Just That Kind of Day

I have to say, I'm surprised how well I'm dealing with this lack of sleep. As anyone who knows me well can attest to, I have had sleep problems of varying degrees for the last ten years or so, so I'm used to operating on little rest. However, I'm usually of the type that gets terrible sleep one night but gets through the day fine and then gets a normal night the next time. But this has been a completely different type of tired so far. Sleep count for the last three days: 5 hours, 3.5 hours, 4 hours. I mean, fuck, I used to sleep that much in one night when I was in college. Maybe the soccer is keeping me going. Sure, we'll go with that so I can seamlessly transition into discussion of the games and you can be spared any additional sleep related bitching.

Going into today, I was mainly excited to see Spain because of their high quality of play and because, well, I like them. Save the United States of course, I am most interested in how Spain progresses so I wanted to see how they would open up with Switzerland. Even with this as my focus, I also was happy to get the chance to see a Chilean side that I was somewhat unfamiliar with but had heard many good things about their pace and skill on the ball. And there was still a pressure packed game between South Africa and a Uruguayan side that would probably get a chance to play more offensively than they were able to against France. I suppose all of these things worked out to some degree, although far from perfect for me and obviously many other fans.


Honduras vs Chile

I was excited for this game because I really wanted to see Chile for 90 minutes rather than the snippets of highlights I caught during their impressive qualifying run to second in the CONMEBOL standings. With Honduras as the opponent it was unlikely that Chile would truly be challenged and we'd get to see their true nature, but that also meant there was the possibility for Chile to dominate and entertain. Things started off well for Chile with Matias Fernandez taking what has probably been the best free kick so far of the tournament, a dipping, pacey ball that went just over the bar and onto the top netting, prompting reactions from Chile fans who thought he had scored. Chile won the free kick due to their attacking possession and that would keep up throughout the game, thankfully. They were experts at stringing quick passes together to move the attack forward, as well as to switch the point of attack out wide to free up some of their talented wingers. Add in the fact that several of their players were very impressive on the ball and Chile did an excellent job of showcasing all their talent (against Honduras, remember).

Honduras did their best to contain and to their credit, the defense stopped many of Chile's final passes to keep out sure scoring opportunities. They did not play exceptionally well on the counter, but still were able to create opportunities such as in the 15th minute when Carlos Pavon let a pass from his right roll across his body to line up an open left-footed shot. Unfortunately for Honduras, Pavon completely duffed the shot and sent it skittering off to the left of the goal. These chances occurred, but really this game was all about Chile's attack. By the 25th minute, Chile already had four corners to one for Honduras and on their fourth, Arturo Vidal put a chance over the bar. For a while, it seemed like this might be one of those games for a strong attacking team, one where they put together a great game but can't put the damn ball in (FORESHADOWING!!!). All of that evaporated in the 34th minute however when Mauricio Isla was able to run onto a well weighted through ball and put a cross in front intended for Jean Beausejour. Honduran defender Sergio Mendoza beat Beausejour to the ball but his attempted clear ricocheted off the Chilean winger's back and into the net. Sometimes even the best attacking side simply needs a little luck to be rewarded for their hard work (MORE FORESHADOWING!!!). In the end it was a lucky goal, but aggressive attacking play got them to a point where luck could score a goal.

This did not become a game where the first side scores and it opens up because the other team needs a goal to equalize. Honduras stayed in roughly the same defensive shell throughout the game and tried to use its counter attacks as well as possible. Looking back, it just seemed like they were scared of being embarrassed and knew that that was definitely a possibility with Chile being as dangerous with possession as they were. So Honduras stayed playing defensively and had to rely on their best chances being half chances, such as Ramon Nunez's open shot that sailed a good 10 feet over the crossed bar. Chile finished out the half with more attacking play, the best opportunity coming from Alexis Sanchez taking a cut inside and firing a shot on goal that actually deflected off of a hand. It was an obvious hit but no penalty kick was awarded so the referee must have decided that the contact was unavoidable and unintentional. Chile went into the half up a goal and the obvious dominant side.

Honestly, this game was incredibly entertaining to watch but I'm not sure how well that translates to me typing since all you'll read is "and then blah almost scored for Chile... close chance by blah for Chile... blah is just dominant on the ball for Chile" and so on. So rather than relating all the chances, let me tell you how good Alexis Sanchez was in this game:

Alexis Sanchez was so goddamn good in this game.

I still have to calm down and remember that this was Honduras he was running at. He wasn't taking on Brazilian or German defenders. Hell, he wasn't even taking on Paraguayan or Serbian defenders. He was taking on arguably one of the poorest quality sides in the World Cup. That being said, he was absolutely special during this game. He played fearlessly, never ruling out running at a defender that was in the way of him making a play. Even with that attitude though, he never put his head down and needlessly charged in when he was beat. He often would set up a defender with a move and then use the space to put a cross in to a teammate. He set up quality opportunities in the 28th, 44th, 62nd and 79th minutes (going by my notes) and that's not counting the times he would make a nice play but then things would go awry and it wouldn't be worth me writing down. He was electric in this game and made it very fun to watch.

Lastly, let me atone for my Honduras bashing in that previous section by saying that the Honduran defenders played admirably considering how often they were abandoned by their middies who had already been beaten on passing combinations or dribbling moves. The back four saw attack after attack after attack because their midfield and/or forwards couldn't hold on to the ball for long enough to give them a breather and despite that, as much as I've talked about the great chances that Chile had, a lot of them were thwarted by excellent backline play. And considering how often they were under pressure, it is not surprising that at least some of that pressure would get through. It was very surprising that this game ended 1-0 because Chile had an insane amount of quality possession with good opportunities. Was there some lack in finishing on the part of Chile? Yes, I think it's fair to say that. But I'd rather give the majority of credit to the Honduran backline who played admirably under duress.

Chile 1 - 0 Honduras


Switzerland vs Spain

Ok. Awesome. Very excited to see this, especially after Brazil played a solid but somewhat underwhelming game yesterday. Could Spain breakdown a sound defensive team in Switzerland and truly lay claim to best team at this tournament or would something completely predictable happen to the team with the most World Cup games to not win the World Cup? Ugh. Ugh ugh ugh.

The first thing to jump out at me was Spain's goofy 4-3-3 formation. It was essentially a more attack oriented 4-5-1 because of how far the two wingers were pushing up, but it seemed weird to play David Villa up high by himself when he works best when he has someone with him to flick balls onto or make runs off of. But given Spain's plethora of attacking talent, I suppose I could understand wanting to push more quick wingers into the attack. The game started out fairly tame with Spain imposing their style of play, a patient passing game with quick touches to probe the defense and seek out openings. The problem was, Switzerland is a very organized, very disciplined defensive team that wasn't going to freak out just because the ball had been switched from the left to the right. The first fifteen minutes or so consisted of Spain controlling the ball almost exclusively, sure. But there was almost nothing dangerous about it. At no time did they break down the Swiss defense and get a good opportunity, or even a good idea that lacked slightly in execution. David Silva put the first Spanish chance on goal, but it was a fairly slow roller from the left edge of the 18, certainly not a dangerous ball to test the keeper. Similarly, Andres Iniesta got somewhat free but ended up with a fairly standard shot at the keeper in the 21st. Possession is great and patience is a virtue when playing this way, but at some point you have to realize that the defense is wise to what you're doing and is happy to let you play that way. There were other notable chances for Spain and a counter or two for Switzerland, but nothing out of the ordinary based on the description I gave above. The game went to the half still tied at zeroes and it almost seemed like a half was just wasted, similar to what Holland did in the first half of their game against Denmark.

All hell broke loose in the 52nd minute when Gelson Fernandes cleaned up an absolute mess in front of the Spanish goal and dumped in an easy one for the first score of the game. I've watched this replay an unhealthy number of times given how angry it makes me and I'm not sure I'm on board with Robbie Mustoe of ESPN blaming this squarely on the Spanish defense. Blaise N'Kufo takes in a miss-hit ball and lays a pass into the path of Eren Derdiyok who runs hard at goal. Ok, Derdiyok shouldn't have gotten free here but the play is far from over. Iker Casillas comes off his line very quickly and goes into Derdiyok with his legs in a hard challenge that frees the ball. However, rather than flying away, the ball bounces off recovering defender Gerard Pique, back into the right knee of Derdiyok, down to Derdiyok's left foot (both of these touches occurring while he's flying through the air due to Casillas' challenge), and directly into the path of Fernandes, who has just enough time to turn his foot sideways into a trap and hit the ball just underneath a falling Pique because Derdiyok kicked him in the temple with his cleats as he was falling. The ball just barely gets by Pique's falling body and Fernandes touches it into goal a half second before Casillas would have cleared it with a slide tackle or before Joan Capdevila would have completed his recovery run to block the shot. Yes, the Swiss scored. And it was a heads up play by Fernandes and I take nothing away from him. But I don't know if I'll ever see a more unlucky sequence for a defensive team.

While this was terrible news for me as a fan, it was a good thing for me (and for anyone else really) as a viewer. Down a goal in a game that Spain needed to have, they were about to press like crazy to keep from getting no result in the match. And that's exactly what they tried to do. Less than ten minutes after the goal, Fernando Torres came on to partner up with Villa up top and Spain switched to a more traditional 4-4-2 so that Torres and Villa could play off of each other like they did so well in Euro 2008 when they won the championship. Almost right away, the chances started coming. In the 63rd minute, Villa was disposessed on a run into the middle of the box but the collapse of the defenders allowed Iniesta to collect the errant ball and put a curling shot back post... just wide. Then in the 70th, Spain came as close as they would come when Xavi took a corner by passing on the ground to the top of the 18 and Xabi Alonso scorched the ball, keeping it low but not low enough as it rang off the crossbar. Jesus Navas had come into the game along with Torres and was an instant game changer with his quick runs down the right flank, such as in the 72nd when he took a lovely touch over the man marking him to come in free on goal. But thanks to an unlucky in between bounce and a good cover by the Swiss central defense, he could only get a weak shot on goal.

I could go on and on with the Spanish chances in the second half after the Swiss goal, but I'll go ahead and ruin it for you: none of them go in. The Spanish put unbelievable pressure on goal for the last half an hour of the game but the finish was always lacking. Before I forget, let me give all the credit in the world to the Swiss defense. They played absolutely rock solid for the entire game and did very well to shut down play through the middle which is where Spain prefers to build through. In particular, Stephane Grichting was a rock, always stepping up to take a player off the ball and being seemingly omnipresent on heading away crosses into the middle. All of this being said, I can't believe the Spanish didn't put one in. It was like the Chileans earlier, only this happened to Chile after they scored. You know, that important, little part. It was just one of those days for the Spaniards and now it puts them in a particularly dangerous position. They would be almost assured of a berth in the second round if they won their last two games and they should definitely beat up on Honduras next week as revenge for all the frustration from today. But Chile is not going to be an easy task and even if they win that game as well, their six points might qualify them in second place to create a match-up with Brazil in the first elimination game. Devastating early loss for Spain, but they are still far from out of it and here's hoping they turn things around.

Switzerland 1 - 0 Spain


South Africa vs Uruguay

In some ways, this was a hard match to watch. Not because of the level of play or anything, but because of what it meant for South Africa. Never in a World Cup has the host nation failed to make the knockout stages, not in the 80 years of its existance. Coming in, people were worried that South Africa might be the first, but emotionally speaking that seemed impossible because of how proud South Africa was to host the Cup, how impressive their celebrations in the stands were, how amazing the support was in general. After this game though, it seems as if the faithful fans may end up being let down.

In the 7th, Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez combined on a nifty passing combination that only went awry when Suarez needed to let the ball run on to his left foot to create space and let it run too far, resulting in a weak shot. Still, with quick moves, clever passes and a constant eye for playmaking, these two players would dominate the entire match. Forlan had looked dangerous against France but Suarez had really gotten lost in the shuffle. It is unfortunate for South Africa that they both put it together at the same time because tonight, Forlan and Suarez looked as dangerous as any pair in the tournament.

Uruguay kept up the pressure with more ball control and more chances around the South African penalty box, although for a while they were mostly half chances (weak shots, one pass away from finishing, etc.). At several points, South Africa would hold possession for a little while and look like they were making a move to get back into the match. But then Uruguay would reassert their dominance and work the ball around before moving on the attack again. In the 24th, Uruguay, like Chile, got a little bit of luck to go with their ability when Forlan ripped a shot that deflected off a South African defender and dipped under the crossbar to beat keeper Itumeleng Khune. The deflection increased the downward spin and changed a close shot that was probably going over to a deflection that dropped sharply and put Uruguay up 1-0. What normally happens after a goal is that the team that was scored on holds on to the ball more and starts to press more to get some momentum back through possession and chances. South Africa got the first part of this formula right by holding on to the ball for extended periods of play but they were never able to turn that time into something serious going forward. After weathering the initial storm, Uruguay took control of the game back and it went to the half 1-0.

I would like to paint a more heartening picture here and talk about the strength of resolve in the players of the host nation and the grit they showed to get back into this game. And while I'm not knocking any of those qualities in the South African players, that wasn't the story of the second half. The second half was about the dominance of Forlan and Suarez. Suarez was all over the place, from setting up teammates - like in the 49th minute when he beat a defender and put a nice ball into the box that Edinson Cavani just couldn't get on goal - to making darting runs - like in the 57th when he got behind a fullback quickly enough to maybe earn a penalty kick that wasn't called. Forlan was a different kind of impressive, making clever passes and turns to open up space and free teammates to work their own magic. If Suarez was the flash, Forlan was the brains, with the two combining to dominate the match.

Things got worse for South Africa in the 76th when keeper Khune brought down Suarez in the box for a penalty kick. To make matters worse, Khune was shown a straight red card and was then shown off the field. Substitute Moeneeb Josephs came into the game and the first thing he had to do was face down a Diego Forlan penalty kick. Nice. Josephs did excellent, guessing correctly to his right and getting a hand up to stop any high shots. Well, almost any high shots. Forlan took a perfect shot, putting it high enough over Josephs that he had no chance even when he guessed right. Uruguay was up 2-0 and it was all over for South Africa. My take on the call: Khune did make contact with Suarez and would have prevented Suarez from getting to the ball. However, Suarez's touch around the keeper took him too close to other defenders and he would have lost possession. It's really a tough call and I think I could argue for a no call, or a PK with no card. But to get both is incredibly harsh and I don't think things should have gone that way.

Just to make this quick for the sake of all the South African readers I'm sure to have by now, Uruguay scored once again in the last minute of stoppage time. It was fitting that the goal was created by Forlan crossing to the back post for Suarez who took one touch to settle and then played a perfect ball over the keeper to Alvaro Pereira for the header/knee in. Unfortunately, this result also comes at the expense of South Africa, who will now most likely have to beat France next week to have any shot at qualifying. A France/Mexico draw tomorrow would greatly help their chances but it doesn't look good for Bafana Bafana.

Uruguay 3 - 0 South Africa


Finishing this post before 1:30? Absolute craziness. I think I'll luxuriate in my six hours of sleep before thinking too much about the games tomorrow. But about those games tomorrow... they're really good. The lead game is Argentina vs South Korea, two sides who each looked very impressive in their own way during opening game wins. It will be interesting to watch Argentina's flair and attacking style against an experienced and disciplined group in the South Koreans. Next is Greece vs Nigeria in a battle of teams trying to get a win to stay alive in their group. More importantly, will Greece continue their quest to look worse than my 0-4 rec soccer team? Finally, we have France vs Mexico in a game of perennial powerhouses that have fallen on hard(er) times and are now trying to keep pace with Uruguay in a group that's still up for grabs. I may be tired, but that still sounds like an excellent night of sports. I'll get some sleep for now and be back at this again tomorrow.