(Football news) Uruguay and South Korea cancelled each other out in their opening match in Group H as Diego Godin and Fede Valverde both hit the post at the Education City Stadium. South Korea captain Son-Heung Min who recently suffered an eye socket fracture played with a face mask but the Tottenham Hotspur forward was unable to have any impact on the game. It was the first time in the history of World Cup matches in this century that Neither side recorded a shot on target.

For South Korea, Hwang Ui-Jo missed a very gilt-edged opportunity to put the Asian side ahead in the 34th minute when he blazed the ball over from close range following a low cross from right-back Kim Moon-Hwan. Uruguay almost made them regret that chance in the 43rd minute when Godin rose highest from an inch perfect Valverde corner as the former Atletico man hit the base of the post with a header. There was an injury scare for Son around the hour mark when Martin Caceres fouled him but he was able to continue. Darwin Nunez tried to force the issue when he curled a shot wide in the 81st minute and Valverde produced a powerful shot from distance in the 90th minute which also cannoned off the post, but Uruguay could not find a breakthrough. 

Looking at how both sides played means that the group is wide open. With Portugal’s narrow win over Ghana they are in pole position to qualify from the group but considering how all the other three teams performed in Group H, it remains to be seen which team will qualify from this group. Ghana were always second favourites in the Group considering they are the lowest ranked team in this group but they will take motivation from their performance and cause an upset by qualifying for the knockout stages. The African nation will surely fancy their chances against an underperforming South Korea team on Monday while Uruguay face a difficult match against Portugal.

"We're a very brave team, we're not afraid of our opponents," South Korea coach Paulo Bento told reporters. "The bottom line is we need to control all moments of the game, knowing we're in a different competition to our qualifiers. But this won't hold us back from what we intend to do. And we showed today we're capable”

Also read: Portugal narrowly beat Ghana 3-2 in second half thriller