2010 FIFA World Cup – Uruguay vs. South Korea Picks & Predictions
The opening game of the Round of 16 Tournament in the 2010 World Cup features Uruguay taking on South Korea at 10AM ET on Saturday.
Uruguay comes into the match as the champion of Group A while South Korea earned the second spot out of Group B.
Oddsmakers from online sports book Sports Interaction have made Uruguay the favorites to win with a betting line of -120 while South Korea comes in at +350. A regulation draw has a money line of +230.
Uruguay entered the tournament as a bit of a dark horse, but showed that it can play with the best teams in the world by winning a competitive group. Uruguay didn’t allow a single goal in its three group games thanks to the play of Fernando Muslera, who stopped 7 shots in the three games. The big break during group play was a 3-0 win over host country South Africa. Uruguay took 19 shots in the game, six of which were on net. Diego Forlan scored twice in the win.
South Korea was the surprise team coming out of Group B. They made the second round with four points as they picked up a big 2-0 win over Greece to open the tournament, but were throttled by group winner, Argentina 4-1 before drawing with Nigeria. South Korea has actually allowed more goals (6) than it has scored (5) in three games. Still, South Korea has been an aggressive group, racking up 49 shots in the tournament.
In this game, the poor South Korea defense will allow Uruguay to get more scoring opportunities and the stingy Uruguay defense will keep South Korea off the board. We like Uruguay to win this game 2-0 in regulation.
Our World Cup Free Pick for this matchup is: URUGUAY -120 and UNDER 2.5
URUGUAY
Draw with France, 0-0 on June 11
Win over South Africa, 3-0 on June 16
Win over Mexico, 1-0 on June 22
SOUTH KOREA
Win over Greece, 2-0 on June 12
Loss to Argentina, 4-1 on June 17
Draw with Nigeria, 2-2 on June 22
World Cup Player Stats
URUGUAY
Diego Forlan – 2 goals
Alvaro Pereira – 1 goal
Luis Suarez – 1 goal
SOUTH KOREA
Lee Jung-Soo – 2 goals
Park Ji-Sung – 1 goal
Park Chu-Young – 1 goal
Lee Chung-Yong – 1 goal
World Cup Odds
Uruguay -120 Over 2.5
South Korea +350 Under 2.5
Draw +230
*If game is tied after regulation Draw pays out. Team payouts must be on regulation victory