Spain 2 - 1 Chile
Villa 24 R Millar 47
Iniesta 37
Honduras 0 - 0 Switzerland
Another disappointing team bite the dust, and I'm not talking about the Honduras.
It's like my junior school headmaster said in assembly once. I had two pieces of work given to me last week. I accepted Boy A's work because I knew it was his best. I gave Boy B's work back to him to do over, even though it was better than Boy A's work, because I knew it wasn't his best.
He wouldn't have been impressed by Switzerland. If he was running the World Cup, they'd be playing their games again and again until they got them right.
The Honduran team would have got a B plus. Despite being a lesser kind of a team, drawn mainly from domestic teams and Europe's lesser leagues and consisting almost entirely of brothers, they've made the most of their slender resources. They haven't scored, but they've tried to score. They let one in against Chile and two against Spain, but kept out a Swiss team that must have wanted to win. No goals, but a point, and a measure of self respect.
Switzerland, though. Talented players, but none of the virtues that impress headmasters. For the second World Cup in a row. Now go home, and next time try harder.
The real action was in the Chile v Spain game. Chile started really well, but fell behind when their goalkeeper ran out to clear a ball five yards from the byline, and instead of hoofing it over knocked it very precisely to Villa. Seeing the empty goal fifty yards away, Villa chipped it over the rapidly retreating goalkeeper and the covering defender, and was already celebrating by the time the ball crossed the goal line.
Thirteen minutes later Iniesta put in a second, and Chile's Marco Estrada got sent off for bringing down Torres. The replay suggested it was accidental, but sometimes defenders are unlucky.
Two goals and one player down, Chile rallied after the break. They got a goal back, at which point both teams realised that would do, and settled. Because of the extra goals, Switzerland would have needed to score twice, and that didn't seem very likely. And so it proved.
So Spain play Portugal, and Chile play Brazil. Something to look forward to.
Showing posts with label Honduras. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Honduras. Show all posts
Saturday, 26 June 2010
Thursday, 24 June 2010
Outcomes - groups G and H
Group G
If Portugal beat Brazil, then Portugal top the group and Brazil finish second.
If Brazil and Portugal draw, then Brazil top the group and Portugal finish second.
If Brazil beat Portugal, then Brazil top the group and second place goes to Portugal or the Ivory Coast, depending on goal difference. The Ivory Coast would need to overturn a nine goal gap as things currently stand.
Group H
Another complicated one.
If Chile beat Spain and Switzerland win or draw against Honduras, Chile top the group and Switzerland are second.
If Chile beat Spain and Honduras beat Switzerland, Chile top the group and the team with the best goal difference from the other three are second.
If Spain beat Chile and Honduras win or draw against Switzerland, Spain top the group and Chile are second.
If Spain beat Chile and Switzerland beat Honduras, Honduras are eliminated and the other three nations are placed according to goal difference. Spain are guaranteed a place, while Switzerland get a place if they beat Honduras by two goals or more, or Chile lose by two goals or more.
If Spain and Chile draw, Chile top the group, while Spain are second unless Switzerland beat Honduras, in which case Switzerland are second.
If Portugal beat Brazil, then Portugal top the group and Brazil finish second.
If Brazil and Portugal draw, then Brazil top the group and Portugal finish second.
If Brazil beat Portugal, then Brazil top the group and second place goes to Portugal or the Ivory Coast, depending on goal difference. The Ivory Coast would need to overturn a nine goal gap as things currently stand.
Group H
Another complicated one.
If Chile beat Spain and Switzerland win or draw against Honduras, Chile top the group and Switzerland are second.
If Chile beat Spain and Honduras beat Switzerland, Chile top the group and the team with the best goal difference from the other three are second.
If Spain beat Chile and Honduras win or draw against Switzerland, Spain top the group and Chile are second.
If Spain beat Chile and Switzerland beat Honduras, Honduras are eliminated and the other three nations are placed according to goal difference. Spain are guaranteed a place, while Switzerland get a place if they beat Honduras by two goals or more, or Chile lose by two goals or more.
If Spain and Chile draw, Chile top the group, while Spain are second unless Switzerland beat Honduras, in which case Switzerland are second.
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
Spain v Honduras
Spain 2 - 0 Honduras
Villa 17, 51
The big news for Spain was that Torres was starting. In the end, it was Villa's night.
They combined in Spain's first big attack, when Villa's cross found Torres unmarked in the box, but his miskick spun into Valladares' welcoming arms. In the next attack Villa went alone. His shot, from 35 yards and out of nothing, hit the Honduran bar, with the keeper nowhere.
You sensed it would be a long night for the semi-professional defence. Ramos headed over a Xavi cross, Villa cut inside but his shot missed, and then they scored.
It was a Villa solo effort again. He came in from the left again, nipped easily past Mendoza and Guevara, dinked it to the right of Chavez and shot. The keeper did remarkably well even to get a hand on it, but there was no way he was keeping it out.
They could have had more before the break. Xavi headed Navas' cross just over, the ball having come to him a few inches too high, Then Ramos put it on Torres' head soon afterwards. Torres' header hit the ground hard and bounced over, the story of his night. Soon after that he was wrongly given offside, and just before the break his shot was blocked. Pranav Soneji on the BBC website asked how come he hadn't scored yet, but if anyone knew they weren't texting in.
Villa settled any persistent Spanish nerves on 51 minutes. He hit Xavi's pass on the edge of the box perfectly well but was perhaps lucky to see it get a slight deflection and spin over the goalkeeper's arms.
Ten minutes later he missed a penalty, after Izaguirre had brought down Navas. It looked goalbound, sending Valladares the wrong way, but went just the wrong side of the post. It didn't matter.
Midway through the second half, Fabregas came on for Xavi. He beat the offside trap, took it round the keeper with his first touch and shot, only to see it cleared off the line. Villa had a great chance blocked by Mendoza's athletic recovery tackle, to stop him getting his hat trick, while Navas and Ramos both had chances.
In the end, Honduras held out at two nil. They had a couple of chances of their own, Georgie Welcome spurning the chance for more name-based punning by heading wide from a free kick, but there was only one winner.
That was the end of the second round of games. Everyone has now played twice, and has one group game left, so this was the last game to leave a team's fate undecided. Now it all comes down to Spain against Chile. Can't wait.
Villa 17, 51
The big news for Spain was that Torres was starting. In the end, it was Villa's night.
They combined in Spain's first big attack, when Villa's cross found Torres unmarked in the box, but his miskick spun into Valladares' welcoming arms. In the next attack Villa went alone. His shot, from 35 yards and out of nothing, hit the Honduran bar, with the keeper nowhere.
You sensed it would be a long night for the semi-professional defence. Ramos headed over a Xavi cross, Villa cut inside but his shot missed, and then they scored.
It was a Villa solo effort again. He came in from the left again, nipped easily past Mendoza and Guevara, dinked it to the right of Chavez and shot. The keeper did remarkably well even to get a hand on it, but there was no way he was keeping it out.
They could have had more before the break. Xavi headed Navas' cross just over, the ball having come to him a few inches too high, Then Ramos put it on Torres' head soon afterwards. Torres' header hit the ground hard and bounced over, the story of his night. Soon after that he was wrongly given offside, and just before the break his shot was blocked. Pranav Soneji on the BBC website asked how come he hadn't scored yet, but if anyone knew they weren't texting in.
Villa settled any persistent Spanish nerves on 51 minutes. He hit Xavi's pass on the edge of the box perfectly well but was perhaps lucky to see it get a slight deflection and spin over the goalkeeper's arms.
Ten minutes later he missed a penalty, after Izaguirre had brought down Navas. It looked goalbound, sending Valladares the wrong way, but went just the wrong side of the post. It didn't matter.
Midway through the second half, Fabregas came on for Xavi. He beat the offside trap, took it round the keeper with his first touch and shot, only to see it cleared off the line. Villa had a great chance blocked by Mendoza's athletic recovery tackle, to stop him getting his hat trick, while Navas and Ramos both had chances.
In the end, Honduras held out at two nil. They had a couple of chances of their own, Georgie Welcome spurning the chance for more name-based punning by heading wide from a free kick, but there was only one winner.
That was the end of the second round of games. Everyone has now played twice, and has one group game left, so this was the last game to leave a team's fate undecided. Now it all comes down to Spain against Chile. Can't wait.
Wednesday, 16 June 2010
Chile v Honduras
Chile 1 Honduras 0
Beausejour 34
A strong start for Chile, who lived up to their billing. Ivan Zamorano, star of Real Madrid, Inter Milan and the national team, has said this is the best Chilean side ever, even better than the 1998 team that he and Marcelo Salas played in. No pressure, then.
The Hondurans were rather less fancied. Their main star is Wilson Palacios, of Spurs, but they also have Johnny Palacios, of Honduran team Olimpias, and Jerry, um, Palacios, of Chinese side Hangzhou Greentown. That's right, there are three Palacios brothers in the squad, a new record. The last one came in on Tuesday to replace the injured Julio Palacios. Not really, he actually replaced Julio Cesar de Leon.
Wilson was the only Palacios brother selected today, but still, what an achievement. I bet Mr and Mrs Palacios are thrilled, but they're probably also a bit nervous every time they all get on the same plane. If there's a fourth brother, we could be looking at a Spielberg sequel called Saving Private Palacios. I do hope there isn't, actually, because being the only brother who wasn't at the World Cup would be like being the only Jackson brother who couldn't sing. And yes, Jermaine's suffered enough. Did I beat you to that one?
While we were waiting for the game to kick off, we had some wise words from Wayne Rooney, at a Press conference. I don't think there has been any stand-out team so far, with the exception of Germany maybe. So the stand-out team is Germany, then, Wayne. How exactly could the stand out team not have been an exception?
Chile started as they meant to carry on. Fernandez put a twenty five yard free kick just over after a minute, while Vidal hit a long range effort which swerved enough to make the goalkeeper mishandle it momentarily. Honduras had some moments too. Pavon showed some nice control on the edge of the box before rather wasting the shot, then Espinosa's effort was deflected wide.
The best chance, it seemed, fell to Vidal after twenty five minutes. A corner came straight to him, he had a free header, but it went well over.
Then Chile scored. It was hard to see what was happening in the dark (this was probably the most shadow challenged game yet), but as far as I could tell Isla got free down the right, and crossed it to the very Unchilean sounding Jean Beausejour. At the time I thought it came off his foot, then his head, then in, but apparently it was deflected off the defender who was trying to get in a challenge. A deserved goal, anyway.
It seemed to make the Chileans want to show their skills off even more. Valdivia, a delight throughout, tried a backheel into the box, which the waiting Chileans just failed to get to, then he ran in on a deflected shot from Sanchez, collided with the keeper, and only a rather dubious free kick decision stopped everyone pouncing on the rebound. The referee was the first poor one we've had, actually, and a number of decisions about free kicks were clearly in error.
He seemed to get the big decision right, though. Early in the second half Alvarez burst through into the box for Honduras, but he was tackled by Medel, who clearly took the ball away before he took the man.
Soon after that, the Honduran Pavon (in a game like Chile v Honduras, you can't rely on the name to indicate nationality) seemed to take a knock, and Georgie Welcome came on for him. Amazingly, the commentators didn't call this a Welcome change, presumably feeling themselves above such puns. Such Olympian restraint. I can't imagine how it would feel.
Chile carried on with the running and the passing and the shooting and the putting it all together. After 64 minutes they should have scored again, when a Fernandez free kick reached Vidal on the goal line. He played it back across to the excellently named Waldo Ponce, who contrived to head it into the only bit of the net the Honduran keeper Valladares could possibly have reached. A great save, but a great save he should never have been able to make.
You worried this might cost them, as finish after Chilean finish failed to match the quality of their buildup play, but in the end the game kind of drifted to a close. The Hondurans managed one Welcome break, but he was off balance, and his shot went high and wide. Otherwise it was all Chile.
They must have been pleased when the whistle blew, but when they play Spain they'll need to have sharper finishing than that. I'm hoping my Chilean friend Jorge will come and watch with me. His Dad was Basque, so he'll have a unique perspective on the game.
Next, Spain.
Beausejour 34
A strong start for Chile, who lived up to their billing. Ivan Zamorano, star of Real Madrid, Inter Milan and the national team, has said this is the best Chilean side ever, even better than the 1998 team that he and Marcelo Salas played in. No pressure, then.
The Hondurans were rather less fancied. Their main star is Wilson Palacios, of Spurs, but they also have Johnny Palacios, of Honduran team Olimpias, and Jerry, um, Palacios, of Chinese side Hangzhou Greentown. That's right, there are three Palacios brothers in the squad, a new record. The last one came in on Tuesday to replace the injured Julio Palacios. Not really, he actually replaced Julio Cesar de Leon.
Wilson was the only Palacios brother selected today, but still, what an achievement. I bet Mr and Mrs Palacios are thrilled, but they're probably also a bit nervous every time they all get on the same plane. If there's a fourth brother, we could be looking at a Spielberg sequel called Saving Private Palacios. I do hope there isn't, actually, because being the only brother who wasn't at the World Cup would be like being the only Jackson brother who couldn't sing. And yes, Jermaine's suffered enough. Did I beat you to that one?
While we were waiting for the game to kick off, we had some wise words from Wayne Rooney, at a Press conference. I don't think there has been any stand-out team so far, with the exception of Germany maybe. So the stand-out team is Germany, then, Wayne. How exactly could the stand out team not have been an exception?
Chile started as they meant to carry on. Fernandez put a twenty five yard free kick just over after a minute, while Vidal hit a long range effort which swerved enough to make the goalkeeper mishandle it momentarily. Honduras had some moments too. Pavon showed some nice control on the edge of the box before rather wasting the shot, then Espinosa's effort was deflected wide.
The best chance, it seemed, fell to Vidal after twenty five minutes. A corner came straight to him, he had a free header, but it went well over.
Then Chile scored. It was hard to see what was happening in the dark (this was probably the most shadow challenged game yet), but as far as I could tell Isla got free down the right, and crossed it to the very Unchilean sounding Jean Beausejour. At the time I thought it came off his foot, then his head, then in, but apparently it was deflected off the defender who was trying to get in a challenge. A deserved goal, anyway.
It seemed to make the Chileans want to show their skills off even more. Valdivia, a delight throughout, tried a backheel into the box, which the waiting Chileans just failed to get to, then he ran in on a deflected shot from Sanchez, collided with the keeper, and only a rather dubious free kick decision stopped everyone pouncing on the rebound. The referee was the first poor one we've had, actually, and a number of decisions about free kicks were clearly in error.
He seemed to get the big decision right, though. Early in the second half Alvarez burst through into the box for Honduras, but he was tackled by Medel, who clearly took the ball away before he took the man.
Soon after that, the Honduran Pavon (in a game like Chile v Honduras, you can't rely on the name to indicate nationality) seemed to take a knock, and Georgie Welcome came on for him. Amazingly, the commentators didn't call this a Welcome change, presumably feeling themselves above such puns. Such Olympian restraint. I can't imagine how it would feel.
Chile carried on with the running and the passing and the shooting and the putting it all together. After 64 minutes they should have scored again, when a Fernandez free kick reached Vidal on the goal line. He played it back across to the excellently named Waldo Ponce, who contrived to head it into the only bit of the net the Honduran keeper Valladares could possibly have reached. A great save, but a great save he should never have been able to make.
You worried this might cost them, as finish after Chilean finish failed to match the quality of their buildup play, but in the end the game kind of drifted to a close. The Hondurans managed one Welcome break, but he was off balance, and his shot went high and wide. Otherwise it was all Chile.
They must have been pleased when the whistle blew, but when they play Spain they'll need to have sharper finishing than that. I'm hoping my Chilean friend Jorge will come and watch with me. His Dad was Basque, so he'll have a unique perspective on the game.
Next, Spain.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)