Some random observations after the third group fixtures:

Chile 1-2 Spain: Chile’s manic attack played quite compact in the midfield to start things off, hoping not to let any easy goals from the creative Spanish. Spain played the same, with Fernando Torres as the target man up top and David Villa the withdrawn forward on the left. Chile had the speedy players that moved the ball very quickly but not very organized, while Spain sustained their attack a lot better with combination passes. Chile’s rearguard looked a lot less organized from the beginning, losing their shape and discipline on several Spanish services in the box. Chile’s attack was not so much direct as much as it was long, sending very long passes behind the Spanish defense hoping somebody would run onto the ball, but they did see more of the ball early on. Three yellow cards on Chile in the first 20 minutes made defending a chore from then on. A fatal error by the Chilean goalkeeper coming way too far out of the penalty area to defend a long Spanish pass got Spain off the schneid when Villa sent a 50-yarder into the empty goal. After that Chile’s attack got more frenetic and less organized (hard to imagine since it wasn’t that organized to begin with), and when that happened they lost any semblance of discipline in the back, resulting in another fatal error and a beautiful Spanish goal by Andres Iniesta on combination passing ending with a divine assist from Xavi. On the score Chilean Marco Estrada was given his second yellow of the game, resulting in a sending off that put Chile down to ten men for the last 54 minutes, a hole they just couldn’t overcome. Amazingly, after halftime Chile got more disciplined in attack (where were they hiding that), becoming more compact in the center, putting passes together and scoring a goal in front of the penalty area on a deft shot from substitute Rodrigo Millar. Not sure what happened but Spain began to get sloppy in possession. Spain still had the better possession and better chances on goal, but Chile did put several scares on them with some direct shots on the Spanish goal. Despite the loss, Madd Props to Chile for winning two games in this group and getting through to the next round; and Big Ups to Spain for getting past the upset to Switzerland and winning the group.

Switzerland 0-0 Honduras: No surprise that Switzerland started out with no offensive urgency whatsoever. Honduras actually showed more adventure in attack to start the match than the Swiss, infrequently getting the ball on the flanks and sending service into the box, but as has been the case all tournament long the Hondurans just couldn’t get on the end of anything. As usual the Swiss were a closed vault door in the back; even with Steven Lichtsteiner in the center of the backline instead of Philippe Senderos the Swiss just would not give up their defensive discipline. Switzerland’s inability to establish anybody up front that could finish for the past two World Cups was evident today. On several occasions Honduras lost their shape in the back but neither Blaise N’Kufo, Eric Derdiyok nor Alexander Frei could finish anything. Hard to imagine a team that has 56% of the possession could be this stultifyingly unimaginative going forward, but this has characterized the Swiss for their last seven World Cup fixtures. Honduras didn’t play with much better creative imagination but looked good the few times they had the possession because of how bad Switzerland was when they had the ball. As a result, Honduras almost stole a win in the 71st minute, but keeper Diego Benaglio denied a wide-open Edgar Alvarez with a brilliant one-handed save. Only after that did Switzerland play with any urgency, and they finally began to pound the ball upfield on the flanks. Still, the better chances were taken by Honduras because in the last 20 minutes Switzerland were pushing forward in numbers, leaving the back vulnerable. In the end it was the inability for both sides to do anything in attack all tournament long that cost both teams a satisfying result. A very winnable game for Switzerland went begging because they couldn’t turn its domination of possession into quality scoring opportunities. Arguably the best defense the World Cup has ever seen (1 goal allowed in seven World Cup matches) is going home because they haven’t been able to find a reliable finisher in more than 24 years.

-daveydoug

Some random observations after the second group fixtures:

Chile 1-0 Switzerland: This game quickly became reminiscent of the Germany-Serbia game with lots of yellow cards issued early, none of which looked deserved. Valon Behrami, the Swiss midfielder, did not deserve his red card either. He did get tangled up with a Chilean player, but both were grabbing and pushing each other and Behrami did nothing deserving of an ejection. Even before the ejection, Chile was the more offensive team and they really started getting aggressive after, playing lots of long balls down the flanks, trying to stretch the Swiss defense. However, the Swiss defense stayed disciplined and compact so La Roja’s best opportunities came from long distance in the first half. After the break, Chile began to get penetration, but didn’t convert until 15 minutes remained. Esteban Paredes broke an offside trap, beat the goalie on the right wing and then lifted a perfect chip cross back over the goalie to Mark Gonzalez on the far post for a header that beat a defender at the goal line. The Swiss, until then content to lay back on defense, playing for the draw, finally started pressing forward, but not surprisingly had no rhythm and never tested Chile’s goalie. They put together one really good opportunity on a back heel to Eren Derdiyok, but he missed left on an easy shot from the penalty shot spot. Chile took advantage of the Swiss desperation and got some great opportunities on the counterattack, but kept shooting wide. With the win, Chile sits atop Group H, but face Spain in their final fixture. If Spain wins and the Swiss beat Honduras, three teams would finish with 6 points in the group and tie-breakers will leave one of them disappointed. FIFA needs to do something about referees who are too quick to book players. Nine yellows and the red were issued in this game. While a few were deserved, football is a contact sport and it takes away from the play if players are worried that the slightest contact may result in a booking, not to mention the man advantage was huge in what ultimately was a one-goal game.

Spain 2-0 Honduras: After the embarrassing 1-nil opening loss to Switzerland, Spain opened with a more offensive 4-2-3-1 formation and were very aggressive on the attack. After up-tempo play against Chile in the first fixture, Honduras played very conservatively, sitting back on defense in a 4-5-1, and not pushing out on the counterattack very well. The Honduran defense did not close well and the Spaniards found a lot of room to operate. Spain quickly got on the board when striker extraordinaire David Villa dribbled in from the left flank, beating three defenders in the process, before smoking a shot past the goalie from 10 yards out. The Hondurans learned nothing from the Swiss strategy of tight marking and hard tackling against the Spanish. With room to maneuver, the Spanish got a lot of opportunities and should have gotten far more goals. With the addition of a second striker at the beginning of the second half, the Honduran offense picked up some, but never managed to be a threat. Villa got himself and Spain on the board again early in the second half on a shot from just outside the box that deflected off a defender. Villa should have had the hat trick, but put a penalty kick just barely wide right with the goalie guessing left. Although the Spaniards will be kicking themselves for missing so many great chances, this looked like the team that was one of the pre-Cup favorites. Spain cannot relax though with a must-win game against Chile as they cannot depend on Honduras to beat Switzerland. Honduras’ only shot at advancement would depend on Chile beating Spain and at least a four goal victory over the Swiss, an unlikely result.

-amwooods13