A double-whammy loss for Asian Americans: After elimination of the U.S. team, all Asian teams follow

By Jocelyn Chui
Northwest Asian Weekly

It’s with a heavy heart that I tell you that South Korea and Japan, the only two Asian teams left standing in the World Cup, were eliminated from the round of 16 teams this week. This is on top of the upset last week when the United States lost to Ghana.

South Korea was defeated by Uruguay, 1–2, on June 26. Japan lost to Paraguay, 0(3)–0(5), during a penalty shootout on June 29.

Game recap

South Korea vs. Uruguay

The game became pretty intense after Uruguay’s striker Luis Suarez scored during the eighth minute of the game. South Korea fought under pressure and eventually equalized Uruguay with a goal by striker Lee Chung-yong during the 68th minute.

South Korea kept the momentum up after the goal, even though it started pouring (rain). Unfortunately, Uruguay earned two corners during the 80th minute, and one gave Uruguayan Diego Forlan the opportunity to score the second goal.

The game ended with Uruguay winning, 2–1.

Japan vs. Paraguay

This was the first game in the 2010 World Cup in which both teams were still tied after regulation and overtime (120-minutes)

The outcome relied on the penalty shootout that happened right after the game. Japan tied with Paraguay after the first two kicks, but failed and fell behind after the third one. Though Japanese striker Keisuke Honda contributed another score, Paraguay still advanced to the quarterfinals after going 5-for-5 during the shootout. ♦

Stacy Nguyen contributed to this report.

Jocelyn Chui can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.