Yeah, I'm surprised they opted for Pedro instead of Fabregas. Pedro didn't do much. Navas was a great sub though -- created all sorts of problems for Switzerland on the right side. They just packed the box and made every one of his crosses useless.
I don't want to derail this thread, but why does Nike keep showing the "Write the Future" ad featuring Ronaldinho? The rest of it is great, but he isn't even playing. Did I miss something here?
They can't remake the ad without him. They show edited versions of the ad that don't include him, but I'm sure that ad cost a LOT of money to make. It's a great ad and they're going to milk it for all it's worth regardless of whether Ronaldinho is playing or not.
In 30 years of playing the game, I've never been a part of a team that completely dominated and lost. Spain may have dominated possession, which is what they're known for, but did little else. They didn't take Switzerland seriously. They screwed with the ball. Had horrible 1st touches. Couldn't hit the ocean from the beach with many of their shots. Switzerland played fantastic defense and counter. Spain was trying to be too fancy with corners and set pieces. I'm guessing they'll still come away with 6 points because they're likely to get their s*** together to beat Honduras and Chile. Today, though, they were terrible.
I know Honduras did well in making Chile look good today, but I don't think Spain will walk all over Chile, it'll be a tough game. Torres was sorely missed today, he's the best finisher Spain has, I think goal differential might play into who will get into the next round. My money is still on Spain making it through...
Chile is capable of being a very good team. They're very inconsistent. When they play as they are able to, they very well could beat Spain, too. I figured Chile to be Spain's toughest 1st round match...and they still could be.
This isn't recreational soccer with the Vato's behind the Carlos Carlos bar using paint cans as goal posts. This is the opening match of the World Cup. Having a few flaws in your opening game doesn't represent poor effort, things just weren't falling Spain's way and the Swiss were camping the entire game (which is all they know how to do). It would have been nice to see Spain and Chile go through as they both play positive football, but this will serve as a wakeup call to stop being cute and start developing a killer instinct. Which is easier said than done when your entire team is a bunch of 5'7, 140 lb finesse players. Villa's chip in particular was stupid. ChrisBosh: Torres played, looked rusty and wasted a bunch of chances. He showed why he's coming off the bench.
What things didn't fall Spain's way? Casillas' awful attempt at that ball that resulted in the goal? Villa's chip? Torres' first touch? Shots that landed in the stands? Spain is much better than what they showed today. Saying "things didn't go our way" is a bulls*** excuse attempting to hide the fact that they didn't respect their opponents and played like crap.
Didn't get to watch the second half of the game, from what I had heard Torres was going to miss the first game due to injury. He's the guy who really opens it up for David Villa, they will need him to get in form quickly.
diff strokes ... i watched a different game. Spain dominated and had more scoring opportunities. nothing to do with taking their opponent seriously, the Swiss found the net and hung on for dear life. seen a zillion games like that.
Everyone who is a fan of MEXICO is frustrated with this type of game and all football fans hate this, but it's the way it goes. WIN or WIN no matter how. MEXICO has the ball for 75% of the time. USA is retreated into their defensive stance. MEXICO can't find a way to score. Beautiful passes, touches, here, there, everywhere a nice pass, but no cigar. Howard sends it to Donovan... the Mexican defense can't stop Donovan's through pass to Altidore/Johnson/Dempsey/Davies/Findley. One scoring chance that the USA gets, and BAM-O, they score. Then, they can manage the game better, attack a little, or retreat into the best defensive stance. Well, that was what I saw in this SPA - SWI game, anyway... I'm used to it. The favorite goes down. Nothing new. I know, I know. MEXICO is no SPAIN. That's just how I saw it, though. Ahhhh... memories:
You're trying to micromanage something that cannot be micromanaged. Spain put in the right amount of effort and didn't lose due to lack of respect - it had more to do with their nerves and lack of finishing discipline. Even Switzerland's goal was somewhat of a freak goal, and Spain created all kinds of opportunities for themselves using their patented passing techniques. They are who we thought they were - a bunch of pansies with no killer instinct. That being said, they are too talented to not qualify with all the chances they create. It's a shame Switzerland can now play even more negative football to advance.
Here's another one... Just preaching what I said a couple months ago, Ronny. http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showpost.php?p=5203339&postcount=62
Fantastic result! Screw those racist Spanish pigs. They will probably beat Chile and Honduras and advance to the next round... but for now i'm loving it.
REPPED. Wait a minute, what am I saying... the USA can beat the Spaniards, and now so can the SWISS. Life is good!
