Showing fluid, attacking style of play Argentina (or should I say "the new Brazil," a nomiker which will surely make Maradona chuckle and Pele grimace - more on that later) dismantled a hapless South Korea 4-1 on Thursday with Gonzalo Higuain on a hat-trick.
The Argentines had a lucky break to start when Park Chu-Young turned the ball into his own net off of a dangerous dead ball play by Messi. It then became the Higuain and Messi show with the two combining in a sort of sublime Thelma and Louise act robbing the Koreans of possession at every turn and converting on most of those chances.
Higuain added another in the 33rd minute, only to have Lee Chung - Yong claw one back for the Koreans in the dying minutes of the first half. But the enterprising Argentine duo finally put the match away with two goals in quick succession, though, for a neutral observer, the game was never in dispute. Argentina's class was simply too much.
Higuain's profligacy in front of goal heralded the arrival of free flowing Albiceleste football in South Africa. With Jonas Gutierrez and Gabriel Heinze's marauding runs forward and Angel di Maria's control of the midfield, Argentina finally fulfilled the promise of its potential.
Higuain's efforts in front of goal also gave the Real Madrid striker his fifth international goal in seven caps and the first hat trick in the World Cup since Pauleta put in three for Portugal against Poland in 2002. In the poaching, opportunistic vein of great strikers before him (e.g. Mueller, Ronaldo, et al) Higauin has staked in claim to this tournament's golden boot.
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