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by Spain played with urgency Monday night, to survive in the World Cup, to defeat one opponent in hopes of avoiding another.
Here was the crispness everyone had expected, the flowing movement upfield, the hypnotic cadence of one-touch passes, the geometric beauty of triangles that formed in endless possession.
The most immediate adversary, Honduras, was easily outclassed, 2-0, on a pair of goals by forward David Villa at Ellis Park. The second, Brazil, lurks as a possible matchup in the second round, a meeting between the two tournament favorites that would come before either team has gained its full health and rhythm.
It will be no less vital for Spain (1-1-0) to defeat Chile (2-0) on Friday, to secure advancement and to win its group, thus probably avoiding Brazil in the Round of 16. The situation remains tenuous. If Switzerland (1-1-0) defeats Honduras (0-2) and Spain can wrest only a tie from Chile, it will go home prematurely and embarrassed, adding to its reputation as an underachiever.
After a shocking 1-0 loss to Switzerland last week, though, Spain has resumed its accustomed soccer orbit, emerging from the eclipse that has shadowed other European powers like France, Italy and England.
Still, Spain did not take all that was offered against Honduras. Villa should have scored a third goal on a penalty kick in the 62nd minute. Honduras’s goalkeeper, Noel Valladares guessed the wrong way, but Villa placed his shot wide of the right goal post, putting his hands to his face in exasperation.
The first tie breaker in sorting teams is the difference between goals scored and allowed, and Chile is plus two in goal differential and Spain is plus one. This may be a chance that Spain wishes it did not fail to collect. There were other chances squandered in a match that might have ended 5-0.
“We lacked the finishing touch,” Vicente del Bosque, Spain’s coach, said. “I think the team is in very good physical form. We conceded few opportunities. We managed the game well, but we didn’t finish. We will suffer more against Chile if we continue to play like that.”
Spain must know, too, that no team has lost its opening match and won the World Cup. Much work needs to be done over the next few weeks weaving the thread of this team into a championship tapestry.
Forward Fernando Torres started the match, but he has yet to regain his sharpness after knee surgery in April. He headed one ball downward and bounced it over the crossbar early Monday, then ballooned another shot into the crowd.
Yet Spain is a resourceful team that has lost only twice in 50 matches, both in South Africa, to Switzerland last week and to the United States last June in the Confederations Cup.
If Torres could not find the target Monday, Villa could.
In the 17th minute, he split two defenders and cut inside a third in the penalty area, lifting a shot high into the net while sliding to the turf.
Then, in the 51st minute, Xavi Hernández made a run of 40 yards down the middle of the field and pushed the ball to forward Jesús Navas on the right flank. Navas drew two defenders and cut the ball back to Villa at the top of the penalty area for a looping shot that put Spain ahead, 2-0.
The top scorer at the 2008 European championships, which Spain won, Villa, who has signed with Barcelona, has 40 goals in 60 appearances for the national team.
“There’s nothing to explain except that we faced a team far superior to our side,” Reinaldo Rueda, Honduras’s coach, said. “Spain, they never make mistakes. They’re perfect in their passes and technique. In one simple move, they can eliminate four or five members of the other team.”
A second defeat nearly exhausted the chances of advancement for Honduras, one of the most poignant stories in the World Cup.
It is the only team ever to field three brothers at this competition — Wilson, Johnny and Jerry Palacios. A fourth brother, Edwin Rene Palacios, was kidnapped from the family home by a gang in 2007. The family paid a reported ransom of about $185,000, but Edwin was never freed. His remains were found last year.
During the final stages of World Cup qualifying, Honduras was thrown into crisis when its president, Manuel Zelaya, was ousted in a coup last June 28 by the country’s army.
Still, the team qualified for its first World Cup since 1982 in exotic and indirect fashion, making a Honduran hero of the American midfielder Jonathan Bornstein. On Oct. 14, Bornstein scored a headed goal in extra time to give the Americans a 2-2 tie with Costa Rica, sending Honduras to the World Cup and forcing Costa Rica into a playoff against Uruguay, which it lost.
Roberto Micheletti, who became Honduras’s de facto president after the coup, declared a national holiday and invited Bornstein to vacation in the Central American nation, all expenses paid.
“We’ll bring this gringuito who scored on the header,” Micheletti said at the time. “He doesn’t need a visa to come to Honduras.”
From the looks of it, Spain will not have such a holiday in attempting to win its first World Cup.
“Being world champions, that’s a long way down the road,” Villa said.
source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/22/sports/soccer/22spaingame.html
Here was the crispness everyone had expected, the flowing movement upfield, the hypnotic cadence of one-touch passes, the geometric beauty of triangles that formed in endless possession.
The most immediate adversary, Honduras, was easily outclassed, 2-0, on a pair of goals by forward David Villa at Ellis Park. The second, Brazil, lurks as a possible matchup in the second round, a meeting between the two tournament favorites that would come before either team has gained its full health and rhythm.
It will be no less vital for Spain (1-1-0) to defeat Chile (2-0) on Friday, to secure advancement and to win its group, thus probably avoiding Brazil in the Round of 16. The situation remains tenuous. If Switzerland (1-1-0) defeats Honduras (0-2) and Spain can wrest only a tie from Chile, it will go home prematurely and embarrassed, adding to its reputation as an underachiever.
After a shocking 1-0 loss to Switzerland last week, though, Spain has resumed its accustomed soccer orbit, emerging from the eclipse that has shadowed other European powers like France, Italy and England.
Still, Spain did not take all that was offered against Honduras. Villa should have scored a third goal on a penalty kick in the 62nd minute. Honduras’s goalkeeper, Noel Valladares guessed the wrong way, but Villa placed his shot wide of the right goal post, putting his hands to his face in exasperation.
The first tie breaker in sorting teams is the difference between goals scored and allowed, and Chile is plus two in goal differential and Spain is plus one. This may be a chance that Spain wishes it did not fail to collect. There were other chances squandered in a match that might have ended 5-0.
“We lacked the finishing touch,” Vicente del Bosque, Spain’s coach, said. “I think the team is in very good physical form. We conceded few opportunities. We managed the game well, but we didn’t finish. We will suffer more against Chile if we continue to play like that.”
Spain must know, too, that no team has lost its opening match and won the World Cup. Much work needs to be done over the next few weeks weaving the thread of this team into a championship tapestry.
Forward Fernando Torres started the match, but he has yet to regain his sharpness after knee surgery in April. He headed one ball downward and bounced it over the crossbar early Monday, then ballooned another shot into the crowd.
Yet Spain is a resourceful team that has lost only twice in 50 matches, both in South Africa, to Switzerland last week and to the United States last June in the Confederations Cup.
If Torres could not find the target Monday, Villa could.
In the 17th minute, he split two defenders and cut inside a third in the penalty area, lifting a shot high into the net while sliding to the turf.
Then, in the 51st minute, Xavi Hernández made a run of 40 yards down the middle of the field and pushed the ball to forward Jesús Navas on the right flank. Navas drew two defenders and cut the ball back to Villa at the top of the penalty area for a looping shot that put Spain ahead, 2-0.
The top scorer at the 2008 European championships, which Spain won, Villa, who has signed with Barcelona, has 40 goals in 60 appearances for the national team.
“There’s nothing to explain except that we faced a team far superior to our side,” Reinaldo Rueda, Honduras’s coach, said. “Spain, they never make mistakes. They’re perfect in their passes and technique. In one simple move, they can eliminate four or five members of the other team.”
A second defeat nearly exhausted the chances of advancement for Honduras, one of the most poignant stories in the World Cup.
It is the only team ever to field three brothers at this competition — Wilson, Johnny and Jerry Palacios. A fourth brother, Edwin Rene Palacios, was kidnapped from the family home by a gang in 2007. The family paid a reported ransom of about $185,000, but Edwin was never freed. His remains were found last year.
During the final stages of World Cup qualifying, Honduras was thrown into crisis when its president, Manuel Zelaya, was ousted in a coup last June 28 by the country’s army.
Still, the team qualified for its first World Cup since 1982 in exotic and indirect fashion, making a Honduran hero of the American midfielder Jonathan Bornstein. On Oct. 14, Bornstein scored a headed goal in extra time to give the Americans a 2-2 tie with Costa Rica, sending Honduras to the World Cup and forcing Costa Rica into a playoff against Uruguay, which it lost.
Roberto Micheletti, who became Honduras’s de facto president after the coup, declared a national holiday and invited Bornstein to vacation in the Central American nation, all expenses paid.
“We’ll bring this gringuito who scored on the header,” Micheletti said at the time. “He doesn’t need a visa to come to Honduras.”
From the looks of it, Spain will not have such a holiday in attempting to win its first World Cup.
“Being world champions, that’s a long way down the road,” Villa said.
source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/22/sports/soccer/22spaingame.html
