World Cup: Portugal vs Spain – final
By Michael Vass | June 29, 2010
Here was a match-up that had a bit of everything. An old rivalry of neighboring nations. The European champions vs the superstar Ronaldo. Portgugal has not given up a goal in the 2010 World Cup, Spain had not gotten a yellow card. What could happen?
Well the start of the match said a lot of what whas to be expected. Spain came out on fire with determination to score immediately. Portugal took on a defensive counter-attacking stance. For the next 45 minutes both teams would have 4 shots on goal, but neither would get a goal. Portugal’s defense was too strong, and the Spanish offense was just not sharp enough.
One of the reasons why Spain could not score in the first half was a reason they had trouble in the second. #16 Sergio Busquets of Spain was completely matched by #23 Fábio Coentrão in the final 1/3 of Potugal’s side of the pitch. Try after try (there were over 7 attempts between the two) failed to result in even a shot, let alone on goal. It rendered Spain without an option on the right side of the field, adding to the pressure on #7 David Villa and #9 Fernando Torres.
The big problem for Portugal, besides letting Spain have possession some 60% of the time, was that Captain #7 Cristiano Ronaldo was completely nullified. There were a handful of touches on the ball for Ronaldo, most resulting in a long and somewhat desperate attempt at the goal from distance. Effectively he was not a factor for Spain to counter, therefore easing the pressure from a Portugal counter-attack.
The big heroes of the match though had to be both goalies. The two goalkeepers defended against a total of 15 shots on goal (10 against #1 Eduardo for Portugal and 5 against #1 Iker Casillas for Spain). Eduardo had the worst of it. Not only having more shots to defend against, but also having those shots come at him generally harder and from more difficult angles.
The fact that #7 David Villa, in the 62nd minute, was able to recover the ball after cracking a blazing shot at the goal from close range, and then just chip in a second shot before Eduardo could stand up was luck. Not that it didn’t take skill to get into the position to make the shot in the first place. Nor does it take away from the presence of mind of Villa in staying focused for that second shot.
Perhpas one of the other critical factors of the match was the referee. There were just 1 yellow card against Spain on #14 Xabi Alonso in the 73rd minute, that was blatant and 2 yards from the referee. There was a yellow against Portugal’s #19 Tiago, out of frustration on Villa in the 79th minute. There was 1 RED card, that looked quite unfair, against Portugal’s #21 Ricardo Costa. In the 88th minute, #11 Joan Capdevila dropped to the ground holding his ear outside the Spanish penalty box. At first there was no understanding of where the RED card came from. In the first replay angle it looked as if there was no contact and that Capdevila had taken a dive. In another long angle replay from above it looks like there MIGHT have been an incidental contact that resulted in an elbow. IF it was not a dive, of which I am not convinced, it definitely was not a RED card offense.
The only other questionable call was a clear pull down of Ronaldo on the attack in the second half, outside the penalty box, that the referee either didn’t see or ignored.
Overall it was an excellent match. Spain played a strong aggressive 90+ minutes while Portugal was highly effective on defense and counters. Had Portugal been on the offensive before or immediately after the 62st minute of the second half, the outcome might well have been different. But Spain advances to the quarterfinals and Portugal goes home, heads held high.
Final score, Spain 1 – Portugal 0.
Topics: Sports | No Comments »
Leave a Reply
« Movie Preview: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows | Home | World Cup: Quarterfinals – Brazil vs Netherlands – half »
Loading ...
Casino European Roulette with High-quality Technological style 3D graphics skin - play for fun earn and achievements! Mouse, follow in-game instructions.
Classic Black Jack game where you have to get a 21 to make black jack. Classic Casino game Hit on a chip to place bet. Then play and choose hit or stand acording to your cards.
