LEIPZIG, June 18 (Xinhua) -- The Republic
of Korea (ROK) staged another big rally to tie France 1-1 in their World
Cup Group G match here on Sunday.
ROK, who overcame one goal deficit in the first half
to beat Togo 2-1 in their opener, lead the group with four points, against
France on two.
Switzerland, who have one, and Togo, who have no
points, meet in their second group game in Dortmund on Monday.
While France scored their first World Cup goal off
French soil in 20 years, Zinedine Zidane will miss the last group match against
Togo after picking up his second yellow card.
Only nine minutes into the game, Sylvain Wiltord put
Thierry Henry through to goal, and the Arsenal skipper made no mistake in
beating the South Korean goalkeeper Lee Woon Jae.
The goal was the first for Henry in World Cup finals
since June 18, 1998 against Saudi Arabia.
While the 2002 Korea/Japan World Cup witnessed a
humiliating early exit of former champions France without a goal, the 2006 World
Cup in Germany saw a goalless tie between France and Switzerland in their Group
G opener.
In the 81st minute, Park Ji-sung grabbed the
equaliser after waves of attacks in the later half of the match for South Korea
who only managed one shot before the break as the Frenchmen retreated to their
backyard after Henry's goal.
On 32 minutes, Patrick Vieira's powerful downward
header nearly gave France a 2-0 lead, but it was kick-saved by the keeper just
on the line.
However, the TV reverse showed that the ball had
crossed the line a little bit.
"They pushed and we were not able to retain the
ball," said France coach Raymond Domenech. "They wore us out. They're a solid
team. After going 1-0 up we were not quite good enough but we have a match left
which we have to win to keep hoping."
For his part, South Korea's Dutch coach Dick Advocaat
was very upbeat, saying that "In the second half we improved and as the game
went on, sometimes we were able to control it. From one of the few chances we
had we scored, so we had a bit of luck." Enditem
