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

Some random observations after the first group fixtures:

Honduras 0-1 Chile: Up-tempo start from both sides, with Chile having a bit more possession and quite a few more offensive chances in the final third, but the possession was largely frenetic than organized because of a certain lack of midfield control. Lots of pace with both teams ready to run all day, the game had the more back-and-forth feel of a basketball game or tennis match rather than a football match. Both sides were more reactive than pro-active when it came to defense, not really closing down anybody, not showing very good anticipation skills and not cutting off the passing lanes. Decent use of width on both sides. About 30 minutes in Chile started to put some sustained attacks together. All the early Chilean furious possession is rewarded by a goal from Jean Beausejour on one of the few excellent buildups. Chile used their quickness and speed to find space and take advantage of the outside backs on Honduras. Honduras did not get possession in the Chilean penalty area at all in the first half. Much more confident combination attacks from Chile thereafter, keeping Honduras on their backheels and making them have to take long, inaccurate through balls into the attacking end, keeping Honduras unable to sustain any kind of attack. Playing with much more confidence as the game wore on Chile found more and more ways to attack the Honduran goalmouth, keeping them under siege. Gotta give it to Chile, they did not just sit on their lead; they kept attacking. Solid win for a surprisingly entertaining squad.

Spain 0-1 Switzerland: Of course the best was saved for last. Size and physicality was the name of the game for the Swiss. They were going to tackle hard and put a body on every Spanish player all game long. Great combination passing and sustained possession by Spain but they couldn’t get through the disciplined, organized Swiss on the attacking end. Switzerland did such a good job of closing down space that Spain was left with very few options to get the ball through. To their credit, the Swiss didn’t stay back in numbers, but they were so quick to transition back when they lost possession, even when Spain tried quick direct passes into the box. In the 36th minute, Philippe Senderos, the defender most responsible for the side not giving up a single score at Germany 2006, had to come off due to a foot injury. Spain confidently built a head of steam and made a few more advances into the Swiss penalty area, but still ran into a Swiss brick wall. Teams like Switzerland wait for a fatal error in the back to take advantage of. On a Route One kick a miss-hit by a Spanish defender sent the ball into the path of Derdyok, who managed to run the ball into the box and evade a diving Iker Casillas, where Gelson Fernandes got onto the end of it and put it away. In the process of furiously trying to get back that goal, Spain’s backline began to lose their shape and allow the Swiss counter attacking advances into Spain’s penalty area. The last 30 minutes of this game were the best on this tournament so far. No matter how hard the European champions tried the ball just would not go in – and they took an obscene number of shots on goal. Fantastic upset by a very well organized and disciplined Swiss squad.

– daveydoug