2014-06-17

Group H updates from the match in Cuiabá

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Russia team guide

South Korea team guide

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10.20pm BST

Tonight's officials

The referee is Argentinian PE teacher Nestor Pitana and he's a man after my own heart. "I love football in all of its forms," he says. "Watching a good football match is as good as having a good Argentinian barbeque with friends, and sharing some fabulous Argentinian meat.

10.19pm BST

Russia: Igor Akinfeev; Vasili Berezutski, Sergey Ignashevich, Andrey Eshchenko, Dmitry Kombarov, Yury Zhirkov; Denis Glushakov, Alexander Samedov, Victor Faizulin, Oleg Shatov; Alexander Kokorin
Substitutes: Alexey Kozlov, Georgi Schennikov, Andrey Semenov, Kanunnikov, Igor Denisov, Alan Dzagoev, Alexander Kerzhakov, Yury Lodygin, Vladimir Granat, Pavel Mogilevets, Sergey Ryzhikov, Alexey Ionov

South Korea: Jung Sung-ryong; Lee Yong, Yoon Suk-young, Kim Young-gwon, Hong Jeong-ho; Ki Sung-yeung, Han Kook-young, Lee Chung-yong, Son Heung-min, Koo Ja-cheol; Park Chu-young
Substitutes: Kim Chang-soo, Kwak Tae-hwi, Hwang Seok-ho, Kim Bo-kyung, Ha Dae-sung, Lee Keun-ho, Park Jong-woo, Kim Shin-wook, Ji Dong-won, Kim Seung-gyu, Park Joo-ho, Lee Bum-young

10.07pm BST

Some pre-game reading:

Here's John Duerden previewing the AFC's hopes:

Boosted by the draw, expectations are high there too a Seoul poll had 80% predicting the knockout stage though World Cup fever is not. There will be no huge public-viewing parties that have been a bright-red staple of the capital and other major cities for the past three tournaments. The country is still coming to terms with the anguish of Aprils Sewol ferry disaster and there are still victims unaccounted for. Hong wants Asias youngest representatives to make the country feel a little better.

Nobody knows which South Korea will turn up in Brazil they almost did not at all after a poor qualification campaign that saw the team use 45 players, more than all of the qualifiers except Argentina. Could it be the version that has the two wide men, Son Heung-min and Lee Chung-yong, driving forward with speed and skill and the cultured Ki Sung-yeung pulling the strings from deep? Or the one with a toothless attack and a defence terrified of set pieces? Japan may struggle in this regard but South Korea are on a whole other level. Behind closed doors of a training camp in Miami, the team has rolled up its sleeves to work on this vice again and again.

Capellos famed disciplinarian streak has again materialised at this World Cup with his players banned from using Twitter. Tweets can be a nuisance if they are not written in an intelligent fashion, he explained in Cuiabá. Overall, however, his strict approach has been welcomed by a squad that has lost focus in past tournaments. Capello demands discipline and its a good thing because everyone is working hard, giving 100% in every session, said Berezutski.

That was reflected in Russias mature defensive performances in qualifying, another reason why supporters believe Capello has added something different and overdue to the national team.

9.30pm BST

The first knockout game of the tournament? Both these teams you'd expect to beat Algeria. Both these teams you'd expect to lose against Belgium. So this is winner-takes-all, right? Well, no. On the evidence of Belgium's narrow, at times fraught, win over Algeria earlier today Group H is as open as any tonight's tie in the Arena Pantanal might not be the be-all-and-end-all it might have first appeared.

Still sound the Statement of the Bleedin' Obvious Klaxon a win for either side tonight would constitute a huge step towards the second round. And, despite a fair amount of evidence suggesting a result to the contrary, I rather fancy South Korea for this one. Yes, they lost to Lebanon in qualifying and drew with Kuwait. And, yes, in the final qualifying stage they finished level on points with Uzbekistan and behind Iran, who appeared very limited in their opening game against a misfiring Nigeria. And, yes, their World Cup record on anything other than home soil is somewhere between poor and dreadful. And, yes, they lost 2-1 to Russia last November. And 1-0 to Tunisia in their penultimate warm-up game. And 4-0 to Ghana in their final warm-up game.

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