23 June 2010
Group H Review: 2nd Group Matches
By Sam Parker
Sam Parker rounds up the second round of group matches in Group H, as Spain get off the mark at last.
After their shock opening defeat to the Swiss, Spain got some points on the board with a dominating, yet unsatisfying 2-0 victory over Honduras.
Their competitors never made any impact on the game and the scoreline ended up flattering Honduras more than Spain, much to the frustration of the Spanish media.
David Villa proved his credentials towards claiming the Golden Boot with two fantastic strikes, but missed his chance to join Gonzalo Higuain at the top of the charts when he missed a penalty after the impressive Jesus Navas was crudely hacked down in the box.
Villa also escaped a ban for slapping Emilio Izaguirre around the face in the first half, after FIFA decided against take any retrospective action.
Spain will hope to welcome back Andres Iniesta after he missed the match with another injury, to give them that extra creative edge sorely lacking against a stubborn Honduran defence, backed by the increasingly impressive Noel Valladeres in goal.
Honduras are expected to shake their pack about for the final game against Switzerland, with rumours abound they could field all three Palacios brothers and make a bit of history.
CHILE VS. SWITZERLAND
In what was expected to be the contest to determine second place, Chile now lead the way in Group H after two wins from two.
They overcame Switzerland in a 1-0 win, rather ruined by a card-happy referee, Kahlil Al Ghamdi of Saudi Arabia, who dished out nine yellow cards and one red, beating the previous record set by Germany and Serbia just days earlier.
Mark Gonzalez scored the only goal of the game with a close range header from Esteban Paredes’ cross, and they will feel they could have had more as they dominated the match and missed a number of clear cut chances.
Their midfield for the all important final game against Spain will be weakened, as both Carlos Carmona and Matias Fernandez picked up their second bookings of the tournament.
A win for Switzerland against Honduras will most likely see them through, regardless of the Chile V Switzerland score. Alexander Frei will hope for more of an opportunity to make his mark on the tournament, having been sacrificed after half an hour to compensate for the sending off of Valon Behrami against Chile. Eren Derdiyok will also hope for some better luck, having missed two golden opportunities in the previous games.
In addition to the absence of Behrami, Switzerland will also miss Philippe Senderos, who has been ruled out for the remainder of the tournament.
Switzerland will have left their mark on the tournament regardless of what happens from now, as they have gone the longest without conceding a goal at the World Cup finals.
Having not conceded a goal at the 2006 finals (they exited on penalties after a 0-0 draw against the Ukraine), reaching the 67 minute mark without a goal against meant that they passed the record set by Italy at Italia ’90 of 550 watertight minutes. Gonzalez’ strike ended a run of 559 minutes without conceding, a run that covered the 1994, 2006 and 2010 finals.
