Higuain shines as France slump

Gonzalo Higuain stole the headlines on Day 7
in South Africa by scoring the first FIFA World Cup

hat-trick since
2002 as Argentina's multi-talented attack dazzled against Korea
Republic. Diego Maradona's Albiceleste had to share the
limelight, though, with Mexico, winners against 2006 runners-up France,
and a Greece side who scored their first FIFA World Cup goals in
defeating Nigeria.
Argentina striking
icon Gabriel Batistuta was in Johannesburg to see Higuain join him in
the record books with his treble for the South Americans at Soccer City.
The Real Madrid forward became only the third man – after Guillermo
Stabile and 'Batigol' himself – to hit three on the world stage
for La Albiceleste. With Carlos Tevez buzzing about
dangerously and Lionel Messi weaving his magic, Higuain can leave the
fancy stuff to others and just get on with his job of poaching goals.

Ater
Argentina had received the gift of a Park Chu-Young own goal, Higuain
did just that with three close-range strikes, two with his head, the
other a tap-in after Messi's shot rebounded to him off a post. Argentina
have all but qualified from Group B after this second victory and the
only good news for their future opponents is that the South Koreans
found a hole or two in their defence – Martin Demechelis's slip allowed
Lee Chung-Yong a goal and the Asians would have drawn level at 2-2 had
Yeom Ki-Hun not sent a golden opportunity into the side-netting.
The question of which France we would see in
South Africa – the team which reached the Final four years ago or that
which flopped at UEFA EURO 2008 – appears to have been answered after
Raymond Domenech's side slumped to a first-ever loss to Mexico in
Polokwane. Javier Aguirre's enterprising outfit joined Uruguay on four
points at the Group A summit thanks to second-half strikes from
substitutes Javier Hernandez, who sprang the France offside trap to tuck
away the first, and Cuauhtemoc Blanco, a late penalty. Blanco's lengthy
run-up belied his age – at 37 years and 151 days, he became the third
oldest scorer in FIFA World Cup history. It will now take a small
miracle for a still goalless France side to revive their campaign in
their final group fixture against South Africa.
Finally, after South Africa's loss yesterday, another African
side saw their hopes dented after Nigeria stumbled to defeat against a
Greece side finally able to celebrate a first finals win at the fifth
attempt. It was a result that left the Super Eagles bottom of Group B
while lifting Otto Rehhagel's Greeks level with Korea Republic on three
points. Nigeria had gone ahead at the Free State Stadium through a Kalu
Uche free-kick, but the match turned when Sani Keita had a rush of blood
to the head and kicked out at Vasileios Torosidis, leaving his side a
man short. Greece took full advantage, equalising on the stroke of the
interval through Dimitrios Salpingidis.

That his shot took a big
deflection off Lukman Haruna in no way diminished the celebrations –
after all, it was his country’s first FIFA World Cup goal. Greece's
winner was cruel on goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama, who, as against
Argentina, made some spectacular stops only to spill Alexandros
Tziolis's drive, allowing Torosidis to score. If the 2004 European
champions can sleep more easily tonight, the same cannot be said of
Nigeria's Chinedu Ogbuke Obasi, who missed an open goal at 1-1.
Results
Argentina 4-1
Korea Republic
Greece 2-1 Nigeria
France 0-2 Mexico
Goal of the day
Argentina
4-1 Korea Republic, Gonzalo Higuain, 80 mins: Messi dinked a
lovely ball over the South Korean back line to Sergio Aguero, who
floated a first-time cross with the outside of his right foot for
Higuain to nod his third goal past Jung Sung-Ryong – the competition’s
first hat-trick since Pauleta’s for Portugal eight years ago.
One to remember
Mexico
forward Hernandez is not the first member of his family to score against
France in the FIFA World Cup – he followed in the footsteps of his
grandfather Tomas Balcazar, who struck Mexico's second goal in a 3-2
first-round loss to Les Bleus at the 1954 finals in
Switzerland. Revenge at last for Grandad...
Quote of the day
"I prefer women. I am dating
Veronica, she is 31 years old, she is blonde, she is beautiful," Maradona
responds to a question in the post-match press conference about his
habit of embracing his Argentina players.
Stat of the day
404 – The
number of minutes it took Greece to score their first FIFA World Cup
finals goal.
Voice of the fans
"Mexico
looked too fast and aggressive for France... beautiful win!!!" FIFA.com
user pabloteca.