So Yeah, Portugal Was OK in That Second Half

Greetings once again to anyone reading. Today brought us the last of the second fixture of group stage matches, the last day of the 7:30am/10:00am/2:30pm schedule of games before games are played simultaneously. Some people were asking me why the times of the games switch up, so I figure I'll address that here just in case others are unsure. Tuesday is the start of the last of each team's group matches and the schedule switches from the above to both games from a group being played at the same time, one group at 10am and the next group at 2:30pm. For example, on Tuesday France plays South Africa and Mexico plays Uruguay, both at 10. Then Argentina plays Greece and South Korea plays Nigeria, both at 2:30. The reason for this is to do everything possible to avoid collusion during these matches. They used to continue playing the games staggered as before, but then in 1982 (I believe, feel free to correct me on this) there was a particularly damaging instance where two teams knew that all each needed to make the next round was draw, leading to the most obviously orchestrated game at the World Cup. It looked as if the teams agreed beforehand not to attempt to win the match, and that very well could have been the case. Because of this, FIFA changed the rules to simultaneous play, which is definitely for the better. Except if someone were trying to watch every match, of course.

Which leads us to this, my decision about what to do once the games begin to run at the same time. I've thought about this and have realized that watching all four games each day is not only infeasible but unnecessary. My whole point with DVRing these games and remaining ignorant of the scores was to watch each game as if it was live. With games being played concurrently, this falls apart because the announcers for each game constantly comment on the other game, making it impossible to watch one and remain clueless as to the result of the other. And really, if I was at home while the games were running live, I would be watching the more interesting game and content myself with watching the highlights of the other one afterward. So that is what I will do each night when I get back from work. I will choose what I consider to be the more interesting game at each time block and do full commentary of those games. Into that write-up, I will insert commentary about the other game running to demonstrate what it was like to be watching possible group winners change from minute to minute. So, there you are. I hope this works for you because I can't really bring myself to stay up until at least 5am each night to watch two games I already know the results of. Any bright ideas are welcome though, so let me know if you have a better solution.

Before I start the games, I just want to say thank you to the people that know I'm doing this and haven't intentionally fucked with me. I've made it through pretty much every day without learning the scores beforehand and I appreciate anyone who has made an effort to keep me in the dark. The guys at work have been great with this especially because they're around me as the games are happening, but thanks as well to anyone who holds back from sending me texts, emails or messages online. I appreciate the help with this. Anyway, enough preamble. On to the games.


North Korea vs Portugal

Before the tournament started, I would have marked this down as an auto-win and probably even a blowout. But then I saw North Korea play Brazil very tough, even sneaking a goal as the game was winding down. I still assumed that Portugal would take this opportunity to collect the full three points, but that was at least a little more in doubt than I would have allowed before. Early on, this doubt looked justified as play was fairly even with Portugal taking more possession but both sides getting chances. In the 7th, Portugal had their first excellent chance as Ricardo Carvalho got free of his marker on a corner and put a very nice header on goal. Unfortunately, it was directly on goal as it struck the post and bounced wide. North Korea was in the game as well though and in the 11th minute Cha Jong-Hyok ran onto a ball played across the middle and let go a well struck first touch shot that swerved just wide right at the end. In between these chances, Portugal kept holding more of the possession and as time wore on, started to play more and more in their offensive third. They were rewarded for their attacking play in the 29th minute when Raul Meireles made an intelligent run behind the defense and Tiago put a through ball directly into his path, allowing Meireles to strike it well on his first touch into the right side of goal. Great vision on both the run and pass and an excellent way to open the match.

The rest of the half, Portugal spent most of their time attacking but to North Korea's credit, they hung in on defense and kept any other chances out. The problem was that now the Koreans were having trouble pressing forward as Portugal's attack became increasingly relentless. Where once they were able to hold possession for a while and get chances on goal, now they were holding on for dear life just trying to keep the ball out of the back of their net. But it worked for the rest of the first half, which was a big victory for North Korea just to be able to go in and recoup only down 1-0. Oh, and it wouldn't be a post about Portugal if I didn't mention an egregious Christiano Ronaldo dive, like in the 45th minute when a defender shielded him from the ball and Ronaldo fell to the ground as if he'd been shot. Ugh. What a diving ponce.

And then there was the second half. I think pretty much everyone knows this by now, but just in case you missed it, Portugal scored six goals this half. Six. That's more than the total number of goals scored in Group H so far this entire tournament. It's absurd, almost unheard of at this level of international play. But it happened and there were some spectacular goals. Since this half was completely dominated by Portugal and North Korea had no notable chances, let's just go through the goals:

Goal 1: Miguel carried the ball over midfield on the right side and put a beautiful long ball into the box for Meireles who chested the ball down to Hugo Almeida. Almeida then one-touch backheeled the ball to Meireles, who layed the ball off perfectly for Simao. Simao made no mistake about it and beats the keeper five-hole to cap a beautiful passing display. Amazing stuff.

Goal 2: Fabio Coentrao got free down the left flank (a constant occurrence during this match) and put in a well measured cross to an unmarked Almeida, who seemingly hovered in the air to knock the header back across the keeper and inside the left post. More standard than all the fancy passing, but still very impressive and efficient.

Goal 3: Ronaldo timed a run perfectly and had acres of space down the left flank (surprise!), allowing him to carry towards goal. As he was closed down by a defender, he picked out Tiago at the top of the 18 with a pass along the ground and Tiago finished smartly to the left of the keeper. One hand on the shot was not enough and Portugal was on the board again. Oh, and these three goals all came within seven minutes. Ridiculous.

Goal 4: A cross was put in from the left side (that's so weird) and the first Korean defender badly misplayed the clear. Liedson had a wide open shot inside the six, but to his credit very calmly played a somewhat difficult volley past the keeper, who had to be just furious with his defense at that point.

Goal 5: Liedson pressured the North Korean defense up high and was able to tackle the ball away, putting the ball right into the path of Ronaldo. Ronaldo touched the ball over the keeper, but Ri Myong-Guk still got a piece of it and the ball popped up in the air... onto the back of Ronaldo's neck where it stayed for a second before falling towards the ground. Ronaldo didn't let it even get that far as he volleyed it into the back of the net. A ridiculous bit of luck for Ronaldo, but still impressive that he was able to one touch shoot it.

Goal 6: Another ball in from the left (no, seriously) and Tiago made a sublime glancing header that found its way inside the right post. Amazing skill on this shot to beat a reasonably positioned Myong-Guk.

So yeah, Portugal was ok in the second half. An absolute barrage of goals that you started to disbelieve as it was happening. North Korea was shocked after the third overall goal and seemed to not be able to keep it together as they let in four more. A very impressive offensive display for Portugal, who have a trip to the knockout rounds all but locked up.

Portugal 7 - 0 North Korea

The standings for Group G are now as follows:

Brazil - 6 Points - +3 Goal Differential
Portugal - 4 Points - +7 Goal Differential
Ivory Coast - 1 Point - -2 Goal Differential
North Korea - 0 Points - -8 Goal Differential

As you can see, Ivory Coast needs to somehow make up 9 goals and have Portugal lose to Brazil in order to make it through to the elimination round. That's just not going to happen so the only question left is who will win the group, and we'll get that answer when Brazil plays Portugal on Friday. Should be an excellent match.


Switzerland vs Chile

I was really looking forward to this game because of the polar opposite styles that would be on display. Switzerland won their first game against Spain on the strength of their defensive tenacity and discipline, whereas Chile won their game against Honduras due to their unrelenting attacking pressure. This game would be a test of which strategy would win out, and early on it looked like that winner would be Chile. In the 10th minute, Arturo Vidal took a touch inside from the left wing and ripped a dipping shot that keeper Diego Benaglio was forced to palm off to the side. During the attempted clear, the ball fell directly to Carlos Carmona who blasted a volley towards the right side of goal that Benaglio dove to stop. Two excellent chances early on for Chile. Unfortunately, the game got a little choppy after that. Most of the possession was in a clogged midfield and neither team was able to keep the ball much in their offensive third. The referee helped to contribute to the start-and-stop nature of the game as well by having a quick whistle on nearly any contact and handing out cards like they were burning a hole in his pocket. All told, he gave out nine yellow cards and one game changing red card.

In the 31st minute, Valon Behrami was given a straight red for what the referee must have interpreted as a malicious elbow to the face of a Chilean player. If true, that would definitely warrant a red and Behrami should be ejected. Except it wasn't a good call. Behrami was being pulled from behind and was using his right arm to try to keep the player off of him. When his arm made contact with the defender, the referee blew the whistle immediately and forced Switzerland to play for an hour down an important player. Terrible decision by the referee and unfortunately, one that you could see coming from the early minutes of the game. He was bound and determined to make his mark on the game and you could only hope it would at least be justified when it happened. Sadly for the Swiss, that wasn't the case.

Chile pressed forward immediately after gaining the advantage, but Switzerland did a good job keeping them bottled up and frustrated for most of the rest of the first half. However, as injury time approached Chile started to use their wide play to open up the game, forcing the Swiss defenders to spread out and create passing lanes that the quick Chilean attackers could use to their advantage. No goals would come in the first half, but it was an important turning point for Chile to find a way to begin to break down the stout defense. The first real chance of the second half for Chile resulted in a goal that was disallowed immediately by the referee. Matias Fernandez took a free kick deep along the left hand side and played a smart ball on the ground to the top of the 18 for Alexis Sanchez to run on to. Sanchez struck the ball wonderfully and it took a slight deflection off of a Swiss defender and found the back of the net. But there were three Chilean attackers offside and because one of them was close enough to screen the keeper, the goal was called back. Tough way for a jubilant Sanchez to lose a goal but probably the right call. Then in the 55th, Sanchez almost took his goal back as a mistake on the ball by Stephane Grichting sent Sanchez in alone on the keeper. Benaglio was able to get a hand to the low shot though, and the Swiss kept the scoreless tie going.

During this time, Chile was dominating possession to the point where the Swiss were not even able to counter anymore. In fact, the first real counter they were able to put together was in the 63rd but it was still botched in the execution. In the 67th minute, the Swiss defense set an all-time World Cup record for straight scoreless minutes, which was an incredible feat. If you are a superstitious person however, you were just waiting for the goal to come as soon as they announced that the old record was broken. That goal did come in the 75th minute when Esteban Paredes timed a run down the right side perfectly to beat the offside trap. He collected himself at the end line and lofted the ball beautifully to the back post where his fellow substitute Mark Gonzalez was waiting. Gonzalez put his header straight down into the ground and then the bounce took it off the underside of the crossbar and in. Fantastic run by Paredes and a smart header by Gonzalez to avoid the defender in front of him.

The rest of the game devolved very quickly into sloppy play by both sides. Though Chile controlled the ball more often and were more composed going forward, they also lost their shape several times and let the Swiss come way too close to getting a cheap tying goal. The closest they came was easily in the 90th minute when Albert Bunjau set up Eren Derdiyok with a heel flick after drawing defenders to him. However, Derdiyok inexplicably missed an open goal as his side footed shot went wide left. With neither side scoring during this free-for-all time frame, Chile was able to take an important three points away from this game, setting them up nicely for their meeting with Spain this Friday. Switzerland is not in a terrible position either though, as they have three points and play group punching bag Honduras on that same day.

Chile 1 - 0 Switzerland


Honduras vs Spain

I told this to anyone who would listen to me in the lead-up to this game, so I'll say it here as well. I would be shocked if Spain won this game by any less than three goals. They had been getting dogged for nearly a week about their shocking defeat at the hands of the Swiss and now had all the pressure squarely on them to be the team they should be. Lucky for them, they had Honduras coming up and looked to be in a position to put a serious beating on. It seemed that beating was going to start early when David Villa controlled the ball in the center of the field and, from about 25 yards out, put a beautiful dipping ball on goal that beat the keeper but struck the dead center of the crossbar. It was an absolutely lovely strike that should have been rewarded with a goal, but Villa would score an even more memorable one minutes later. In the 17th minute, Villa took the ball down the left flank, dribbled between two well-positioned defenders, cut inside to get the ball on his right foot, and put a sliding shot into the right upper ninety. This was an absolutely amazing run and if you want to see beautiful soccer, I highly recommend finding it online. This is the type of soccer Spain is capable of playing and it's good to see them back at it.

Spain dominated the rest of this half as if Honduras were only playing with ten men. All Honduran possession was brief and none of it was capable in the least with no progress going towards goal. Spain on the other hand were knocking the ball around extremely well, keeping possession in Honduras' half of the field at all times and constantly threatening the goal. Fernando Torres had several chances during this stretch, including in the 33rd when he headed the ball almost exactly like Gonzalez in the Chile match, only Torres' header went down off the ground and back up over the goal. Torres is a dangerous, dangerous striker when he is at the top of his game but he is coming off a serious injury and you could tell tonight. His touch looked rusty and he wasted a few good chances that were created for him. Aside from Torres being out of top form, the only problem for Spain in the first half is that they couldn't put another goal in despite their total domination. Honduras somehow held on and went into the locker room down just one goal.

Right at the start of the second half, Villa made sure that Spain wouldn't accidentally give this game away. In the 51st, he was set up at the top of the 18 and blasted a shot that deflected off a defender and nestled in the back of the net. This was somewhat lucky for Villa and Spain, but they put themselves in a position to get lucky like this due to their dominance on the ball and aggressive play. Sergio Ramos almost reminded us of the Portuguese dominance earlier in the day when a minute later, he scorched a shot just past the right post and Spain never looked back from here on out. Villa did miss a chance for his hat trick in the 62nd minute when he took a penalty kick and somehow missed just wide right when he had the keeper going the other way. That one baffling moment aside, the rest of the match really isn't worth going over. Spain absolutely dominated and while they didn't score, which may be some cause for concern against higher quality teams in the future, they never were in danger and cruised to the victory. Not the three goal victory I was predicting, but they were in such complete control that I'm willing to give myself a break on it.

Spain 2 - 0 Honduras


As the last of the second fixture of games came to a close, here is how Group H looks:

Chile - 6 Points - +2 Goal Differential
Spain - 3 Points - +1 Goal Differential
Switzerland - 3 Points - 0 Goal Differential
Honduras - 0 Points - -3 Goal Differential

Chile is in pole position for a berth in the next round, but this could all come down to goal differential as it wouldn't be surprising to have three teams each at 6 points. Switzerland should have no trouble with hapless Honduras, so the question is how much can they score. If Spain were to handily beat Chile, Chile could be knocked out after a group stage where they won their first two games. This Friday afternoon will bring us answers and excitement and I absolutely cannot wait.

Yet another long post today, but it's finally done. I'm off to get my five hours of sleep so I hope all of you are doing better than that. Remember, if you have any better solutions to my "games being shown at same time" dilemma, by all means let me know. Until tomorrow.