Player of the day
Yakubu Ayegbeni, Nigeria
Even a bit of personal sin and redemption in the space of three minutes wasn’t enough to save the Super Eagles, who finally played an inspired third match against South Korea after disappointing showings vs. Argentina and Greece. Yakubu’s shank from six yards in the 66th minute was the most egregious miss of the tournament. When he buried a penalty kick in the 69th, belief returned for the Nigerians. But a series of close calls were all they could muster down the stretch.
Goal of the day
Florent Malouda, France
The Chelsea midfielder will go down as a statistic and an unhappy reminder for South Africa as it became the first World Cup host nation to fail to advance out of group play. Until Malouda tapped in France’s only goal — the lone bright spot of an otherwise utterly embarrassing performance on and off the field — South Africa had been two goals away from miraculously stealing a knockout round berth from Mexico.
