Wanderers In South Africa - Part 5

Posted: Saturday 26th June 2010

Tags: World Cup, South Korea, USA, Lee Chung-Yong, Stuart Holden

Bolton's involvement in the World Cup is over after South Korea and the USA were both eliminated on Saturday.

Lee Chung-Yong became only the third Wanderers player to score in the history of the World Cup finals when he netted against Argentina last week, following in the footsteps of Radhi Jaidi and the immortal Nat Lofthouse, and he repeated the feat against Uruguay.

Trailing to an early strike from Luis Suarez, Chung-Yong managed to beat an unrushing goalkeeper in the air and head home his second goal of the tournament, giving his country a realistic shout of a place in the quarter finals.

However, in a moment of brilliance, Suarez won the game for Uruguay with ten minutes remaining. He cut inside and curled a wonderstrike beyond Jung Sung-Ryong, sending the two-time winners into the last eight for the first time since 1970 and ensuring Chung-Yong's run in the competition came to an end.

Uruguay will face Ghana in the next round after they beat the odds and claimed a 2-1 extra time victory over the USA.

Stuart Holden was an unused substitute for the game, which looked like an easy tie for the Americans.

An early strike from Portsmouth's Kevin Prince-Boateng put the Africans ahead, before a Landon Donovan penalty levelled the match just after the hour.

The teams couldn't be seperated after 90 minutes of football and when Asamoah Gyan powered a shot beyond Tim Howard three minutes into extra time, the game was won, meaning Ghana became only the third African nation to reach the last eight of the World Cup, following in the footsteps of Cameroon in 1990 and Senegal in 2002.

Bolton's only remaining interest in the World Cup now lies with Vladimir Weiss, who spent the second half of last season on loan from Manchester City. His Slovakia side face the Netherlands on Monday afternoon, hoping to prove that their victory over Italy was not just a one-off.