There’s an old saying that goes something like this… when morning dawns in Africa, a deer wakes up thinking that he needs to run faster than the fastest lion or it will perish. A lion wakes up thinking he needs to run faster than the slowest deer or it will starve. Spain and Chile put up perhaps the most electrifying contest of the World Cup so far (the pace of the two sides… unmatchable) as they met in their final group stage encounter at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Friday night.
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Group H supremacy was on the line and Vicente del Bosque’s men proved to be the lions on this night, beating Chile 2-1 and sealing a mouth-watering knock-out battle against Portugal.
Andres Iniesta made his return to the starting line-up at the expense of the impressive Jesus Navas. For Chile, Marco Estrada and Jorge Valdivia stepped in for the injured Carlos Carmona and suspended medio Matias Fernandez.Spain got the ball rolling in an absolutely electrifying atmosphere in Pretoria. Both the sides started with flair and a Xavi cross in the 4th minute almost had Torres go through on goal, but Chile snuffed out the danger.
Chile too, showed plenty of intent with their 3-3-3-1 line-up, and their attack started asking questions early as Spain struggled to keep pace.
23 minutes into the game, and Chile were looking like the better side before in-form striker David Villa came up with an absolute stunner. Against the run of play, and with a little help from Chile stopper Claudio Bravo, Spain took a 1-0 lead. The goalkeeper raced out of his area to clear a long ball and could only clear the ball till Villa, who hit an outrageous curling shot into an empty net from about 30 yards out.
What followed was a Chile backlash, forcing Spain to play on the break, and Andres Iniesta gave the European Champions some much needed breathing space, netting a second goal in the 37th minute. A splendid assist from Villa enabled the Barcelona star to place it into the bottom corner, away from the fingertips of the diving Chile shot stopper.
Meanwhile, midfielder Marco Estrada brought down Torres in the build up to that goal, leading to a second yellow for him.Both sides went into the tunnel for a breather with Chile down to 10 men. Overall, an ugly first half for Chile, who had four players booked.
The second half started with Chile keen on pulling things back, bringing on Paredes and Millar for Gonzalez and Valdivia at the break. Whatever the Chile boss said to the team at half clearly worked, with substitute Millar curling in a ball away from Casillas into the back of the net in the 47th minute. Replays however, showed the ball took a slight deflection off Pique. Nevertheless, it was game on once again and Chile were back in it.
Spain decided to progress cautiously after losing the two-goal cushion, defending in numbers and waiting for the odd chance to break. Trying to win back more control, Cesc Fabregas came on for Torres in the 55th.
The rest of the half saw Spain exhibit some of their best possession football. Top notch one touch football with the 10-men Chile getting pushed back in frustration. There were occasional bursts from both the sides but neither was able to change the final score-line.
The win means Spain have avoided a last 16 clash against Brazil, but fireworks are in store when they take on Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal.
