Perhaps the most anticipated game of the group stages when the World Cup fixtures were announced was Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal versus Kaka’s Brazil.

Unfortunately for us fans, both teams were virtually guaranteed of making the last 16 and they played like it. What could have been the match of the tournament turned out to be the worst one so far.

Portugal played for the point they needed to qualify, happy to give the majority of the possession to Brazil. The Brazilians were unable to fashion many chances of note, the best falling to Nilmar which was superbly saved by Eduardo.

It could all have been different had Brazil’s Juan been sent off for a blatant handball that prevented Ronaldo racing through on goal. There was no doubt it should have been a red card, yet the referee inexplicably brandished a yellow.

Portugal are a hard team to beat and haven’t conceded a goal thus far. They will face neighbours Spain in the next round and won’t be able to just sit back. Let’s hope that game is a better spectacle than this.

Brazil take on Chile in what could also be a classic as they finished second in Group H following a 2-1 defeat to Spain last night. The European champions are still not at their best but in David Villa, fit again Andres Iniesta and the unflappable Xabier Alonso they had enough quality to overcome their South American opponents.

Two goals in the first half from Villa and Iniesta. The first came from a moment of madness from Chilean keeper Bravo. He raced from his goal to clear an over hit ball from Pique but only succeeded in hitting it to Villa, who guided the ball back over the stranded keeper and into the net from 40 yards.

Spain’s passing talents were on display as Iniesta shared one-twos with Torres and Villa before the sliding the ball past Bravo for Spain’s second goal.

And yet Chile themselves were showing similar characteristics but lacked the same cutting edge. They also lacked discipline and the good work they were putting in was ruined when Estrada received a second yellow card, albeit for what appeared to be an accidental trip, and Chile were reduced to 10 men.

They should really have seen it coming, as they had already picked up two yellow cards and lost Carrizo and Medel for the last 16. Both sides went through however, as Switzerland, needing a 2-0 victory over lowly Honduras, wasted their opportunity, lacking any invention or attacking prowess.

The victory over Spain in their opening game may have taken its toll, but they should have had enough to overcome Honduras. Alas, Hitzfeld’s side failed and go out rather more meekly than they should have done.

The other game of the day, a dead rubber between the Ivory Coast and North Korea saw the Africans regain some pride with a 3-0 victory. Goals from Yaya Toure, Romaric and Kalou were not enough to spark the miracle the Ivory Coast needed to qualify – a nine goal swing in their favour!

Here we go into the knockout stages and the tournament proper begins. There is no point in playing defensively now, it’s win or bust and we should see a much improved World Cup for it.

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.

The reigning European Champions and nailed on favourites Spain, humbled by the lowly Swiss. Who’d have thought? In all probability, no-one, yet that is precisely what happened on Day Six to provide us with the biggest shock of the tournament so far.

Spain didn’t play too badly either, they enjoyed much of the possession, put together some wonderful moves and were far more positive than their opponents. Yet their strike force was blunted by a well-drilled, committed Switzerland. It was a case of substance winning over style.

Spain will no doubt qualify from this group regardless but if ever there was a wake up call this was it. 67% of possession is impressive, but without a final product it’s pointless. 22 shots on goal, yes, but most of them tame or off target. 12 corners won and wasted through poor delivery.

For fans of defence this was a joy to behold as the Swiss repelled wave after wave of Spanish attacks, especially as the second half wore on and Spain tried to recover from going a goal behind.

Don’t be fooled into thinking defending was all the Swiss had to offer though. Their 52nd minute goal may have been a scrambled effort finally put in by former Manchester City striker Gelson Fernandez, but they could have gone 2-0 up in much better fashion when Derdiyok cut inside the very impressive Pique, past Puyol and flicked his shot passed Casillas, only to see it come back off the post.

The introduction of the clearly unfit Fernando Torres showed how desperate Spain were getting but even he couldn’t find a way through the Swiss defence and when the final whistle blew after five minutes of stoppage time it was the Swiss celebrating and Spain wondering how they’d lost, their World Cup plans in temporary tatters.

Spain’s problems were made worse by the fact that Chile beat Honduras 1-0 earlier in the day in Group H. It was Chile’s first win at the tournament for 48 years but they were too good for the Hondurans.

The scoreline doesn’t reflect their superiority or their ambition – Chile put in a far more skilful and committed display than many of the so-called bigger teams have done so far. The BBC described their play as “refreshing”.

Honduras, on the other hand, looked as naive as you would expect them to be, lacking in organisation. There’s no way they will get past this group stage.

The win confirms many people’s view that Chile are favourites to qualify from the group, but who will join them now is not certain at all. It’s become perhaps the most interesting group in the tournament.

The last game of the day saw hosts South Africa return to the action in Group A, taking on Uruguay. There was, sadly for the country, the tournament and the neutrals, to be no repeat of the opening game in which they gained a well earned and valuable point.

Uruguay and Diego Forlan in particular were ruthless in their efficiency. It was Forlan who scored the first from 30 yards, his shot taking a deflection off Mokoena that took the ball past the stranded Khune.

If you’ve been annoyed by the constant drone of the vuvuzelas then this was the match to watch – they were silenced when Forlan hammered home a penalty won by Suarez. As the striker cut across the six yard box he was caught by the boot of Khune, resulting in the penalty and a sending off for the unfortunate keeper.

South Africa were done and dusted and many supporters began leaving the stadium. There was still time for Uruguay to underline their superiority with a third goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time, Forlan again involved. His cross was picked up by Suarez on the far side of the box, he chipped it back in and Alvaro Pereira was on hand to bundle the ball in.

The result leaves Uruguay firm favourites to qualify top of the group, but for South Africa the chances of going through are slim. They must beat France without their first choice keeper and midfielder Dikgachoi who received his second yellow card of the tournament.

The joy of the draw against Mexico has gone and it’s a shame, as the continued involvement of Bafana Bafana in the competition woild only be a good thing. Nevertheless, this is a ruthless game and if they fail to qualify it will be because they just weren’t good enough.

Switzerland’s defeat of Spain, France and Italy’s respective draws and the, if we’re honest, unconvincing victories for Brazil and Holland should offer up some hope to England supporters despairing at the draw with the USA.

Only Germany have struck fear into the hearts of the other 31 teams in the World Cup. The rest of the so-called favourites have done little to cause sleepless nights, for England or anyone.

Fabio Capello’s men did not put in a brilliant performance but nor were they as bad as the British media, prone to overreaction, portrayed. They had chances to win the match and would have done anyway had it not been for Robert Green’s much talked about misfortune.

I would even go so far as to say that England’s performance was better than that of France and Italy and while Spain enjoyed a huge amount of possession and had more shots than any other team so far in the tournament it meant little – England have a point, they do not.

This is not to suggest that if England faced any of the aforementioned teams they would win, but they would certainly have a very good chance, howlers aside.

There’s a long way to go in this World Cup, let’s not be too downbeat. Every side has played their first game now and England are sitting far prettier than most.

Fulham’s tiring nine month, 18 game European campaign has seen them qualify for the Europa League final, beating along the way the likes of Wolfsburg, current holders Shakhtar Donetsk, CSKA Sofia and, lest we forget, Italian giants Juventus and Roma. Sporting Fare (and every other media organisation and commentator) puts this remarkable achievement down to one man – Roy Hodgson. And rightly so.

What is it about this nice, genial and intelligent Englishman that has rejuvenated, galvanised and propelled a small club like Fulham from relegation fodder at home to potential European trophy winners?

Continue Reading