Neither Here Nor There

The Swiss certainly had their share of set pieces, due to late tackles by the Hondurans.  Too bad they couldn’t convert them.  They needed 2 goals to go on in the competition.  They had their chances to score, but didn’t.  Honduras held on and held the Swiss back.

The relatively ordinary, as-expected run of play implies that the weird start to the tournament was just that — weird.  One has to bow to the wisdom of the WC organizers who long ago decided that the competition must begin with a group stage that guaratees every team 3 games.  Sometimes newbies and long shot countries hit the big stage and shine for an electric 90 minutes, only to fade next time out.  Sometimes the big guns totally misfire in their first match, then reload and start finding the target.

Honduras beat nobody and tied Switzerland.  No suprises there.  Switzerland gave us a jaw-dropping opener by beating Spain, lost to Chile — barely — in their tense 2nd match, then finished up with the aforementioned tie.  It’s almost as if by finding their bearings, they lost their edge.

Though the other 2 teams in the group (Portugal and Brazil) seemed by far the more likely to progress, Cote d’Ivoire clearly wasn’t resigned to relegation.  Their lively start produced 3 opportunities in the first 12 minutes of the game and culminated in Yaya Toure scoring a minute later.

His spectacular goal was fuel to their fire.  With furious pace and fierce, attacking football, the “Elephants” (as they are apparently known) went at the North Koreans again in the 18th minute; the shot was denied by the post.  By 20 minutes in, the score was an astonishing 2 – 0.

For a little while there, it seemed the Ivory Coast might somehow pull it off, might win with a large enough goal differential to upset the favorites and advance to the next stage.  They were going for it.  Never say die, never surrender.

North Korea didn’t have a convincing reply to the Ivorians’ game, but they did endeavor to plug up their defensive holes enough to avoid another embarrassing glut of goals at their expense.  (They’d gone down to Portugal 7 – 0.)  Despite their efforts, the final score was one to make Kim Jong Il blush.  Solomon Kalou found the net 82 minutes in, a cracker of a goal that had the home-continent crowd vuvuzela-ing to high heaven.  The Elephants nearly nabbed a 4th as well, only to have it ruled offside.

This was the football I’d hoped to see from Cote d’Ivoire all along.  The broken arm suffered by their captain and star striker Didier Drogba just days before the start of the competition had to undercut their confidence and undermine their game plan.  Yet, they rallied, holding Portugal to a draw, scoring — if not winning — against Brazil, and essentially creaming North Korea.

The Ivory Coast showed the world what heart and belief (and considerable skill) can achieve, against the odds and against the champions.  They’re going home early.  I hope they get a hero’s welcome.

Portugal sat back for the 1st half, evidently content with their one win and massive goal differential.  Though Brazil was sitting pretty at the top of the Group G table, they looked the more likely to score.  The 2nd half started better, with Portugal creating several chances and Cesar with a brace of excellent saves in the first quarter of an hour, but the improvement was marginal.

Highlight of the match, for me, was a tremendous run up the right from Christiano Ronaldo that required decisive action from the left-back.  The defender’s tackle only served to drive the ball across the pitch to an unmarked Miereles making his run up the left.  Cesar stopped Miereles’ shot with an instinct-save that glanced off his forearm, then striker and keeper collided.  When Cesar stayed  down, play stopped, help arrived, and behind-the-touchline cameras gave us a crystal clear view of his seriously bandaged back.

I’d heard Brazil’s keeper had a back problem coming into the tournament, but there was something about that view, his undeniable discomfort, the swarming physios and the ice packs that brought it home for me.  He isn’t my favorite, but I’ll freely admit that Cesar is one of the best, maybe the best goalkeeper in the world.  I’m constantly marvelling at the big man’s incredible agility and strength.  After checking out that taping job holding his torso together, I kinda have to marvel that he’s able to play with such ease, grace and power, when he’s got to be playing in pain.

As for the remaining minutes of the game… hey.  If Portugal and Brazil can’t be bothered to show up, I can’t be bothered to comment.

Chile has been looking surprisingly spry on the field.  Against Spain, though, they looked just that bit slower and clumsier than they had in their previous matches.  Were they playing less well?  Or did they seem to be off their stride because they couldn’t muster the extra reserves required to up their tempo, dexterity and inventiveness to the level of the Spanish game?

Spain created 2 terrific chances in the first 5 minutes, and their opening goal was an absolute wonder.  A perfectly controlled explosion up the left side by Torres left the last Chilean defender stranded and forced the alert Claudio Bravo to dash off his line to deal with the danger.  Unfortunately, his tackle diverted the ball into the path of Torres’ strike partner, the always-impressive David Villa, who proceeded to curl it into Bravo’s empty net from a good 40 yards out.

About a quarter of an hour later, Chile allowed Spain a second goal when Xabi Alonso threaded the ball through the midfield, then crossed it to the goal-scorer with one of his trademark pinpoint passes.  Now well scared of the diminutive Villa, two Chilean defenders raced to close him down, at which point Villa cut the ball back to the open Iniesta who had nothing to do but slot the ball into the bottom left corner of the net.

About that same time, Estrada was red-carded off the pitch for a foul on Torres.  A man and 2 goals down, the outlook seemed bleak for the Chileanos, but coach Bielsa revamped his attack and made an inspired double-substitution that landed the ball in the back of Casillas’ goal almost immediately after the restart.

The Chileanos showed some skill and plenty of character and tenacity.  I’m still rooting for Spain, but looking forward to seeing what else Chile’s got for us before this Cup is done and dusted.