Bloemfontein- Nigeria bowed out gracefully from the 2010 FIFA World Cup last night after an entertaining draw with Korea DPR.
The Super Eagles early World Cup elimination came after they played to a 2-all draw with the Asian nation at Durban's Moses Mabhida stadium on Tuesday night.
The two-time African champions became the third African nation to the booted out of the show piece during the group stages following host, South Africa and the Indomitable Lions, Cameroon.
Nigeria's Chidi Odiah found the back of the net 12 minutes into play, but the Asian players' fighting spirit led to an important equaliser through Lee Jung-Soo in the 38th minute.
The second half saw a confident South Korean side who took advantage of a free kick awarded to them after Nigerian defender Danny Shittu gave away a free-kick just on the edge of the box through a terrible tackle.
Park Chu Young's goal easily beat Nigeria's goalie Vincent Enyeama by curling the ball to the far right and ultimately put his side in the lead.
When Kim Nam II brought down Nigerian striker Chinedu Ogbuke Obasi in the penalty box, forward Yakubu Ayegbeni scored a brilliant penalty.
The draw saw the Asians qualifying to the last 16 as second-place finishers in their group behind Argentina.
They will face Group A winners Uruguay in the knock-out play on 26 June in Nelson Mandela Bay.
Meanwhile, at Peter Mokaba Stadium, Argentina out-smarted Greece, defeating them 2-nil.
