Mexico ease past Korea

On Sunday night Griezmann and his team mates produced a pulsating performance before falling to the ground, hugging and sobbing as world champions.

"I do not know where I am," the stunned 27-year-old said while organisers hurried to set up the presentation stage on the pitch. "We cannot wait to lift the Cup and bring it back to France."

While waiting for the presentation Griezmann burst into tears, seemingly as the enormity of his team's achievement swept over him, and while a rainstorm soaked the Luzhniki arena, the player embraced French president Emmanuel Macron who kissed his forehead and clasped his shoulders.

Once the French had their hands on the coveted golden trophy, Griezmann grasped it and ran down to fans behind the goal to show them the World Cup, before skipping back along the side of the pitch holding it aloft.

And when he finally emerged from his on-pitch celebrations the tears had been replaced by a wide smile.

"Frankly I have not yet realised what we have done," he grinned after being named man-of-the-match.

"The World Cup... it's a lot... I am very proud of this team, the players, the coach, the staff. We were really a united group either on the bench or in the line-up. We did something incredible, we wrote history," he said, downplaying his individual role.

But certainly it had been a virtuoso performance by a player of undoubted talent who finally answered his doubters on the game's biggest stage.

He had stayed calm under pressure, unlocked the Croatian defence and been key to victory.

For now, though, he wanted to look forward.

"Now we will party and tomorrow we will party with France and with all the French people," he said, again breaking into an enormous grin.

"It is France we love. (We have) different origins but we are all united. We are many players with different backgrounds, but we have the same goal, we wear the same jersey, we work for each other.

Davide Nicola has been brought back as coach of Salernitana just two days after being sacked, the Serie A club confirmed to AFP on Wednesday.

Salernitana said on Monday that Nicola had been fired, his dismissal coming in the aftermath of an 8-2 drubbing at the hands of Atalanta.

The heavy defeat left them 16th in Serie A, but nine points clear of the relegation zone ahead of the visit of rampant league leaders and local rivals Napoli on Saturday.

Nicola said in a message on Facebook he would remain coach after speaking to club owner Danilo Iervolino on Tuesday, a discussion in which he pleaded to be kept on.

Asked by AFP, Salernitana confirmed the decision and that Nicola would be working under the same contract until 2024 he signed in June after guiding the southerners to a miracle escape act last season.

The 49-year-old arrived at Salernitana in February of last year with the club bottom of the league and seemingly certain to go down.

But they survived the drop by just one point on the final day of the season after losing just one of their last eight matches, winning four.

 Argentina are looking to put their shock 2-1 opening defeat by Saudi Arabia behind them as they prepare for their World Cup Group C match against Mexico on Saturday, a game they now feel they absolutely must win.

The Argentines are also hoping to restore their status as one of the tournament favourites against goal-shy Mexico.

"It will be like a final for us because it is a match that could define our faith in this World Cup," forward Lautaro Martinez told a news conference on Friday.

"It was a heavy blow to our morale (losing to Saudi Arabia) but we are a strong group that is very united.

"We need to stay calm, recover and think about what's coming. And what's coming is Mexico, so we have to focus on getting the win no matter what."

Lautaro said Argentina dominated the match against the Saudis and did not deserve to lose, having three goals ruled out for close offside calls by VAR.

Now they will face Mexico's low-scoring, injury-hit squad that bore out the pre-tournament pessimism in their first game, drawing 0-0 against Poland and only avoiding defeat thanks to a stunning save from veteran goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa.

"We are very optimistic and I think we lost because of small details, due to our own mistakes. We have studied our next rival and I think we are ready," Lautaro said.

Coach Lionel Scaloni said that Lionel Messi is fit and ready to play despite reports of a possible ankle injury and that he believes his squad has what it take to rebound from their opening defeat.

"When you are knocked out you have to get up, and my players are more than capable of doing so," Scaloni said.

"We will not change the way we play because of the loss to Saudi Arabia. I can make a change or two in the selection but not in our system, that is not in question.

"This group will leave everything they've got on the pitch to recover from that heavy blow."

South Korea advanced to the semi-finals of the Asian Cup with a 2-1 comeback win over Australia in extra time at Al Janoub Stadium on Friday after Son Heung-min scored the winner with a sublime free kick.

Australia had beaten South Korea by the same scoreline in extra time in the 2015 final to lift their first Asian Cup, but this time it was the east Asian team who prevailed after netting yet another goal in stoppage time to force extra time.

Australia had taken the lead just before halftime when they cleverly switched flanks with neat passes in the box before Nathaniel Atkinson's cross found Craig Goodwin, who had time to set himself up for a volley into the bottom corner.

But South Korea had dominated possession and with time running out, Son won a penalty in stoppage time which was put away into the top corner by Hwang Hee-chan -- their fourth goal after the 90th minute at the tournament.

With South Korea going to extra time for a second straight game after they beat Saudi Arabia on penalties, Hwang won a free kick on the edge of the box and Son stepped up to guide his effort past the wall, beating Mathew Ryan in goal.

Australia's attempts to fight back suffered a blow when Aiden O'Neill was sent off after a VAR review for a foul on Hwang, reducing Graham Arnold's side to 10 men for the second half of extra time where they could not find a second goal.

South Korea play Jordan on Tuesday in the first semi-final after the Middle Eastern side beat Tajikistan 1-0 earlier on Friday.

Jurgen Klinsmann looks set to be fired as coach after top South Korean football officials said Thursday that "a change of leadership is necessary" following their Asian Cup exit and in-fighting among star players.

The Korea Football Association's national team committee met a week on from the 2-0 defeat to Jordan in the semi-finals and with Klinsmann under huge pressure.

The committee is not a decision-making body but will make its recommendation to the KFA's executive board, which will make a final ruling on the 59-year-old German's fate.

A smattering of protesters gathered outside KFA headquarters in Seoul, demanding Klinsmann's removal after just less than a year in the post.

"We've reached a consensus that Klinsmann cannot exercise his leadership as national team head coach for various reasons and that a change of leadership is necessary," Hwangbo Kwan of the committee said.

After a three-hour meeting, Hwangbo said the committee had decided Klinsmann's "tactical preparation fell short" during the team's disappointing Asian Cup campaign in Qatar.

He added: "Klinsmann said there was discord among squad members and it affected their performance (in the Jordan match)."

Klinsmann attended the meeting on a video conference from his home in the United States, Yonhap news agency reported.

"There were opinions that Klinsmann failed to show his resolve to find new talent and that he failed to grasp internal conflict or mood among squad members in management," said Hwangbo.

"There were also reviews that he is appearing to ignore the Korean public for his short stays in South Korea and that he had lost trust from them," he added.

Yonhap previously reported, citing unnamed sources, that the KFA would consider a temporary appointment for next month's World Cup qualifiers against Thailand if Klinsmann were to be sacked.

Klinsmann, who has never won over South Korean fans or media, had promised to deliver the country's first Asian title in 64 years.

He has refused to resign despite fierce pressure and said he will remain living in the United States, despite demands from South Korean fans and media for him to move there.

Bust-up 

The South Korean team have been in the eye of a storm.

On Wednesday came revelations about a bust-up between players that left Son Heung-min with an injured finger on the eve of the Jordan game in Qatar.

Paris Saint-Germain's Lee Kang-in on Wednesday issued an apology after Yonhap said the 22-year-old had tried to punch skipper and Tottenham star Son.

Lee's representatives have denied there was a punch.

The fracas was reportedly triggered by younger players -- including Lee -- rushing through their dinner so they could leave early and play table tennis.

This angered some of the older players, including Son, who wanted to honour longstanding tradition that the pre-game dinner be a team bonding experience, triggering the brawl.

Lee and Son both played in the Jordan defeat, the latter with two of his fingers strapped together.

He had the same dressing on his fingers when he came on at the weekend in Tottenham's 2-1 win over Brighton.

The incident has fuelled calls for Klinsmann to be sacked, with some saying it was more evidence of his weak management.