Aljazair Tembus 16 Besar Piala Dunia untuk Pertama Kalinya
Algeria on the Brink of Making Last 16 for First Time
Editor : Cahyani Harzi
Translator : Dhelia Gani
Porto Alegre (B2B) -Aljazair menumbangkan Korea Selatan 4-2 dalam laga kedua mereka di Grup H yang berlangsung di Estadio Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre, Brasil, Senin dini hari ini. Striker Islam Slimani menciptakan gol pertama pada menit 26 setelah dia beradu sprint dengan dua bek Korea Selatan, usai menerima sebuah umpan, yang diakhirnya dengan satu tembakan yang tak bisa dijangkau kiper Korea Selatan Jung Sung-Ryong.
Pada menit 38, Abdelmoumene Djabou menciptakan gol ketiga Aljazair setelah didahului umpan jauh yang diterimanya dari setengah lapangan yang diteruskan kepada Slimani, seperti dilansir Yahoo Sports.
Slimani kemudian mengembalikan lagi bola kepada Djabou yang berada dalam posisi bebas untuk mengakhiri tusukan mereka. Djabou menutup perjalanan bola dengan menjadikannya sebagai gol ketiga Aljazair lewat tendangan terarahnya yang tak bisa dijangkau Jung Sung-Ryong.
Pada menit 50 babak kedua, Son Heungmin menipiskan ketertinggalan Korea Selatan menjadi 3-1 setelah menyambut sebuah umpan jauh dengan berbalik ke punggungnya dan lalu melepaskan kawalan dua bek Aljazair untuk kemudian melancarkan tendangan keras dari sisi kanan gawang Aljazair dan meluncur melewati dua kaki kiper Adi M´Bolhi.
Delapan menit setelah itu Yacine Brahimi merestorasi keunggulan tiga gol Aljazair dengan menciptakan gol indah hasil kerjasama satu dua dengan Slimani untuk kembali memperdaya Jung Sung-Ryong.
Kemenangan besar ini langsung melambungkan Les Fennecs ke awang-awang yang sebelumnya mempunyai catatan buruk tak pernah lolos ke 16 Besar dan selalu menjadi juru kunci selama mengikuti putaran final Piala Dunia.
Pada menit 72, Korea Selatan menciptakan gol keduanya lewat Koo Jacheol setelah didahului umpan Lee Keunho yang memanfaatkan kesalahan barisan pertahanan Aljazair. Koo yang tepat berada di depan gawang Aljazair mengarahkan bola ke dalam gawang untuk menciptakan gol kedua Korea Selatan.
Korea Selatan terus memperbarui serangannya dan berusaha mengatasi defisit dua gol dari Aljazair namun sampai babak kedua usai tidak bisa menambah gol untuk menelan kekalahan guna tetap mengemas satu poin, sama dengan Rusia, sedangkan Aljazair kini mengoleksi poin tiga, di bawah pemimpin Grup H Belgia yang mencatat poin enam.
Korea Selatan menguasai distribusi bola dengan 54% dan melancarkan 43 serangan berbahaya, namun kalah dari total upaya menciptakan peluang gol 15 berbanding 9 dari Aljazair.
Tetapi, mengutip statistik FIFA, Korea Selatan melancarkan 13 percobaan gol on target, sedangkan Aljazair hanya 9.
Porto Alegre - Islam Slimani scored one goal and made two more as Algeria swept to a 4-2 victory over South Korea on Sunday to become the first African team to score four goals in a World Cup match.
The result gives Algeria a first World Cup win since 1982 and moves it into second place in Group H with one match left to play, against Russia.
Slimani opened the scoring with a fine solo goal after 26 minutes as his team raced into a 3-0 lead at halftime. However, it then had to withstand a South Korean fight back after the break to secure the points.
"The first period was almost perfect," Algerian coach Vahid Halilhodzic said. "I´d like to dedicate this victory to the fans and the Algerian people who have been waiting for this for many, many years."
Defeat for South Korea means it must now beat already-qualified Belgium and hope that other results go its way to progress to the knockout stages.
Belgium leads with six points, Algeria now has three, while Russia and the South Koreans have one apiece.
Halilhodzic had promised changes after an opening 2-1 defeat to Belgium and introduced five new players on Sunday, essentially rebuilding its attack.
Algeria dominated the opening 15 minutes, with midfield playmaker Sofiane Feghouli and Slimani both coming close. South Korea struggled to keep possession in the middle of the pitch and was toothless going forward.
Slimani, one of three Algeria scorers who didn´t start against Belgium, finally broke the deadlock, running onto a through ball between two defenders, controlling it once and then steering it past Jung Sung-ryong.
Algeria, which failed to score at the 2010 World Cup, doubled its lead two minutes later when defender Rafik Halliche powerfully headed in a corner after Jung came off his line but failed to make contact with the ball.
Algeria´s third also came from a long ball, which Slimani neatly pulled back to Abdelmoumene Djabou, who was in space and side-footed home from close to the penalty spot.
South Korea didn´t manage a single shot on goal in the first half, but improved markedly after the break. It pulled a goal back in the 48th minute when Son Heung-min shot through the legs of Rais Mbolhi after the ball landed nicely off the midfielder´s back in the six-yard box.
Hopes of a remarkable comeback were soon extinguished, though, when swift passing by Slimani put Yacini Brahimi through on a counter attack to make it 4-1.
South Korea captain Koo Ja-cheol bundled the ball home on 72 minutes from close range, but aside from a few scares, Algeria´s defense held on to secure a historic victory.
