Friday, 25th June 2010
Spain Go Top
 
Chile vs Spain
in Pretoria.
Chile only needed a point against Spain to advance; or hope that
Honduras earned at least a point off Switzerland. Spain would qualify if they won.
Within the first five minutes, we were given glimpses of Fernando
Torres still trying to regain his sharpness.
In the tenth minute it was Chile's turn to put together some
fast-flowing, attacking football. Playing in red, Chile continued to dominate the next ten
minutes, earning three yellow cards along the way.
Then from a bad Chile pass, Xabi Alonso sent the ball up front for
Fernando Torres to chase. Amazingly, Claudio Bravo came rushing out of his penalty area to
clear; only as far as David Villa, who had an empty net to aim at. It was a long way out,
but cooly taken.
Marco Estrada was very lucky not to be shown a second yellow card in
the 28th minute, for an awful challenge. The Mexican referee just had words.
Jean Beausejour will be wondering how he didn't get the equaliser for
Chile in the 33rd minute; as he ran clear on the left with just the goalkeeper to beat.
Maybe the heat of Gerard Pique's breath on his neck put him off.
Then drama in the 37th minute. As Spain broke forward, Torres was
(accidently) tripped off the ball by Marco Estrada; and Iniesta went on to side-foot the
ball past defender Ponce and into the net.
Marco Estrada, lucky not to get a second yellow card earlier was now
unlucky to get a yellow for the trip. While Spain are still without a booking in the 2010
World Cup, Chile were then lucky not to see Waldo Ponce give his second yellow of the
match for stamping on Xabi Alonso's ankle.
Half-time: 0:2
Chile's double substitution paid off right at the start of the
second-half, as Colo Colo's Rodrigo Millar put Chile back in the game; thanks to an
awesome deflection off Gerard Pique's thigh.
Spain then took hold of the game and calmed things down; bringing on
Cesc Fabregas for Fernando Torres and generally passing the ball around better.
With things as they stand, Spain would play Portugal and Chile would
meet Brazil. With nothing happening in Bloemfontein between Switzerland and Honduras
that's the way these two teams seemed pleased to see their next round fixtures.
Final Score:
Chile 1 Spain 2
 Goalscorers:
0:1 David Villa (24 mins)
0:2 Andr�s Iniesta (37 mins)
1:2 Rodrigo Millar (47 mins)
Man of The Match:
David Villa - Beautifully taken goal when given the chance on a plate.
Teams
 Chile:
1 Claudio Bravo; 18 Gonzalo Jara, 3 Waldo Ponce, 17 Gary Medel; 11 Mark Gonzalez, 8 Arturo
Vidal, 13 Marco Estrada, 4 Mauricio Isla; 15 Jean Beausejour, 10 Jorge Valdivia, 7 Alexis
Sanchez.
 Spain:
1 Iker Casillas; 11 Joan Capdevila, 3 Gerard Pique, 5 Carles Puyol, 15 Sergio Ramos; 16
Sergio Busquets, 14 Xabi Alonso, 8 Xavi; 9 Fernando Torres, 7 David Villa, 6 Andr�s
Iniesta.
Referee:
Marco Rodriguez (Mexico)
 Substitutions:
46 Mins (Chile) - 20 Rodrigo Millar on for 11 Mark Gonzale
46 Mins (Chile) - 22 Esteban Paredes on for 10 Jorge Valdivia
55 Mins (Spain) - 10 Cesc Fabregas on for 9 Fernando Torres
65 Mins (Chile) - 16 Fabian Orellana on for 7 Alexis Sanchez
73 Mins (Spain) - 20 Javi Martinez on for 14 Xabi Alonso
 4 Yellow
Cards:
15 Mins - Gary Medel (Chile) - misses next game if Chile qualify.
19 Mins - Waldo Ponce (Chile) - misses next game if Chile qualify.
21 Mins - Marco Estrada (Chile)
38 Mins - Marco Estrada (Chile)
 1 Red Card:
38 Mins - Marco Estrada (Chile)
Switzerland vs Honduras.
Previous Encounters:
Spain beat Chile (2:0) in Rio de Janeiro at Brazil
1950.
In the six friendly matches between Spain and Chile, Spain have won
five and drawn once (1:1); in Santiago de Chile, 1981.
2010 World Cup Finals - Knockout Stage.
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