The early match in Melbourne was between the USA and South Korea. Both sides had the chance to advance to the knockout rounds with the US needing only a draw, the Koreans had to win to get through. Keirnan Zavagnin indicated US intentions with a hard but ill-controlled shot at goal. To their credit Korea held early US attempts out and made quite a few promising raids themselves. The US No8 (Robert Smith ?) was lucky to have the linesman on his side and Cho Jin Ho off target when he couldn't control the ball well enough and allowed the Korean captain a shot at goal. Next it was Jeffrey Cassar coming to the fore again as he put a miraculous stop on a free header by the Korean No 10 Choi Yong-soo from a corner kick. If Jeffrey Cassar isn't playing in Europe in a few weeks then I'm going to become a talent scout. The marking on this occasion was pathetic and the Americans have a lot to thank their keeper for. Cho Jin-Ho, who probably deserves a contract as well, was again denied a couple of minutes later, however this time he was his own undoing. Having sprung the offside trap he ran towards goal, rounded Cassar who only got his fingertips to the ball, and shot for goal from just outside the 6 yard box. He hit the side netting. His disbelief was understandable, he had enough time to walk the ball in and a simple kick went wrong to keep the scoreline level. The dismay on the Korean bench was such that I felt truly sorry for them. 99 times out of a hundred Jin-Ho would have made that shot, but not this time. Choi Yong-Soo was testing Cassar again with a header which may have been going marginally wide after about 30 mins of play. After 37 minutes the US showed they could bounce back after absorbing extended periods of pressure when Pollard and Zavagnin played the ball before giving it to Brian Kelly who unleashed a mother of a kick to beat the keeper from wide out. In truth the keeper should have done better but the power of the shot saw it pass by before he had much chance to react and Kelly was congratulated all-round for his effort from just inside the box and about 7m from the goal line. Korea, now looking down the barrel of elimination, took only two minutes to balance the scores with Lee Ki-Hyung delivering a wicked shot which was pretty close to unstoppable. The replay showed that the ball had no spin on it whatsoever and just rocketed past the keeper who stood rooted to the spot. The build up came from the left side and the ball was passed back inside and then came to the grossly unmarked Ki-Hyung. Korea then might have gone ahead but for the desperate defence of Brandon Pollard who turned the ball over the goal. It was Kim Dae-Ui with the chance after Cassar had come for the ball and missed. This pretty much ended the half. Less than 10 minutes into the second half and Lee Ki-Hyung made it look very good for the Koreans when they led for the first time after his drive was cruelly deflected past the wrongfooted Cassar by the US No12 (Berhalter ?). The end of the fairytale? For 25 minutes it did look that way. Infact had it not been for Cassar Korea's No 16 would have made it 3-1. Instead it was Zavagnin who came to America's rescue in the 78th minute after a neat one-two with Smith resulted in a good shot past the keeper inside the far post. Miles Joseph had oppertunity to win it but close attention from the defender saw his shot go wide. Developments in Adelaide however proved ominous for the Americans who go there to play Brazil in their Quarter final meeting. It is still better than the Koreans who must be disappointed after such extensive preparations and chances to win all three of their matches, then ending up with 3 draws. USA 2 (B Kelly 37, K Zavagnin 78) - Korea 2 (L Ki-Hyung 39 & 53)