Three quick World Cup thoughts on Uruguay-South Korea

Three quick thoughts after Uruguay's 2-1 victory over South Korea in the first game of the second round:

1. It was a dream start for Uruguay -- For a team that likes to sit back and defend and then pick its spots to counterattack, nothing pleases more than an early goal. In the eighth minute, Uruguay bounced out on, yes, a counter and the ball ended up at the feet of Diego Forlan on the left. He snapped a pass across the box that sliced through behind a line of South Korean defenders but in front of goalkeeper Jung Sung-Ryong. Sung-Ryong drove forward but it looked like he short-armed it, and Luis Suarez was waiting near the far post to side-foot the ball into the net.

2. Fernando Muslera had his own moment of indecisiveness -- After repelling the South Koreans for nearly 70 minutes, a seemingly harmless set piece wouldn't trouble the Uruguayans, right? But it was headed across goal and Muslera, Uruguay's goalkeeper, came off his line but did not get to the ball it in time to punch it clear. Lee Chung-yong connected for a relatively tame header that Muslera surely would have saved had he stayed put. Instead, Uruguay lost its lead. It was a mistake that could have cost his team a spot in the quarterfinals given that South Korea was the better team for most of the game, especially in the second half.

3. Luis Suarez should scare U.S. fans -- Barcelona and Manchester United are among the teams rumored to be interested in Suarez, the 23-year-old striker who scored 35 goals in 33 games for Ajax last season and was named the Dutch Football of the Year. He has done nothing but raise his profile in four World Cup games. His winning goal on Saturday, a curler from in the 79th minute that hit the post and ricocheted into the net, was pure class. If the United States is fortunate enough to defeat Ghana, it will face a team that likes to play as it does: stay compact in the back and rely on the counter. But there is no question that the Uruguayans have the more potent attackers, none more dangerous than Suarez.