Tag Archives: Spain

Spain v. Netherlands – Red Herring Revisionary

“The end of the World Cup is like quitting smoking cold turkey, only you can’t cheat. No matter how hard you try, no matter how many old recordings you have of classic games, the sensation, the media overload, the frenzied tidal wave of live games cannot be reproduced. As the tournament progresses, the teams get eliminated, and the games get even tighter, you find yourself searching for an equivalent fix. But there’s no hidden pack in your car’s glove compartment. There’s no friend who you can bum a smoke off of. There’s just an old archive of youtube clips, a tome covered in dust wit a few words written about something that people back in the day thought was exciting. Take a deep breath. And try to hide your disappointment.” (futfanatico)

Front Page: Barcelona Win The World Cup

“Most of the Spanish newspaper front pages today go with a variation on a simple ‘Spain, world champions’ headline (as El Pais does), but as commenter ursus actos noted yesterday in our discussion of Catalan nationalism and the complicated support for Spain’s national team in the region, a victory for Spain could easily be seen as a victory for Catalonia, with half the Spanish team having also represented the Catalan national team.” (Pitch Invasion)

Taking a turn ‘in the woods,’ confronting the goalkeeper’s choice

“As Paul the Octopus shows, a life fully lived—even as an exotic sea creature—involves choice. Probability experts could state the odds of Paul’s being right about the World Cup final between Holland and Spain. Every cephalopod is due a hot streak. Theorists of chance and the mind long ago started applying their models to football games, with special attention to the penalty kick.” (The Global Game)

Spain wins first World Cup on Iniesta’s goal late in extra time

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“Spain rules the soccer world, winning the World Cup at long, long last. It came after an exhausting 1-0 victory in extra time over the Netherlands on Sunday. Two years after winning the European title, the stylish Spaniards did even better.” (ESPN)

Did Spain Deserve to Win?
“The best part of this match was that it ended before penalty kicks, where the Dutch could have squeezed out a win and enjoyed the fruits of their goonish performance. Simon Kuper wrote a great column in last week’s Financial Times, where he bemoaned how Holland had turned away from idealism in its football and in its politics.” (TNR)

World Cup 2010 final: Andrés Iniesta finds key for Spain to beat Holland
“To Spain the glory of a World Cup triumph in which they prevailed over a deplorable Holland side that was reduced to 10 men when the English referee Howard Webb eventually dismissed the Dutch defender John Heitinga with a second caution in the 109th minute. Cesc Fábregas, on as substitute, fed Andrés Iniesta to score the winner seven minutes later.” (Guardian)

Netherlands 0-1 Spain (aet)
“Andres Iniesta struck a dramatic winner late in extra time to give Spain World Cup glory for the first time but condemned the Netherlands to their third defeat in a final. Iniesta drilled his left-foot strike across goal – but the Dutch were incensed after referee Howard Webb had failed to award their side a corner moments earlier when a free-kick took a sizeable deflection off Cesc Fabregas.” (BBC)

Netherlands 0-1 Spain – Video Highlights, Recap, Match Stats – World Cup – 11 July 2010
“The 2010 FIFA World Cup final featured two sides who had never won the title as the Netherlands faced Spain. The Dutch have played in two previous finals while it was the first for the Spaniards.” (The 90th Minute)

Holland v Spain: tactical preview

“So here we are, the biggest game in football. A clash of the two most successful sides in World Cup history to have never won the trophy itself, it is tactically fascinating in a historical sense. Taking into account both the qualifiers and the six World Cup games itself, Holland are P14 W14, Spain are P16 W15 L1.” (Zonal Marking)

Ballet of Frost

“Someone wrote on Twitter yesterday that “Is Spain boring?” is the new “Will soccer ever make it in America?” And yes, it is, in the same way that it’s the new “Can Lampard and Gerrard play in the same midfield?” and possibly the new “Can Asians think?” It wants a word, nevertheless, if only because Spain-Germany was so divisive; and because this is the World Cup final, and a bubble of resentment against the pre-tournament favorites and anointed Best Team on Earth is one of the conditions in which history’s about to happen.” (Run of Play)

Spain vs. The Netherlands: A Neutral’s Dilemma

“World Cup soccer is often the continuation of war by other means, a ritual reenactment of past conflicts that allows those who perceive themselves as victims to claim some sort of symbolic vengeance. Algeria’s coach sought to raise his players’ passion for their showdown with England by showing them watch The Battle of Algiers, a movie depicting their country’s battle for independence from France. England’s tabloid newspapers couldn’t resist the temptation to evoke memories of Churchill and World War II in their coverage of the match against Germany. And most Argentines have little problem with Diego Maradona’s 1986 ‘Hand of God’ goal against England, coming just four years after hundreds of their soldiers had been killed in a war with Britain over the Falklands/Malvinas islands.” (TIME)

England left behind in a world for the fleet of foot

“This was the World Cup that killed the fixed identity. At assorted moments in the preceding years Brazil woke up and wanted to be Germany, the Germans decided they would quite like to be Dutch and Holland thought it would be a good idea to make a pantomime horse out of an Italian rear and a Spanish front.” (Guardian)

The Football Stamps of Spain – Los sellos de fútbol de España

“Following on from yesterdays post featuring the football stamps of the Netherlands today it’s the turn of fellow 2010 World Cup finalists Spain. The first Spanish stamps to feature a football theme were released in 1960 as part of a 12-value set commemorating various sports.” (footysphere)

Slavoz Zizek Predicts the World Cup Final

“Despite the parakeet, the octopus, and an assortment of other animals, only one entity can accurately predict the World Cup final: Slovenian philosopher and critical theorist Slavoj Zizek. We had a quaint chat with the man to wax Marxism, the Lacanian real, and Mark Von Bommel. What he had to say will probably only confuse you, unless of course you obtained a doctorate from the European School of Philosophy. But not the University of Chicago – everybody knows those hacks just say really big words. Ahem. Now onto the interview!” (futfanatico)

Thirteen World Cup Theses

“1) Nobody plays “total football” any more, so please stop referring to it unless you are providing helpful historical context. Even if you call it Totaalvoetbal, teams would get slaughtered if they tried it against modern tactical sides. 2) The current Dutch team aren’t the “heirs” of anything except perhaps the drills created and overseen by coaches and trainers at Ajax’s football academy. 3)…. (Run of Play)

Zero Hour in South Africa

“There are two games left. The third place playoff takes place on Saturday, Uruguay against Germany in a game often described as one nobody wants to play in. It can be well worth watching though—teams have been known to forget about tactics and play with something approximating wild abandon, which in this World Cup will come as some relief. Then on Sunday, it’s Spain against Holland; one of two favorites going into the tournament against the perennially-highly-fancied World Cup bridesmaids.” (The Paris Review)

The Beautiful War – Rinus Michels & The Reinvention Of Dutch Football

“One of the more surprising requirements made of the Dutch team playing in this week’s World Cup final is that it is not enough for them merely to win the tournament. They are still widely expected to win it with style, and this level of expectation is largely the responsibility of one man – Rinus Michels. Never mind the fact that the Netherlands has a population that is one-third that of England, or that they didn’t even qualify for the finals of the competition between 1938 and 1974. The Dutch team that Michels built inspired such awe that the burden of expectation continues to cast its long shadow more than three and a half decades after it made its debut.” (twohundredpercent)

Myths Of The Near Past

“I’m loathe to mention him here, particularly in a vaguely positive light, but Nick Hornby once said something interesting about football. It was in Fever Pitch, if I remember rightly, and it was to do with the way that supporters tend to use players as a mirror of their own values. So, a certain kind of middle class, thinking man’s fan will praise players for their intelligence and their artistry, particularly ones with a ‘cultured left foot’.” (Minus the Shooting)

Stars as Teammates: Not a New Concept

“Welcome to the World Cup, where every team is the Galácticos. The nickname refers to Real Madrid, the most famous and successful soccer club in the world, which has made a practice, in the past generation, of spending enough money to recruit Zidane and Beckham and Cannavaro. Oops, almost forgot Cristiano Ronaldo.” (NYT)

And Then We Came to the End

“In the World Cup, as in any tournament, half of the field is eliminated in the first round, and half again in each succeeding round—a method of crowning a champion devised by Zeno and guaranteed to bring the whole thrilling spectacle to a buyer’s-remorse anticlimax. (You can see the diminishing interest in the now-trickling coverage in outlets both mainstream and semi-pro.) Whichever second-rate European nation triumphs on Sunday—if they can control the midfield as smugly as they did against Germany in Wednesday’s semifinal it will surely be Spain—will look a lot less truly top-dog than simply last-man-standing.” (The Paris Review)

Tiki-taka and Total Football

“Spain Soccer News Topics are currently averaging 1.17 goals per game at this World Cup Soccer News Topics, sitting right behind the United States (1.25) in 12th place out of the 32 teams who started the tournament. Of course, unlike all but one of those teams above them (the Netherlands, in 3rd place, averaging 2.00 goals per game), they still have a chance to win the whole thing. But that hasn’t stopped the criticism of Spain’s ‘dull’ play.” (Big Soccer)

Orange Devolution

“Like all soccer writers, I have a debilitating nostalgic streak, and like all soccer writers, I love Holland. The Dutch, who face Spain in Sunday’s World Cup final, are soccer’s most gorgeous losers, a team defined by a single generation of players who brilliantly failed to reach their potential. The Dutch teams of the 1970s—led by the mercurial Johan Cruyff, who’s widely considered the greatest European player of all time—launched a tactical revolution, played one of the most thrilling styles of their era, and lost two consecutive World Cup finals in memorable and devastating ways.” (Slate)

How to Stop Them? (Part 1/2)

“The semifinals of the World Cup 2010 have come and go. Holland managed to overcome the resilient but under strength Uruguay in a thrilling 3-2 encounter, while Spain finally managed to shake off their ‘flopping on a big stage’ curse and cruised to the final to face Holland after totally turning off the goal tap of Germany and finished them off by a narrow 1-0 scoreline. Holland and Spain will battle it out in a high stakes battle to become the very first European nation to win the trophy outside of their own continent and also for each of them to win the thing for the very first time in their respective histories. One main question which is undoubtedly in the minds of everyone associated with the respective teams the moment Spain defeated Germany 1-0 last night is surely just like what the title above is saying, ‘How to stop them?’. The following will be some possible ways that could be employed by the respective teams to halt the other in their quest for glory. In this first part, it will be about how to stop the first team that reached the final, and that’s Holland.” (Beopedia – How to Stop Them? (Part 1/2), How to Stop Them? (Part 2/2)

The Question: What have been the tactical lessons of World Cup 2010?

“This has been the tournament of 4-2-3-1. The move has been apparent in club football for some time; in fact, it may be that 4-2-3-1 is beginning to be supplanted by variants of 4-3-3 at club level, but international football these days lags behind the club game, and this tournament has confirmed the trend that began to emerge at Euro 2008. Even Michael Owen seems to have noticed, which is surely the tipping point.” (Guardian)

Univisión, Latino (Dis)Unity, and the World Cup

“In this past month of World Cup football, I have seen my facebook stream lit up by ‘friends’ claiming that they are loving to watch coverage in Spanish. In many cases, these friends speak Spanish as a second language; I even have friends who don’t speak Spanish well at all, yet watch the Spanish coverage because they claim it is more dramatic.” (Soccer Politics)

Exclusive Soccer Club? Not Anymore

The Lower Buttons – Intogeymy 1967
“Arriba, Puyol! That’s how I will think of him from now on, this muscular defender, with his ringlets flopping all over the place, leaping above the tall timber of the German defense and heading the Spanish where they have never been before. Carles Puyol looks so much bigger in the photos, but in reality he’s short for a central defender, reminding me of Yogi Berra, who could hit a ball off his shoe tops and send it over a building in the biggest of games. Puyol can leap beyond his 5 feet 10 inches and did it in the 73rd minute Wednesday night to give Spain a 1-0 victory over Germany.” (NYT)

German counterattack negated by Spain’s dominant possession

“So in the end, Germany came up against a team that could defend, and the great counterattackers were exposed in a 1-0 loss to Spain in the World Cup semifinals on Wednesday. Without an early goal to protect, without opponents that poured forward and left spaces behind them, the Germans were left bereft, and as they chased a goal in the final stages, it became clear just how limited they are as a creative force.” (SI)

Spain 1-0 Germany: Pressing, passing and Puyol

Carles Puyol “A narrow but deserved victory for Spain, who simply carried out their gameplan more effectively than their opponents. There were two issues to be decided with the starting line-ups. Joachim Loew chose Piotr Trochowski ahead of Toni Kroos to replace Thomas Mueller, whilst Vicente del Bosque finally dropped Fernando Torres, opting for Barcelona’s wide forward Pedro instead.” (Zonal Minute)

Puyol’s header enough to advance Spain to first World Cup final

“Spain outplayed Germany yet again. And now the Spanish have the biggest prize of all within their sights. Spain will play for the World Cup title for the very first time, thanks to Carles Puyol’s goal on a powerful header in the second half Wednesday night. The 1-0 victory over Germany was a repeat of the teams’ meeting in the European Championship final two years ago, which gave Spain its first major title in 44 years.” (ESPN)

World Cup 2010: Germany 0-1 Spain
“Two years is not a long time in football, especially when you consider that national sides evolve, certainly more than club sides. In that respect, you would have expected quite a few rematches from European Championship finals happening in subsequent World Cups. However, of the twenty-six finalists in the first thirteen European Championships, six of them have failed to qualify (including Czecholslovakia Denmark and Greece, who were European Championships), and three others have failed to get out of the group stages.” (twohundredpercent)

Germany 0-1 Spain – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – World Cup – 7 July 2010
“Germany faced Spain with a spot in the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals on the line. The winner would face the Netherlands in the final on Sunday while the loser would play Uruguay in the third place match on Saturday.” (The 90th Minute)

Spain optimistic despite facing their toughest game

“Confidence in Spain’s World Cup hopes has been fragile ever since Gelson Fernandes bundled home Switzerland’s winner in their opening group game. Concern at their lack of fluidity has expressed itself in the form of debates about tactics and personnel, the latest of them revolving around Fernando Torres’ misfortunes in front of goal. Yet since Saturday’s nervy win over Paraguay that faith has suddenly returned, a strange turn of events considering the identity of Spain’s semi-final opponents, the form team of the tournament.” (WSC)

Germany v Spain: tactical preview

“The pre-tournament favourites versus the most impressive team in the competition so far. A repeat of the 2008 European Championships final it may be, but this is completely different contest. For a start, David Villa and Mesut Ozil – the two star men – were not involved two years ago. Of the Germans, only Miroslav Klose, Per Mertesacker and Lukas Podolski remain in the same positions from that final, whilst Spain will start with a different formation to in 2008, even the side contains a number of the same players.” (Zonal Marking)

The World Cup and National Narratives

“As I mentioned when we discussed what constituted an American-style of play here a couple of weeks ago, outsiders like to form a stereotypical view of how a national team plays based all-too roughly on certain past performances. It helps us organise stories in our heads about each team when the World Cup rolls around every four years.” (Pitch Invasion)

I tipped Spain but Germany’s pace could expose them

“Everyone wanted the FA to build its own version of Clairefontaine when France won the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championship and they had a consistent production line of young talent. Now the talk is of copying the coaching system that produced the young Germany team that has excelled in South Africa. The debate is cyclical but what is constant is Germany’s ability as a tournament team. Eleven World Cup semi-finals since 1954 says this isn’t a recent phenomenon. It says they’ve had it right for over 60 years.” (Guardian)

Europe is still football’s dominant force

“Wasn’t it just a few glasses of Chardonnay ago that European soccer was melting faster than a wedge of warm Brie? France, Italy and England — three of the continent’s soccer superpowers — had gone home in various levels of disgrace. To make matters worse, all five of South America’s entrants had moved on to the knockout round, with all but Chile winning its group.” (ESPN)

The Currents of History: What does it take to win the World Cup?

Giovanni Battista Di Jacopo, Pieta
“‘What does it take to win the World Cup?’ asked Henry D Fetter of The Atlantic a couple of days ago, in a post called ‘What It Takes To Win The World Cup’.” (Pitch Invasion)

Özil the German
“No player has fascinated me more at the World Cup than Mesut Özil. He has the languid self-assurance on the ball that comes only to the greatest footballers. Where others are hurried, he has time. He conjures space with a shrug. His left foot can, with equal ease, caress a pass or unleash a shot.” (NYT)

Tap-in and Taboo
“If this happens, what will people say about Bryan Thomas (on Twitter, in newspapers, on comment threads)? Will anyone say that he has violated the ethics of the game, that he deserves further punishment? Will anyone argue that the rules of the game need to be changed so that teams cannot benefit from committing a penalty? I suspect, rather, that Thomas will be generally credited with a very smart play. How is what Luis Suárez did at the end of yesterday’s match against Ghana any different?” (Run of Play)

when i get older
“Brian at the Run of Play did a very good job crushing the idea floated in The Atlantic that countries with an authoritarian history play more winning football. The idea memed, nonetheless. (Shocked that highbrow soccer dorks — my favourite phrase this World Cup, used by TNR Goalpost to describe their ideal reader base) appear not to check RoP before coffee.) Laughable, snobbish solipsism — it’s not just for FIFA anymore, kids.” (Treasons, Statagems & Spoils)

Time Can Do So Much
“What I want to know is whether we’ll remember any of this in ten years, or if we’ll look back on it as the mass blackout during which we all wrote mystic texts. I can’t remember two more deranged or thrilling days of soccer, or four more shocking games, in any recent tournament, and Euro 2008 made me compare Aphrodite to a Toyota Prius. It was all the more stunning because it came out of nowhere—that’s not to say this World Cup had been boring, but it had rolled along at a pretty regular tempo and, apart from a few moments of madness and bliss, within a fairly livable emotional band.” (Run of Play)

Argentina Flounder Before German Unity

“Out of the chaos of the quarter-finals of the 2010 World Cup has come some degree of consensus. If today’s newspapers have one theme running through them, that theme is that Germany are currently the best football team in the world and that, to a point, it would be a travesty if they didn’t win the competition. All of this is somewhat odd, since it is effectively an admission that they got their predictions wrong before the start of the tournament (there weren’t many in the mainstream press that didn’t predict Brazil or Spain), but this groundswell of opinion has been building for the last few days.” (twohundredpercent)

Spain 1-0 Paraguay: Spain squeeze out a result again

“A familiar story for Spain. Good ball retention, a struggle until Torres departs, and Villa saves the day, scoring in a 1-0 win. That could quite easily be a description of their previous game, against Portugal. Spain lined up with their usual lopsided 4-2-3-1 formation and the expected XI, whilst Paraguay made six – yes, six – changes to the side that scraped through against Japan in the previous round.” (Zonal Marking)

World Cup 2010: Paraguay 0-1 Spain

“What a world. Regardlesss of the lie of the fixtures, if anyone had said two days ago that Paraguay and Uruguay would be the last South American representatives in the 2010 World Cup, they would have been dismissed as cranks. But here we are. We have had three marvellous quarter-finals so far (for an almost baffling variety of different reasons) and here we are, all set for the final match between Paraguay and Spain. The Paraguayan flame has burnt intermittently in South Africa so far. Their penalty shootout win in the last round against Japan came at the end of possibly the worst match of the tournament so far, but they demonstrated their capability in winning their group as Italy imploded.” (twohundredpercent)

Spain v Paraguay: tactical preview
“Have Paraguay got any chance of coming away from this game with a result? Possibly a greater chance than some might expect. They are clearly the underdogs, but Spain have yet to hit top form, and the ease with which they saw out games against Chile and against Portugal ignores the fact that they didn’t have the game their own way until David Villa broke the deadlock.” (Zonal Marking)

Spain Looks in the Mirror
“Until their victory in the European Cup two years ago, national football in Spain was never about winning. It was about hope and fury (la Furia, the team’s nickname, recalls an episode of heroism in battle), and yes, oh yes, it always ended up signifying nothing. But defeating Germany in the final of 2008, and doing so with extraordinary virtuosity, transformed them into World Cup favorites. And then came Switzerland, with their strange mixture of German practicality and Italian catenaccio, blundered their way into the goal and had Spanish football fans go into their deepest emotional crisis in history.” (Vanity Fair)

Paraguay 0-1 Spain – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – World Cup – 3 July 2010
“It was an eventful match that would see two penalty kicks missed but Spain eventually advancing to the semifinals. Spain was the better team throughout the match but struggled to break down the Paraguay defense until late in the second half. Both teams had penalties in the second half but both were saved.” (The 90th Minute)

Europe dominates semifinal lineup

“So much for South Americans dominating this World Cup. Three sides from the continent were eliminated in the quarterfinals, leaving Uruguay, the last team to qualify for the competition after a playoff win over Costa Rica, as its only representative. In similar fashion, the demise of the European nations appear to have been exaggerated with Germany, Spain and the Netherlands advancing to the final four.” (SI)

World Cup Quarters – “& Then There Were 8″

“The typical suspects have overcome group stage difficulties to rise to the top. However, no smoking gun has appeared to point out the single culprit most likely to win the tournament. Using a really big magnifying glass, a trench coat, a smart talking sidekick, and intuition, we embarked on an investigation of the remaining teams in this World Cup quarterfinals, searching for clues in a sea of uncertainty. Our conclusion as to who will win the World Cup?” (futfanatico)

World Cup tactics: How the quarter-finalists line up

“On the eve of the World Cup, Football Further asked whether the 4-2-3-1 formation would continue to dominate as it did at the last tournament in 2006. The average position diagrams below, taken from all eight last-16 matches, demonstrate that while it remains the most popular shape in the international game, variations in tactics mean that it is being deployed in very different ways.” (Football Further)

Spain 1-0 Portugal: Villa eventually finds a way through, Portugal fail to respond

“An intriguing game – Spain were comfortable by full-time, but struggled to find the breakthrough. Substitutions were crucial in the outcome. Vicente del Bosque fielded a side unchanged from the win over Chile – a 4-2-3-1ish shape, with David Villa high on the left, and Andres Iniesta drifting in from the right. Xabi Alonso was fit to start, and Fernando Torres continued upfront.” (Zonal Marking)

World Cup 2010: Spain 1-0 Portugal
“I’m not sure what channel I’m watching but it’s not one of ours. The pundits sound refreshing. There’s a Scotsman who looks a bit like Hansen but uses verbs and sounds interested. In fact, it’s as if it is Hansen but he’s next to proper pundits, so he has to raise his game so as not to sound lazy and under-informed. Alongside him is a nicely understated Dutchman who is always to the point. He admires the Spanish not simply because ‘they’ve got Torres,’ but because ‘there are always two options for the man with the ball… it’s not about the man with the ball if he has no options.’ Simple logic.” (twohundredpercent)

Villa, Vidi, Vici: Spain Moves On
“Is tiki-taka starting to look a bit tired? This phrase, which roughly translates as touch-touch, defines Spain’s technical, ball-playing approach to this sport, a strategy that saw the country crowned European champion in 2008, set a new record for consecutive wins a year later and arrive in South Africa this month as the favorite to win the World Cup. The philosophy is that giving the ball away is inexcusable. It is about perpetual motion, short passing and maintaining possession above all else. And when everything clicks, Spain does it better than anyone.” (WSJ)

Villa scores off own rebound to carry Spain to quarterfinals
“David Villa called it one of his best goals. He was talking about the timing but the effort was pretty nice, too. On a night when Portugal’s defense fought off attack after attack, the Spanish striker finally broke through in the 63rd minute, giving the European champs a 1-0 victory Tuesday and a spot in the World Cup quarterfinals.”>(ESPN)

Spain 1-0 Portugal – Video Highlights, Recap, Match Stats – World Cup – 29 June 2010
“Two European teams who have never won the World Cup met in the round of 16 as Spain faced Portugal. The winner would go on to play Uruguay in the quarterfinals. Spain would be favored in the match as they have improved since their opening loss against Switzerland while Portugal have yet to conceded a goal in the tournament.” (The 90th Minute)

Facing the Two-Day Football Fast

“It’s alarming to even consider, but for the next two days there will be no World Cup matches. After gorging ourselves on football of varying quality for the past weeks, we suddenly have to think of others things to do. Read a book? Take a walk? But to what end and purpose, when all we have known for weeks is the spectacle of the fates of nations unfolding before our eyes?” (Soccer Politics)

World Cup second round preview (part two)

Xavi
“ZM’s tactical preview of the second half of the World Cup second round ties, being played on Monday 28th and Tuesday 29th of June.” (Zonal Minute)

Spain 2-1 Chile: Chile press, foul, then hold on

“What a bizarre game. Chile started better, then conceded a silly goal, then went two goals and one man down in the same move, then started the second half brightly, then realised a 2-1 defeat would send them through, and stopped bothering. They made changes from their previous game, chiefly thanks to the suspensions of Mati Fernandez and Carlos Carmona. In came Marco Estrada and Mark Gonzalez, with a slight reorganisation in the front four.” (Zonal Marking)

Chile 1-2 Spain – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – World Cup – 25 June 2010
“Spain faced Chile in the final group stage match for both sides in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Spain needed a win while Chile could advance with any result as long as Switzerland didn’t win. If Spain won they would play Portugal while Chile would face Brazil in the knockout stage.” (The 90th Minute)

Zonal Minute
“It’s fun if you press an imaginary “Explode Torres” button on your keyboard as the Chile player takes his second step” (Zonal Minute)

World Cup scouting: The 32 – Week Two

Rene Krhin (Slovenia)
“The following 32 names represent Football Further‘s players to watch at the 2010 World Cup. We’ll be following their performances closely over the course of the tournament, with weekly scouting reports rounding up their progress.” (Football Further), (Football Further – Week One)

World Cup 2010: Spain 2-0 Honduras

“The part-timers from Honduras took on the mighty European champions Spain with it all at stake: a loss for the Spanish side would see the tournament favourites eliminated at the first hurdle. What could possibly happen? Well, naturally enough, Spain won at a canter. However comfortable the performance, though, the margin of victory could yet cause some furrowed brows and frenzied abacus work come this Friday evening’s Group H deciders.” (twohundredpercent)

Spain 2-0 Honduras – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – World Cup – 21 June 2010
“The favorites heading into the 2010 World Cup, Spain, looked to rebound from a loss in their opening match as they faced Honduras. A loss for either side would be disastrous and likely end their chances of making it out of the knockout stage.”(The 90th Minute)

Winning for “El Mariscal”

“There are several reason why I enjoyed Paraguay’s victory over Slovakia. First, there’s the obvious. As almost every Paraguayan team in history, this group understands football first as a physical game. It is no coincidence that Paraguay is one of the few teams in the world—and certainly in this continent—so clearly identified with the ancestral values of its indigenous people, the Guaranies. This is not ‘el equipo paraguayo’; this is el ‘equipo guarani”. The indomitable culture of the Guarani is as much a part of Paraguayan football culture as Maori tradition for New Zealand. This Paraguayan team lives up to its billing. The Italians had a terrible time with Paraguay’s midfield.” (TNR)

As Yet Within That House

“One of the hard things about forming an outlook on the World Cup is that when an event gets this much attention, the flow of commentary is so fast and broad that every possible angle is exhausted and trivial positions develop a kind of insubstantial politics. Conventional wisdom starts to seem like an ideology, and if you’re not careful, your own feelings about what happens will be dictated by where you want to stand in relation to that ideology rather than by what you actually think. There’s a pundit position, a cognoscenti backlash, an uber-cognoscenti counter-backlash, and so on till after midnight. Your heart and the stadium get farther and farther apart.” (Run of Play)

Spain 0-1 Switzerland: Spanish failings the main reason for the scoreline

Margaret Gradwell, Indaba Series
“We were looking for Spain to really get the tournament going – they did exactly that, but by being on the end of the biggest shock so far, rather than providing an amazing attacking display. Switzerland’s win was remarkable – to keep a clean sheet against this Spanish side is very impressive. Ottmar Hitzfeld’s side did not actually play particularly defensively – they rarely had the ball, certainly, but they broke in numbers and frequently got four men in the box when they had the ball in an attacking zone.” (Zonal Minute)

World Cup 2010: Spain’s nightmare – an early dream final with Brazil
“Two wildly contrasting states jolted this World Cup to life, with North Korea (totalitarian) roughing up Brazil and Switzerland (laissez-faire meets conservatism) shocking Spain, the European champions, in Durban. With the first upset of the tournament the iconoclastic Swiss may have spoiled the dream final. If the favourites finish second in Group H they are likely to collide with Brazil in the second round.” (Guardian)

Unflinching Swiss Give Spain a Jolt
“Beautiful to watch and all but impossible to beat for the last two years, Spain has not yet figured out how to combine artistry and victory in South Africa. Since winning the European championships in 2008, the only blemish on its record was a surprising 2-0 loss here to the United States in last year’s Confederations Cup. But the even bigger surprise came Wednesday on a lovely late afternoon in Durban, where Spain was beaten, 1-0, by Switzerland in the World Cup opener for each team.” (NYT)

Spain 0-1 Switzerland – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – World Cup – 16 June 2010

Johannesburg
“The tournament favorites, Spain, opened the group stage with a match against Switzerland on Wednesday, June 16, 2010. Spain has been notorious for not living up to the hype in World Cups but can they change that this year? They come into the World Cup as reigning European Champions and probably the most talented starting 11 on the planet.” (The 90th Minute)

World Cup 2010: Spain 0-1 Switzerland
“The important thing with covering a World Cup which has been so slow to start as this one is, basically, to at least try and keep yourself entertained. As such, our intrepid crayon-tester and some-time football journalist Dotmund had something of an ‘episode’ and decided to file his report of the Group H match between the reigning European Champions Spain and Switzerland in handwritten form. With sketches. He hopes this novel approach will become the paradigm for all sports reporting in this country. We are just glad that it keeps him off the streets.” (twohundredpercent)

World Cup 2010: Gelson Fernandes seals Switzerland shock over Spain
“The World Cup has its first shock and, as unexpected results go, it could be that this tournament sees nothing quite so remarkable again. Spain may be sublime on the ball but there is no use out-passing opponents without out-scoring them and they learned that the hard way here in Durban against a limited but ultimately jubilant Swiss side.” (Guardian)

Honduras 0-1 Chile – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – World Cup – 16 June 2010
“Two teams from the Americas met as CONCACAF side Honduras faced CONMEBOL side Chile. Honduras is only playing in their second World Cup while Chile is playing in their first in several years. A result is a must for both sides who are in the same group as Spain.” (The 90th Minute)

XI. World Cup Factoids and a Few Observations

“Today we complete the first set of 2010 World Cup group play games. I’ve watched more than 90% of all the minutes – and yet managed to miss five goals live (Holland, Argentina, Slovakia, Brazil’s second and North Korea’s). It’s been an educational experience. I’ve learned many interesting factoids (many acquired by virtue of this being the first Twitter World Cup) and made a few observations as well.” (Pitch Invasion)

From Underacheivers to Overwhelming Favorites: What Could a World Cup Win Do for Spain?

“As Spain prepares to take on Switzerland on Wednesday, the world is abuzz with anticipation. Not only are Spain joint favorites with Brazil, but the tournament needs the Spanish team like a fish needs water. After one of the drabbest opening rounds in memory, fans everywhere are looking for reasons as to why things are so awful this time round. The long European season, the austral winter, the security concerns and the stress it creates, the ultra-defensive attitudes, and the worst ball in history that was still round: the Jabulani. Thanks, adidas, for a World Cup with no shots on goal.” (Soccer Politics)

The Question: Why is the modern offside law a work of genius?

“Nothing in football is so traduced as the offside law. Most seem to regard it as a piece of killjoy legislation, designed almost to prevent football producing too many goals and being too much fun, while for the punditocracy it has become the universal scapegoat, the thing that ‘nobody understands’. Just because Garth Crooks doesn’t get something, though, doesn’t make it a bad thing. The modern offside law may be the best thing that’s ever happened to football, and it is almost certainly the reason Barcelona have been so successful with a fleet of players whose obvious asset is their technique rather than their physique.” (Guardian)

World Cup scouting: The 32

Matías Fernández (Chile)
“The following 32 names represent Football Further‘s players to watch at the 2010 World Cup. We’ll be following their performances closely over the course of the tournament, with weekly scouting reports rounding up their progress. Names preceded by squad numbers. Players in bold have been scouted by Football Further in the build-up to the World Cup. Players in brackets were scouted but not called up by their national sides.” (Football Further)

Which stars will Spain leave out of the side?

“The reigning European Champions and the bookmakers’ favourites – this isn’t a position Spain are used to. Usually they are flashy outsiders everyone expects to self-destruct at the knockout stage, but the incredible results Spain have recorded over the past four years shows that this is both a talented and ultra-professional squad.” (Zonal Marking)

The Style and Skill to Reach the Final

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“And the winner is. … As the World Cup opens Friday amid a celebration of exceptional vibrancy with host South Africa playing Mexico, two countries float above the field of 32 teams: Spain and Brazil. Yes, Africa is the host. Yes, Asia is developing. And, yes, there are dark horses — the gifted but erratic Argentines, the talented Dutch and the ever self-confident English among them.” (NYT)

Spain 6-0 Poland – Video Highlights and Recap – Friendly – 8 June 2010

Jacopo Robusti, Leda and the Swan
“Spain, one of the favorites to win the upcoming World Cup, wrapped up their set of friendlies with a match against Poland on Tuesday, June 8, 2010. It would be the last chance for Spain to give Fernando Torres some playing time who has been injured and not played in the previous friendlies. Poland did not qualify for the World Cup and do not have any major matches coming up as they’ve already qualified for Euro 2012 as one of the host nations.” (The 90th Minute)

Thirty-One World Cup Shirts

“It’s that time again. Back by popular demand (to be precise, two people), it’s time for our quadrennial report of all the team shirts that will be on display at the upcoming World Cup. As ever, the menu is overwhelmed by items produced and designed by the twin behemoths of the sportswear universe, Adidas and Nike. Whether they have been using their market domination to the benefit of the sartorial elegance of international football, however, is something of an open question.” (twohundredpercent)

World Cup Predictions, Betting Tips, SEO SEO

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Tiziano Vecellio, Venus and Adonis
“Just when you think that David Bowie has retired from the site, that the Goblin King will no longer grace our presence, that Jorge Luis Borges really is dead and not just waiting for a USMNT run to the finals, bam. It hits you. Despite the odd jokes, obscure historical references, and kinda weird pictures, we at Futfanatico give you the best betting tips for the World Cup while mocking the SEO keyterm Google carousel in an ironic act of betrayal, subversion, and delightful perversion. Thus, here are your WORLD CUP BETTING TIPS.” (futfanatico)

World Cup Group D Preview: World Cup Buzz Podcast

“The deepest group in the tournament was made all the more interesting when injuries to Michael Ballack and Michael Essien took the two biggest names out of Group D. On this episode of the World Cup Buzz podcast, myself, Laurence McKenna and Kartik Krishnaiyer consider what the absences of Ballack and Heiko Westermann do to Germany’s chances to get out of a group that also features Ghana, Serbia, and Australia. Along the way, we hear thoughts from Andy Brassell, Raphael Honigstein, Jonathan Wilson and Simon Hill.” (EPL Talk), (World Cup Group A Preview), (World Cup Group B Preview), (World Cup Group E), (World Cup Group H), (World Cup Group F)

World Cup Power Rankings

“You knew they had to be coming: World Cup power rankings are here. Let’s dive in…” (SI)

Experience at the World Cup

“It’s an oft-used cliché that experience is necessary in order to win the greatest football competition in the world. In fact, only the other day I saw Steve Hodge being interviewed on Sky Sports News talking about this very subject. I think he was trying to tout his Maradona ’86 World Cup shirt again but was nonetheless happy enough to offer his wisdom to Sky Sports’ rolling news feed. He made the point that the sides who won the World Cup normally had an average age of around 28/29. He’s got a point, the average age of the World Cup winning Italian squad of four years ago was 28 years and 8 months.” (twinty tin)

Spain 1-0 South Korea – Video Highlights and Recap – Friendly – 3 June 2010

“Two teams headed for the World Cup faced off in an international friendly on Thursday, June 3, 2010 as Spain played South Korea. Spain was looking to improve on their form from an earlier friendly against Saudi Arabia where they narrowly won 3-2. South Korea are not a favorite to get out of the group stage but are a team that is not to be taken lightly.” (The 90 th Minute)