Match No. 3. South Korea v Greece : The Asian giant and Euro 2004 champion have squared off twice before, both on neutral grounds. In 2006, the sides were locked in a 1-1 draw in the Saudi Arabia LG Cup in Riyadh which was followed by a 1-0 win for the Koreans in 2007 in a friendly in London.
It will be the 25th match at football's global showpiece for the Koreans, having contested more games in the history of the competition than any other nation.
Greece is one of the teams, and the only one from Europe, to have participated in a previous edition of the World Cup without having netted a single goal.
This is the first outing between the two teams in the World Cup. However, they have met once before in the Olympic Games football tournament, drawing their group encounter 2-2 in Thessaloniki in 2004.
Match No. 4. Argentina v Nigeria : The Argentineans are unbeaten in their three encounters with the Super Eagles, having won 2-1 in the group stage of the 1994 World Cup in Boston (USA), drawn 0-0 in the 1995 Confederations Cup in Riyadh and then again having won 1-0 in the first round of the 2002 World Cup in South Korea/Japan. Historical rivals in other competitions, the two sides have also gone toe-to-toe in two Olympic finals; at the 1996 Atlanta Games when the West Africans won 3-2, at the FIFA under-20 championships which ended in a 2-1 success for Argentina and again at the 2008 Beijing Games when the South Americans gained revenge for their 1996 loss with a solitary goal win.
All four meetings between Argentina and African sides at the World Cup have been settled by the odd goal. After losing 1-0 to Cameroon in the opening game of the 1990 tournament in Italy, the South Americans have won against Nigeria 2-1 in 1994 and 1-0 in 2002 before prevailing over Ivory Coast in 2006 at Germany.
Nigeria's last win in the World Cup dates back to June 19, 1998 when it overcame Bulgaria 1-0. Since then the Nigerians have stumbled to four defeats and a draw.
Match No. 5. England v USA : This will be the 10th meeting between these two sides, which interestingly have never shared a draw on the last nine occasions. Of the nine, England has history on its side with seven wins to USA's two. Nevertheless, the English are yet to shake off the shock they suffered at the hands of their rivals in Belo Horizonte, Brazil on June 29, 1950.
This surprise win for the Americans was presented, courtesy a goal by Joe Gaetjens. Incidentally, this is the only time that the two sides have met in the World Cup.
While all of England's wins have come in friendlies, either at home or in the United States, the second win for the Americans came in a tournament.
At the 1993 U.S. Cup, the Americans were victorious 2-0 on June 9 in Boston. Thanks to the upset win in 1950, the United States is also the only CONCACAF side to have avoided defeat and scored against England in the World Cup.
In 1986 against Mexico, the English won 2-0 before overpowering Trinidad and Tobago by the same score-line in 2006.
England has conceded only one goal in the first half of play in its last 10 World Cup matches. All eight of USA's previous opening games in the World Cup have yielded at least two goals.
Fact of the Day : A total of 53 out of the 736 players at this year's World Cup will celebrate their birthdays during the tournament. Four on June 12 (Saturday) and these include Diego Milito (Argentina), Thomas Sorensen (Denmark), who will turn 31 and 34 respectively, and Mauricio Isla (Chile) and Eren Derdiyok (Switzerland) both turning 22 respectively.
What kind of present does his teammates have for Milito is anybody's guess as Argentina crosses swords with Nigeria in the first match of Group B.
Incidentally, the Italian coach of the English side, Fabio Capello, one referee (Frank de Bleeckere of Belgium) and three Assistant referees will also have their birthdays between June 12 and July 12. None of the players were born on June 11, the opening day of the first ever World Cup on African soil. (Compiled by A.Vinod; Source: FIFA)
