This gives for some thrilling encounters.
In the first game of the round of 16, Uruguay took on South Korea.
In a fast paced back and forth game, the Uruguayans beat the South Koreans 2-1, thanks to two great goals from Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez. The second of the goals was a beautiful shot that looked to be going wide, before curling in towards goal and going in off the inside of the far post to give Uruguay the 2-1 lead and eventually the win.
"That was a demonstration of temperament, maturity and class," said Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez. "We played better towards the end and fortunately [Luis] Suarez was able to score that spectacular winning goal. Korea played a great game, but that slice of luck went our way not theirs this time - that's football."
The East Asian team was able to level the scoreline after Suarez scored an early goal through a header from Lee Chung-Young. But the Koreans couldn't keep up the forward momentum and Suarez's 80th minute wonder strike was enough to guarantee victory and a place in the next round.
In the second game of the round of 16, the United States took on Ghana.
In what has become something of a regular occurrence, the U.S.A. conceded early, giving up a goal to Ghana midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng in the 5th minute.
The Americans looked very lost in the first half, but came out much better in the second half thanks to a substitution, taking out Robbie Findley at halftime and replacing him with Benny Feilhaber.
The U.S. drew a penalty in the 62 minute, and Landon Donovan converted well to tie the match at one goal apiece.
But even the added momentum and confidence boost was not enough for the U.S. to break down the compact Ghanaian defense, and the game went into extra time.
Just three minutes into extra time, the U.S. conceded another goal, when Asamoah Gyan ran onto a long ball from the defense and slammed the shot home over the head of Tim Howard.
The goal in the 93rd minute was too much for the Americans to come back from, and they bowed out of the competition at the round of 16 with a 2-1 loss, dissapointed that they didnt go further.
The Ghanaians meanwhile move on to the quarter-finals, the farthest they have ever gone in the World Cup.
"We have done this before, we did it in 2006, but now we have advanced one step higher, said the game-winning goal scorer Gyan. "I'm very, very happy. I'm the happiest man in the world. We have made everybody proud, not Ghana alone, but the whole of Africa."
Ghana will face Uruguay in the quarter-finals in the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg on July 2, at 2:30PM ET.
