It was Portugal, I suppose, that restored order to the World Cup; “order” in the sense of teams fulfilling expectations, that is. Not that there’s any logical reason to form expectations in the first place. So what that FIFA ranks Spain a lofty #2 and Switzerland a lowly #24? What makes footy such an exciting sport is its wildly unpredictable nature. On the day, as they say, anything can happen and does, as often as not.
Portugal 7 – 0 North Korea was not a surprise, unless you were surprised that it wasn’t an upset, or even close. Spain’s subsequent victory over Honduras is another reassuring sign that the powers of chaos are not on the ascendant. Yes, we can count on the world footy powerhouses to progress to the next round and provide us the stunning displays of skill, invention, collaboration and individual brilliance their rank and past performances promised.
The match wasn’t a given, though. It was hard fought and well-won, with a few flubs, uneven efforts (Villa’s missed penalty kick? Spain’s casual approach to the game after that 2nd goal?) and Pique once more taking injuries to the head (smashed in the mouth this time, ouch — will this boy survive the tournament?). I’m happy with their win, don’t get me wrong. I’m just saying it would have been nice if el Niño could’ve converted his chances, if Villa hadn’t hit the crossbar, if luck had smiled on Ramos (who really deserved a goal). Should’ve been 5-0, I’m saying, at least.
All things being equal, I tend to root for the underdog. When Spain’s involved, I’m blatantly biased. An immigrant nation, America is still young enough that most of us still strongly identify with the lands of our ancestors. I haven’t a drop of Spanish blood myself, but my kids sure do, ’cause I married a Spaniard. Half-Spaniard. Whatever — ¡Viva España!
Hell, who am I kidding? I’d be rooting for Spain, anyway. With football and players that easy on the eye… por favor, give me more, more, more.
You know how we noticed weekly themes in the EPL games — a plethora of brilliant saves throughout the league, a spate of off-the-crossbar misses, that sort of thing? Seems to be a phenomenon of WC, too, but on a shorter time-line. These 2nd and start-of 3rd Round matches keep giving us low-differential wins of 1-0 or 2-1, when without the blown chances and failed attempts and bogus calls, it would’ve been 5-0 or 9-1 or something.
I’m so glad you finally watched that game. I felt like it was a step in the right direction for Spain, but I also felt like they should have had more than 2 goals (::missed penalty!!!!::) . . . with their loss to Switzerland, and Switzerland’s loss to Chile it’s entirely within the realm of possibility that they will need a more impressive goal differential to get through (depending on how inspired Chile is to represent now that they’re at the top of the group and how the Switzerland/Honduras game pans out).