DAY 11 REVIEW

Portugal belatedly started their World Cup campaign, and in doing so, virtually qualified for the second round, barring a huge goal swing in the final set of games in Group G. They made football look easy in their 7-0 demolition of North Korea, who had looked so impressive in narrowly losing 2-1 to Brazil. But the Asians paid the price for a more positive approach in Cape Town, and despite a decent start, were eventually blown away by a rampant Portugal. In a repeat of one of the most famous World Cup matches in history, when Portugal came from 3-0 down to win 5-3 in a quarter-final in 1966, there was no comeback needed this time. Ricardo Carvalho hit the post early on, but North Korea had some chances of their own – right-back Cha Jong-Hyok fired just wide after a neat build up, and Hong Yong-Jo brought a good save out of keeper Eduardo from a cross shot, but Mun In-Guk headed the rebound over from a good position. But that was as good as it got, and they took the lead just before the half hour mark. Tiago stepped infield from the right touchline, and played an excellent through ball to meet a brilliantly-timed run from Raul Meireles, and the Porto midfielder fired the ball under Ri Myong-Guk, no doubt hoped by the slippery surface. Although North Korea held out until half-time, as they chased the game gaps started to appear, and Portugal exploited this space to maximum effect in a devastating second half display. On 53 minutes, Miguel launched a long ball forward. Meireles chested the ball down for striker Hugo Almeida, who flicked the ball back into his path. He bided his time, before playing in Simao on the right of the penalty area. The winger made no mistake, slipping the ball through the keeper’s legs. Minutes later, it was 3-0. Cristiano Ronaldo set the excellent left-back Fabio Coentrao free, and his excellent cross left Almeida with the simple task of heading into the top corner. By the hour mark, the impressive Tiago was celebrating a goal. Ronaldo was becoming increasingly influential, and his pull back found the former Chelsea midfielder, and he sidefooted home from the edge of the area. For the next 20 minutes or so, Portugal took their foot off the gas to an extent, although Ronaldo fired the ball against the crossbar from 30 yards – the goal he so craved was still eluding him. With ten minutes remaining, it was 5-0, although this time it was solely down to a mistake from the tiring Korean defence, than Portuguese brilliance. Ri Kwang-Chon slashed at an easy ball, and Liedson smashed the ball home with virtually his first touch after coming on as a substitute. With three minutes remaining, Ronaldo finally got his reward. After another defensive mistake, he just about skipped around the keeper, but the ball bounced up, rolled off his head and down his neck, but the £80 million man showed immense coolness to stroke the ball in when it dropped out of the sky. They were not done yet, and Tiago had his second in the last minute, heading in a cross from substitute Miguel Veloso. It may ‘only be North Korea, but Portugal have sent out a statement of intent. Chile, Spain or Switzerland should beware.

In Group H, Chile took a huge step towards the second round with a narrow victory over Switzerland, in a game constantly interrupted by the pedantic referee from Saudi Arabia, Khalil Al Ghamdi. The Swiss held out for the 67 minutes they needed to break the World Cup record for the longest time without conceding a goal, going back to their second round defeat to Spain in 1994. But coach Ottmar Hitzfeld will b disappointed they could not see out the game for a valuable point, after playing for an hour with ten men. And they had Mr Al Ghamdi to thank for that, although West Ham midfielder Valon Behrami hardly helped himself. The tone was set from the first minute, when Chile’s stocky striker Humberto Suazo was harshly booked for a high tackle on a Swiss defender, and the referee continued to be picky throughout the match, resulted in nine yellow cards and the one red. The match was perfectly set up as Chile’s flamboyant attacking philosophy against Switzerland’s stoic attitude, but it turned into the massed Swiss defence versus Chile pouring forward until the goal arrived with 15 minutes left. Chile brought two decent saves from keeper Diego Benaglio, from long range efforts from Arturo Vidal and Carlos Carmona, but Switzerland were their usually conservative self until the main flashpoint after half an hour. Behrami was shielding the ball on the right touchline. First he held off Jean Beausejour, slightly raising his hands but doing the job. But when he was challenged by Vidal, he looked round, and raised his hands to his opponents face. Vidal went down, albeit dramatically, but Behrami can have few complaints – if you raise your hands to an opponents’ face, you’re in trouble. Switzerland’s commitment to solidity became total, symbolised by sacrificing captain and record scorer Alexander Frei for an extra midfield player, Tranquilo Barnetta. The gifted youngster Alexis Sanchez seemed the most likely source of a breakthrough, but Benaglio was equal to the best he had to offer. The same could not be said of the much heralded Suazo, who was sacrificed at half-time after a disappointing showing. He was one of two substitutions during the interval, with South African-born Mark Gonzalez and Jorge Valdivia entering the fray, with Vidal also exiting. Sanchez thought he had broken the deadlock, when a cleverly-worked free-kick saw Beausejour square the ball to him, but his deflected effort off Valdivia was ruled out for a clear offside. He had an even better chance a minute later, as a mistake from Steve von Bergen let him in, but Benaglio made a fantastic save with the Udinese playmaker bearing down on him. It seemed like there was only going to be one winner, and Marcelo Bielsa had clearly instructed his side to go for it. The third and final substitution came just after the hour mark, with striker Estaban Paredes coming on for Matias Fernandez, and the sub was to prove vital to the winning goal. After the landmark had been passed, the Swiss held out for another eight minutes. As if to advocate Bielsa’s attacking stance, the three substitutes combined to send the South American’s into delirium. They finally picked a way through and broke the solid offside trap when Valdivia slipped the ball through for Paredes. The sub rounded Benaglio, and showing great composure, clipped the ball to the back post for Gonzalez to head into the ground and into the net, past the defender on the line. This provided an entertaining last 15 minutes, as Switzerland had to commit players forward, but a succession of set pieces came to nothing. Chile were lightning quick on the break, trying to get the second goal which would have clinched the victory, but Paredes wasted two glorious chances when one-on-one with Benaglio. And the South Americans were almost made to pay for their naivety and profligacy – Switzerland got the great chance they had waited for in the final minute, but when the ball broke for Eren Derdiyok, the substitute somehow sidefooted the ball wide from the penalty spot. That was the final chance of the game, and Chile are on the brink of setting up a last 16 minute, probably with either Brazil or Portugal. A draw will be good enough in the final game against European champions Spain, but even a defeat may not be terminal. And this would definitely be a win for football.

In the final game of the day, the World Cup reached the halfway mark. And with it, Spain got their campaign back on track with a win which was far more comfortable than the 2-0 win suggested against Honduras. David Villa, Barcelona’s new £35 million signing scored both, but Spain should have been 3-0 up by the time he broke the deadlock in devastating fashion after 17 minutes. Sergio Ramos and the out of sorts Fernando Torres missed sitters, before Villa smashed the crossbar from long range. But he was not to be denied when he picked up the ball near the left touchline. He seemed short of options, but he showed a devastating turn of speed to go in between two defenders, and with Xavi waiting for the pass, he somehow bent it around keeper Noel Valladares and into the top corner from a tight angle. Torres missed two more simple chances, and at half-time it was still only 1-0. Early in the second half, Villa was perhaps lucky to stay on the pitch in light of the earlier match in Group H, after aiming a slap in the direction of defender, Emilipo Izaguirre, but minutes later he made it 2-0. A quick break saw Xavi set him up on the edge of the box, and he touched it out of his feet before firing over Valladares via a deflection off Osman Chavez. The onslaught continued, and there was no respite for Honduras. Right back Sergio Ramos broke forward and fired just wide, before Villa had a glorious opportunity to complete the second hat-trick of this World Cup. Winger Jesus Navas was tripped in the penalty area, by Izaguirre, and Villa stepped up. There was no hint of giving strike partner Torres some confidence, but Villa sent Valladares the wrong way only to see the ball go inches past the post. Cesc Fabregas got his first taste of World Cup action off the bench, and almost scored within 16 seconds, only to see Chavez hack his shot off the line after he had rounded the keeper. Villa saw another hat-trick opportunity pass him by after a brilliant last ditch challenge from Sergio Mendoza, but Vicente del Bosque’s team had taken their foot off the gas. His team will probably have to be more clinical than this though, to secure their qualification of Friday against an in-form Chile.


PLAYER OF THE DAY – David Villa.

In stark contrast to his strike partner Fernando Torres, here is a striker bang in form. The rest of the teams in South Africa (and Zlatan Ibrahimovic) should be very worried. He leads the line superbly, an international goals record of 40 goals in 60 caps can’t be argued with. But he is such a perfectionist, he will be devastated he did not clinch his hat-trick.

GOAL OF THE DAY – David Villa’s first.

There seemed few options for Barcelona’s newest big name when the ball found him towards the left touchline. The sensible thing would have been to work the ball inside to start another attack. But instead, Villa sprinted between two defenders, and instead of passing, engineered some space to bend the ball around another defender and into the top corner. The goalkeeper had no chance.

GAFFE OF THE DAY – Khalil Al Ghamdi.

The Saudi official went a long way to ruining in part what had the potential to be an intriguing contest. He probably got the sending off of Valon Behrami just about right. But of the nine yellow cards, many of them were debatable, and he made no attempt to let the game flow. And he booked the Chile defender Gary Medel in the second half for raising his arms in the penalty area – so clearly consistency was also lacking, as judging by the example he had set, that should have been a red card. He should probably not expect a call from FIFA to referee further games in this World Cup.

FANTASY TEAM
There was a quite dismal performance from my team on Day 11 of this World Cup. David Silva, the Spanish winger, was surprisingly dropped and didn’t even make it on to the pitch off the bench, and Fernando Torres, his teammate, missed a hatful of chances and was taken off without troubling the scorers.