- June, 21 2010 -
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Spain won 2-0 today against Honduras today, but really they could have won 7-0 or even 8-0 with the chances they had. Honduras were a little bit nervy and cautious - I’d like to see more attacking from them when they play against Switzerland and hopefully they’ll show more of their flair. As they are favourites to win the tournament, Spain’s match today attracted a capacity crowd and there was a great atmosphere in the stadium. This was important because there was a disappointing crowd at Paraguay’s game yesterday against Slovakia, so it was good to bounce back today with some exciting matches and large crowds.
Chile beat Switzerland 1-0 which hurts Switzerland’s chances of going through, despite their win over Spain. This is an interesting group as all four teams could still go through – although I think it will be between Spain, Chile and Switzerland. Most likely, Spain will beat Chile to go through first and Chile will come second in the group. However, if Switzerland do manage to beat Honduras and score a few goals, they could qualify at the expense of one of the other two. Goal difference will most likely decide.
Everything went well for the Portuguese team today who beat the People’s Republic of Korea 7-0. This is very unusual for this World Cup, as many teams have been set up with a defensive focus. Even when teams have created numerous chances, like Spain today, they have failed to take advantage. In this group, Brazil will need to beat Portugal to give the Ivory Coast a chance of going through; however Portugal’s high number of goals from today is likely to stand to them and make sure they go through to the next stage.
In fact, a draw would suit both Brazil and Portugal so we could end up with a very dull encounter.
Spirit, determination and togetherness are the qualities required to win a big tournament such as the World Cup, France are showing their togetherness at the wrong time with their support for team mate Nicolas Anelka - they should have been showing it on the pitch last week.
Similarly, England is not displaying these qualities. Two weeks ago, Capello’s discipline and strictness was hailed as the best for the team and now all of sudden its wrong. The players should get on with what they are being paid to do instead of thinking they are the biggest part of the solution and not part of the problem. I blame it on the player power we have seen coming to the fore over the last ten years. You have these super star players coming from big clubs who have too much to say for themselves. They think they are stronger than the managers and it is a recipe for a disaster.
They feel they are responsible when things are going well and don’t consider themselves part of the problem when things are going badly. They have been put on pedestals by their clubs and, as a result, have no humility and feel they are beyond the lesser players and teams in international tournaments like this.
