South Korea hold nerve to reach last 16

Durban: South Korea reached the second round of the World Cup by holding Nigeria to a 2-2 draw on Tuesday in their final group game.

Defender Lee Jung-soo and Park Chu-young scored for South Korea after Kalu Uche had given Nigeria the lead in the 12th minute. Ayegbeni Yakubu netted a 69th minute penalty to draw Nigeria level again, but the Africans squandered a couple of good opportunities to score a winner.

Argentina won Group B by beating Greece 2-0 in the other match, meaning Nigeria would have advanced with a win despite losing their first two games. Argentina won all three games to finish with nine points, while South Korea had four points, Greece three and Nigeria one.

The only other time the Koreans got beyond the group stage was when the team surged to the semifinals in 2002 on home soil as tournament co-host with Japan.

The Korean substitutes sprinted onto the field and hugged their teammates at the final whistle and danced in front of a small group of flag-waving fans.

South Korea had slightly more of the possession in the first half, but it was Nigeria that took the lead when Chidi Odiah beat two defenders on the right and sent in a low cross for Uche, who slipped in front of his marker Cha Du-ri to fire home from close range.

Uche nearly doubled the lead when his hard shot from outside the area hit the post. But amid the Nigerian pressure, Lee equalized in the 38th minute with his second goal of the tournament. Ki Sung-yong floated a free kick to the far post and Lee stooped to head the ball, missed it and stuck his right foot out to volley it past goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama.

Park made it 2-1 just four minutes after the break when he curled a free kick around the wall and into the far corner of Enyeama's goal — one of the few free kicks to produce a goal at this World Cup.

Five minutes later he nearly did it again, but his powerful free kick went just wide.

Yakubu missed a great chance to equalize in the 66th when he had an open goal but tapped the ball wide. But he made amends three minutes later and showed more composure in front of goal by slotting in a penalty after Kim Nam-il had fouled Chinedu Obasi.