When your World Cup day begins with a seven goal rout, you tend to think it’ll be a good one. And it was. Day Eleven in South Africa was very entertaining, sometimes for the right reasons, sometimes for the wrong reasons.
But let’s start with the positives and Portugal’s hammering of sorry North Korea. For the first half an hour or so it looked like we’d returned to the boring early days of this tournament. North Korea were stifling Portugal in much the same way they did Brazil in their opening match, while Portugal themselves were not looking dynamic enough to do anything about it.
Bizarre choice for captain Cristiano Ronaldo was again looking well below his best and without his inspiration there was little hope for a goal. North Korea even had the nerve to come close to taking the lead twice, while Portugal had to settle for hitting the fram eof the goal from as corner.
We needn’t have worried though. Raul Meireles settled Portugal with a low strike from a Tiago pass on 29 minutes and though North Korea held them at that until half time it was clear the lead had given the Portuguese confidence.
What followed in the second half was in such sharp contrast to the first you almost couldn’t believe it. Ronaldo, previously subdued, became the marauding, unstoppable force he is for his clubs and Portugal took the game to North Korea.
On 53 minutes Almeida fed Simao who doubled Portugal’s lead before scoring himself, heading in Coentrao’s cross just three minutes later. It was then you began to fear for North Korea – and to wonder if Ronaldo, who was by now terrifying the disorganised Korean defence, would get his first international goal in two years.
His first real contribution was to set up Tiago for Portugal’s fourth goal. Then he played a sublime cross that Almeida only just failed to meet and sent a crashing shot against the ball from range. You sensed a goal was coming for Real Madrid’s star player, but it was substitute Liedson that scored the fifth with a powerful shot inside the box with nine minutes to go.
Ronaldo would not be denied, however. He capitalised on a defensive error, running on to a loose ball, skipping past a challenge and, with more than a hint of good fortune, found the ball bounce off his neck, over his head and on to his foot, which he duly (and gratefully) used to poke the ball home. It was, you could tell, a source of amusement and relief for the Portuguese captain.
With six goals scored and only three minutes remaining you wouldn’t have blamed Portugal if they’d just played keep-ball in midfield at this point, but far from it. They continued to pour forward and duly scored a seventh, Tiago bagging his second of the game with his head.
It was as impressive an attacking display as we have seen so far, though you do have to take into account the standard of the opposition. Nevertheless, the result almost ensures Portugal’s progression to the second round no matter what happens in the last games in the group thanks to a vastly superior goal difference over the Ivory Coast.
It also sets up a mouthwatering clash with Brazil on Friday to see who will top Group G.
After the goalfest in Cape Town we were treated to the exact opposite in Port Elizabeth. Chile versus Switzerland does not set the pulse racing at the best of times but when the match is ruined by a card-happy referee it only gets worse.
Yet the clash turned out to be strangely fascinating. Chile won 1-0 with a late Gonzalez header, by the way, virtually assuring qualification, but that was not the story of the game. Switzerland created World Cup history on 67 minutes when they became the team to have gone the longest without conceding a goal at World Cup finals, beating previous record holders Italy. They conceded just eight minutes later, of course.
The feat, if you can call it that, was made particularly difficult when Valon Behrami was sent off for elbowing Arturo Vidal in the face. The Chilean made a lot of it, but it was still a red card – especially when you consider the referee had booked four players in the first 20 minutes, including Suazo in the first minute.
Khalil Al Ghamdi finished the game with nine yellow cards and a red in a game that was by no means dirty and he actually undermined himself with his own whistle, so frequent were his interruptions that the players lost all respect for his officiating.
The red card made Switzerland even more determined to defend and defend only. And so you had the bizarre spectacle of Chile’s attacking instincts being blunted by a determined and very well marshalled Swiss 10 man defence. That Switzerland got their World Cup record is testament to them, while Chile’s eventual victory was the right result. Fascinating stuff, really.
The evening game gave Spain the opportunity to make amends for their shock defeat to Switzerland in the first game by beating little Honduras convincingly. They duly did so, though the final 2-0 scoreline did not reflect their dominance. Rather it highlights their poor finishing.
David Villa scored both goals, the first a brilliant solo run and finish from the left, the second a deflected shot from just outside the box that gave Honduras keeper Valladeres no chance. Villa could have had four or five goals himself and Spain many more, but he missed a penalty and hit the bar, while Ramos and Torres in particular wasted good opportunities.
This was the Spain that won the 2008 European Championships, though again you have to take into account the opposition. It will restore confidence to a team badly shaken by their defeat to the Swiss though and they will need it when they play Group H leaders Chile, needing a win to ensure qualification.
