Nigeria's late effort falls short; South Korea, Argentina advance

Nigeria almost made history today by becoming the first team to lose its first two games and still advance to the knockout stages, but couldn't find the net in the late minutes despite numerous chances.

The Super Eagles settled for a 2-2 tie with South Korea, which advanced with undefeated Argentina to the Round of 16.

Argentina held up its end of the bargain with a 2-0 win over Greece, meaning if the Super Eagles defeated South Korea, they would qualify for the next round on goal differential to break the three-way tie for second. After Yakubu converted a penalty in the 69th minute, Nigeria staged a late rally with no less than a half a dozen excellent opportunities in the final 20 minutes.

PHOTOS: Argentina, South Korea advance out of Group B

Victor Obinna and Obafemi Martins had mulitple looks at the net from inside and outside the box, but their shots whistled by posts time after time. Yakubu's penalty came just minutes after he missed what looked like the easiest goal of the tournament on an open net from about three yards away. The miss was extraordinary, but give him credit for calmly knocking in the penalty shortly thereafter. It set up a thrilling, albeit disappointing finish for the Nigerians.

South Korea got goals on either side of halftime from Lee Jung-Soo in the 38th minute and Park Chu-Young in the 49th. Chu-Yung's goal was a stellar curling strike off a free kick, a rarity at this year's World Cup, which has seen the Jubulani soar over the net on multiple occasions.

South Korea, making its seventh World Cup appearance, advanced out of the group stage for the second time and first time on foreign soil. It made a run to the semifinals in 2002 when it hosted the tournament along with Japan.

It joins the favorites, Argentina, in the next round. Diego Maradona's boys scored a pair of late goals by Martin Demichelis and Martin Palermo. It faces Mexico June 27 while South Korea takes on Uruguay June 26.