There's little to speculate on for Nigeria and South Korea when they meet in Group B on Tuesday in Durban. The winner will most likely qualify for the second round, provided Argentina beat Greece, while a loser will almost certainly go home.
"I told the players that the World Cup is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," South Korea coach Huh Jung Moo was quoted as saying in his country's media.
But the Nigerians think the same, and still believe in their chances. "We still have every chance, the last game will say it all," said Nigeria skipper Joseph Yobo.
The truth is that all bets are off in Group B: anything can happen for any of the teams involved. After two wins in two games, Argentina lead on 6 points, followed by South Korea and Greece on three and Nigeria on zero.
With a draw on Tuesday, South Korea could also go through, provided Argentina win their game in Polokwane, while Nigeria would be eliminated.
If Greece spring a surprise win over Argentina Nigeria would be out of the tournament, and so would South Korea, unless they beat the Super Eagles by a larger margin than the Greeks do against Messi and co.
Ahead of the crucial clash, South Korea are probably above Nigeria, at least in terms of mood. The African side were downcast after two games in which their keeper Vincent Enyeama was Man of the Match despite the two defeats.
While losing against Argentina was a realistic possibility en route to the World Cup, they had every reason to expect a better result in their second match, against Greece.
They were winning 1-0 and looking good until midfielder Sani Kaita inexplicably got himself sent off for attempting to kick a rival. The Greeks then went on to score the first ever World Cup goal, and also the second, which gave them their first win ever in the event.
The South Koreans have fared better. They beat Greece in their first game and, while they lost their second to the mighty Argentina, they are confident of a win against Nigeria that would most likely take them to the round of 16.
"We won't excessively stick to either defence or attack. Instead we will play a normal game," said Huh. "Nigeria are expected to play rough right from the beginning of the game. We will do our utmost to display what we have prepared."
While South Korea have three points more than their rivals as they go into the match, Nigeria will doubtless appreciate the opportunity to redeem themselves after a bad start to the tournament.
The Super Eagles, who already made the second round of the World Cup in 1994 and 1998, will have an extra motivation. After negotiating a bonus of 10,000 dollars per win for members of the squad, the Nigerian federation has now agreed to pay players 30,000 dollars for making it to the last 16.
In order to cash in, however, they will need to beat South Korea, the fourth-placed of the 2002 World Cup which the Asians played on home soil, and then hope for the best.
In Durban, all eyes will be on the ball, but all minds will be in Polokwane: whatever happens on the pitch between Nigeria and South Korea will have to be seen through the outcome of the match between Argentina and Greece.
