Saturday’s World Cup matches
ROUND OF 16: URUGUAY VS. SOUTH KOREA
Where: Port Elizabeth. Time: 7 a.m. PDT.
TV: ESPN, ESPN Deportes, Univision. Radio: Sirius/XM, KLYY-FM 97.5, KDLD-FM/KDLE-FM 103.1, KSPN-AM 710.
The buzz: South Korea is in the knockout stage for the second time in eight World Cup appearances — and the first time on foreign soil. That’s the good news. The bad news is the team waiting for them, Uruguay, hasn’t allowed a goal in the tournament. A two-time World Cup champion, Uruguay beat Mexico and South Africa and played to a scoreless draw with France in the group stage and is now bidding for its first quarterfinal berth since 1970. In addition to an impenetrable defense, Uruguay boasts an offense led by Diego Forlan, whose 32 goals two years ago for Atletico Madrid won him top European scoring honors. All four of Uruguay’s World Cup goals have come since Edinson Cavani was inserted into the lineup as a third striker alongside Forlan and Luis Suarez. The offense-minded Koreans beat Greece, were blitzed by Argentina and battled Nigeria to a draw to finish second in their group, having scored five goals. But they also allowed six; only North Korea, with 12, gave up more.
— Kevin Baxter
ROUND OF 16: UNITED STATES VS. GHANA
Where: Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg. Time: 11:30 a.m. PDT.
TV: ABC, ESPN Deportes, Univision. Radio: Sirius/XM, KLYY-FM 97.5 and KDLD-FM 103.1.
The buzz: Ghana, ranked 32nd, is 18 places below the U.S. in the FIFA world rankings, but the Black Stars ousted the Americans from the tournament in Germany four years ago and cannot be taken lightly. The U.S. will be able to play forward Robbie Findley because he has served his one-game suspension. Ghana is the last African team alive in the tournament and, with a victory, could become only the third African team ever to reach the quarterfinals, after Cameroon in 1990 and Senegal in 2002. The Black Stars reached the second round by defeating Serbia, tying Australia and losing to Germany. The unbeaten U.S. tied England and Slovenia and defeated Algeria.
— Grahame L. Jones
