Wow, that game Spain vs Portugal was very important for us in the World Cup. It was not only about going to the next stage, but it was also about giving us the confidence that we can indeed score, and even score a team which had not conceded a goal in the whole competition, even when they played the almighty Brazil.
A whole difference to the Spain we saw playing against Switzerland... I must say that first game of Spain was a bit concerning and made us wonder how are we going to continue to the later stages, but Spain has managed to improve with each game and the team we saw for Spain vs Chile and then against Portugal has made us reminisce the team that won the Eurocup two years ago.
We had the immense luck of seeing Spain vs Honduras live at the World Cup. We had been trying to get tickets to that game for months and they were always coming up as sold out. The same morning of the game a South African friend called us to let us know that they could get tickets... it was like a dream come true. This was my first Spain game (well, it was my first World Cup for that matter!) so my heart was coming out of my chest when we got to Ellis Park for that game. We also needed to win at all cost as we had lost the first game. Although we did win, there was still something that was not quite coming together... but after the Portugal game, I can believe again that we could possibly go far.
Ok, building up to the new stage...
I have been following the official World Cup blog for the Spanish team:
http://spain.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/spain-vs-paraguay-quarterfinal-preview.html
Some quick summary for those who don't have time to read the article
'I hate to say this, although it comes up all the time in club football, but this is surely a case of a team “parking the bus” and looking to nick one through its excellent striker force.(...) Its hard to see Paraguay doing much with the ball when they have it, given their poor passing ability and tactical rigidity. They will probably be very defensive in their approach and hope to wear Spain’s patience down in a similar fashion to Switzerland. It has been encouraging that Spain has been able to break down some stubborn defenses in Chile and Portugal, both of which had not conceded before playing Spain. I cant foresee Paraguay offering much in this game, and as we know they are solid penalty takers, it seems they may try to draw the game out in order to wear down the Spanish and hope for penalties.'
Lovely, seems like the game could be quite similar to the Spain vs Switzerland, which we lost, but I think we learned something out of that...
Why are all these really boring defensive teams making it so far in the World Cup? Why do we have so many teams now playing this new 'pragmatic' football??
Interesting....
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