Pierre Boisrond has followed soccer and the World Cup
closely for many years and also writes for other websites. We at PWC are proud to have him as
a columnist. He will share his views about the past, present and future of
the World Cup.
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Brazil, Chile, Portugal, Spain qualified for next round; Honduras, Switzerland, Ivory Coast, North Korea out
Today’s games were in Group G and in Group H. In Group G, Brazil was playing against Portugal and Ivory Coast against North Korea. In Group H, we had Spain vs. Chile and Honduras vs. Switzerland. Brazil vs. Portugal and Ivory Coast vs. North Korea were playing simultaneously. Brazil was already in the last 16 but Portugal needed a win or a tie to make it through. However, the Portuguese knew after scoring 7 goals against North Korea, their ticket was also booked. Both teams play a strategic game, they did not want to lose and it seems they were happy with the tie. Perhaps, Kaka could have made a difference for Brazil in that game. However, one must respect the Portuguese for the strategies they used to contain “el equipo Auriverde.” The Portuguese have contained the Brazilians; the game ended 0-0. Both teams earned their ticket to the round of 16.
In the other game, Ivory Coast was playing vs. North Korea. It would have been very difficult for Didier Drogba and company to make it to the next round. They would have had to score more than 7 goals to at least have a chance. This definitely would have not been an easy task for the Ivory Coast Internaltionals. Ivory Coast ended up beating North Korea 3-0. This was great for the players because they were able to give some joy to their people despite being eliminated. Concerning North Korea, they played an excellent game against Brazil by losing 2-1. However, they lost 7-0 to Portugal, and today 3-0 against Ivory Coast. North Korea was the weakest team in Group G and also the weakest team in the World Cup. In Group G, Brazil won the group and Portugal earned the second place. Both teams booked their tickets to the next round.
In Group H, the attractive game was Chile vs. Spain. It was a game that Spain needed to win to win the group and to avoid Brazil in the round 16. In the first quarter hour of the game, the Chileans disrupted the Spaniards beautiful football. However, the men of Del Bosque stepped up the pressure on the men of Bielsa and suddenly Villa put Spain 1-0 after the goalie of Chile made a colossal mistake by trying to clear the ball but send it to the feet of Villa who buried it. Before the first half ended, Iniesta scored a beautiful goal and Spain had a 2-0 lead over Chile. The referee ejected Marco Estrada of Chile in the 37th minute; I think this should not have been a red card. With 1 man down, Chile found themselves in a 2-0 at half-time.
In the second half, Rodrigo millar, in the 47th minute put Chile on the score board. Now the score is Chile 1- Spain 2. Both teams were content with the score at that time. It was basically a game of strategy where Spain did not want to score more goals and they did not put pressure on the Chileans. The Chileans, on the other end, were playing defense but were relying on a counter attack which never came. The game ended 2-1 and both teams qualified for the next round but Spain won the group.
The result of the game between Switzerland and Honduras was a bit surprising to me. It seems the Swiss did not want to go after the game since Honduras had more scoring chances than Switzerland. I can’t comprehend that Switzerland beats Spain and ended up not making it to the next round. Honduras did not have anything to gain in the game today other than to leave the World Cup on a high note. They have done so and they have brought some satisfaction to the people of Honduras. Switzerland vs Honduras ended 0-0; both teams did not qualify for the next round.
Today we have seen Brazil and Portugal play a strategic game which sent both of them to the round of 16. We have seen Ivory Coast win the game against North Korea to leave this World Cup with dignity. We have seen the Spaniard rise to the occasion and win the group and avoid Brazil in the round of 16. We have seen Chile content with a 2-1 defeat but still made it to the next round.
Now, we are in the knock-out round. This is serious business now and there’s no speculation. Later on Today, we shall see Uruguay vs South Korea and USA vs Ghana. Win or Go home! The World Cup is very exciting now. Will Forlan and Donovan rise up to the challenge to drive their respective countries to the Promised Land? Or Will the speedy South Koreans and Ghanaians spoil the show for Uruguay and USA respectively? We shall know later today.
Let’s continue to enjoy the World Cup.
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