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Shockers in South Africa
Spain dodged elimination against Chile
After losing its opening match to Switzerland and winning their second match over Honduras 2-0, Spain had
to faced Chile in a must win situation. Chile held the Group H lead with 6 points while Spain and Switzerland
were in hot pursuit with three points each. Switzerland had a winnable game against Honduras while Spain
had to pull out all the stops against a well knitted Chilean team.
It was the best game of the tournament from a technical stand point for me as Chile took the action to Spain
with the expectation that Switzerland would have beaten Honduras to gain the six points to set up a three
way tie had they lost to Spain. The two group matches were played simultaneously, with any two of the three
contenders controlling their own destiny to advance into the Round of Sixteen with a win.
Leading 2-0 at the half, Spain had to hold on for dear life to
gain a 2-1 victory with Chile playing with ten men. Chile still
managed to advance with Spain after Honduras held
Switzerland to a scoreless draw.
USA team speed exposes England
USA opened with a 1-1 against England in front of a lively
crowd at Rustenburg Stadium. It was an up tempo game
which forced England to try and hold on to its positional
advantage while USA utilize its team speed to create major
problems for England on its counter attacks.
USA goalkeeper Tim Howard
came up big for his team and
received Man of the Match
honours for his efforts. But I
thought Lampard and Gerrard
in England midfield were a tad
slow. This resulted in England
having to restart plays to seek
the space which their physical
runs would have created.
USA looked more dangerous
in attack and besides their
team
speed,
had
the
leadership of Donavan and
the size and muscle of Jozy
Altidore up front and Oguchi
Onyewu in the defense.
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ssrmagazine.comUSA goalkeeper Tim Howard in action
USA team speed nullify England
…………………………….. The best technical game of the 2010 World Cup
SSR Magazine
SSR Magazine