Guardiola masterminds the next evolution in tactics

Why has the CDB Pod been quiet for the past few months? Well, a big part of that is that I’ve relocated to Zaragoza in Spain for the year and so there have been various other things to sort out. But what that does mean is that I’ve been able to take in some Spanish football and it’s been a really interesting experience. Today, I’m going to discuss a team I’ve seen twice already this season, the reigning Liga BBVA champions Barcelona. Earlier in the season I made a pilgrimage to the Camp Nou to watch what turned out to be a pretty disappointing game, a 1-1 draw with Mallorca, as well as a trip to La Romareda to watch my local side Real Zaragoza host Barca, which ended 0-2, and in those two games I was really fascinated by Pep Guardiola’s tactics. I was treated to seeing two quite different but revolutionary formations, which confirmed to me that Guardiola is the most exciting, innovative coach currently operating.

We’ll start with Barca’s more frequently used formation over the last six to twelve months, which was in operation at the Camp Nou for the draw with Mallorca. Bearing in mind a depleted first team through injury, this is what it looked like:

Barcelona formation vs. Mallorca, 3rd October 2010

The main innovation of this formation is the use of Sergio Busquets (or his stand-in in this instance, Javier Mascherano) in the deep-lying midfield position as essentially a modern incarnation of the Libero-style sweeper (as has been discussed by the likes of Jonathan Wilson and zonalmarking.net). Rather than being based behind the centre-backs when out of posession as was in the old 5-3-2 formations, Busquets/Mascherano starts around where Claude Makelele used to sit just ahead of them, but when his team are in posession drops further back, in line with the centre-backs, pushing them wider and allowing the full-backs to bomb forward safe in the knowledge that the defence is sufficiently guarded. Busquets isn’t the first to be doing this for Barca – Yaya Toure started the practice circa 2008 – but he’s much more rigidly a centre-half in posession than Toure was.

The benefits of this are several for Barca – one of the big plus points is that Gerard Pique, pushed out on the right of the defensive three, has more freedom to bring his considerable ball-playing technique into play, often instigating many attacking moves by bringing the ball out of defence. With Xavi out of the Mallorca match with injury, this was particularly evident in that game as Pique was arguably the main playmaker on show for them. Also it allows Dani Alves to utilise his full potential as a terror rushing up on the right flank. Alves is an absolute beast but is slightly defensively frail and the reduction in his responsibilities on that front allow him great freedom to rampage at opposition left-backs, who have to deal with him hugging the line as well as Pedro cutting inside from slightly further forward. It’s an effect that is replicated to a lesser extent with Maxwell on the left flank, although obviously Maxwell is not on the same level as Alves. I found it strange that Eric Abidal was playing that role instead of him against Mallorca, who is much more limited as an attacking force and is better utilised as the left centre-back in this formation, and I felt his presence in that position was a contributing factor to Barca’s empty-of-ideas performance in the second half as the game slipped away from them.

The other interesting thing about the Mallorca line-up was that there was no orthodox centre-forward. Where first Samuel Eto’o and then Zlatan Ibrahimovic would have been in seasons gone by, there was an empty space in the centre of the box around which Leo Messi, Bojan Krkic and Pedro floated somewhat nebulously, with Messi nominally through the middle and Bojan cutting in from the left in the role David Villa would presumably have played if he had been fit. Messi was outstanding in the role in the first half, orchestrating everything as Barca cut through Mallorca at will and scored a great placed shot from the edge of the area halfway through the first period.

Several things, however, were different about the system on show with a more complete first eleven away to Zaragoza a few weeks later.

Barcelona formation vs. Zaragoza, 23rd October 2010

This image is of the formation with Barca in posession, and the first thing to notice is Pique, rather than Busquets, in the middle of the three centre-backs, something I found quite strange, as it seemed to inhibit Pique’s playmaking qualities. Busquets in turn looked to be in a more typical holding midfield role. But really the fantastic thing about the system on show at La Romareda was that hardly anyone was actually bound to a particular position. To an extent this will have been prompted by the opposition (Real Zaragoza are a real mess at rock bottom of the the league, although they did manage to take a point off the impressive Valencia away recently), but the team was set up with a great deal of positional fluidity, everyone moving into space wherever they could find it, knowing that a team-mate would be aware enough to move themselves in compensation. A key example of this fluidity was the relative positioning of Alves and Puyol, Puyol playing noticeably wider than the Brazilian throughout the game, with Alves hovering almost as a partner for Seydou Keita in central midfield before moving wider when the ball found his feet. When Zaragoza were on the attack, however, Barca shifted to a more normal flat back four with Alves and Abidal at full-back and Busquets and Keita playing ahead of Pique and Puyol. All this versatility in defensive positioning allowed Guardiola to field essentially four out-and-out forward players, with Andres Iniesta very advanced on the left wing and Messi given total freedom to float around Villa at centre-forward, to devastating effect, might I add.

Obviously this is against the league’s worst side, but the sight of a team fielding four frontline attackers away from home is brilliant to see, and it does seem like Guardiola has arrived upon the evolution of the past six or seven years of defence-minded tactical innovations into its eventual attacking output. By that I mean that when Makelele made the single holding midfield player a must for every successful side, the pragmatic 4-3-3 became the dominant formation in top-level football, a formation that had room for only one out-and-out forward with the wingers having to do plenty of work in midfield rather than go all-out attack. Since then there has been a trend towards trying to open that tactic up to greater attacking flexibility. The previous stage of this was the 4-2-3-1, seen in use by the best teams at the World Cup, and the 4-2-1-3 at Jose Mourinho’s Inter last season, where a pair of defensive midfielders gave greater license to the full-backs to attack at will, and at Inter allowed for three genuine forwards as well. Now, with Barca making defenders less rigid positionally, there are six players in a broad defensive bloc, any of whom can cover for any individual starting or joining attacks. It’s hard to know what to call it (3-3-4? 4-2-4? Jonathan Wilson suggests it’s a return of the W-W or 2-3-2-3.) but Guardiola has managed to find a tactical system which seems to have given him essentially an extra man at each end of the pitch. I can’t wait to see how Mourinho deals with it in the upcoming Clasico.

The CDB Awards: South Africa 2010

So, the greatest show on Earth has closed its curtains for another four years (at least until the first qualification match for Brazil 2014 is played in about 13 months’ time) and it’s time to have a look back at the good, the bad and the ugly of South Africa 2010 in the CDB Awards.

Best Match

For me, the most exciting match we saw over the competition was one of the most controversial games – Uruguay’s quarter-final win over Ghana could not be matched for sheer emotional drama. We were treated to some fluent attacking football by both sides, particularly by Uruguay, but Sulley Muntari’s long-range swerver just before half-time stole the initiative for the last remaining African side. Diego Forlan scored a great free-kick to equalise and both sides kept going for it, coming up pretty much on a par with each other and tiring a little. Extra time arrived and it got desperate by the end, with Ghana throwing a couple of kitchen sinks into the Uruguay box right at the death before the Hand of God 2: Hand Harder scandal. Luis Suarez’ instinctive block to deny a last-gasp winner spawned a ludicrously overblown furore, demonising the player for doing what any player (the Ghanaians included) would have done in his situation, and Asamoah Gyan’s failure to convert the penalty with the last kick of regulation play was a great shame, but you cannot deny the spectacle of it. Sebastian Abreu’s inappropriate but wonderfully ballsy chipped penalty to seal the win was the icing of the cake.

Runners-up: Slovenia 2-2 USA, Slovakia 3-2 Italy, Germany 4-1 England, Argentina 0-4 Germany, Uruguay 2-3 Germany

Best Individual Performance

Bastian Schweinsteiger’s unstoppable performance at the heart of Germany’s dismemberment of Argentina was a real highlight. It was a display of total dominance, with tough tackling that never became thuggery, sharp passing to start counterattacking moves, and involvement in two of the goals. His free-kick cross for Thomas Mueller’s opener and effortless slipping away from Angel Di Maria and Javier Pastore to supply Arne Friedrich were excellent. His performance only gets better when you consider that just one year ago, Schweinsteiger was an underachieving winger for club and country. Louis van Gaal has done wonders with him over the past season at Bayern Munich and no-one will have been prouder than him as Schweinsteiger announced himself as one of the world’s leading central midfielders.

Runners-up: Mesut Oezil (Germany 4-0 Australia), Diego Forlan (South Africa 0-3 Uruguay), Ryan Nelsen (Italy 1-1 New Zealand), Jean Beausejour (Chile 1-0 Switzerland), Thomas Mueller (Germany 4-1 England), Xabi Alonso (Germany 0-1 Spain)

The “Looks Like An Alien Sent From Outer Space To Play Just Off The Main Striker” Award

Mesut Oezil.

Best Hair

Honduras didn’t stand out for much in this tournament but fringe player (geddit?) Walter Martinez sported a breathtakingly silly dreadlock affair with the tips coloured alternately red and yellow. Stupendous effort.

Worst Individual Performance

I have never seen one player perform so badly and stay on the pitch the full ninety minutes as Wayne Rooney did for England against Algeria. He looked exhausted, uninterested and cripplingly short of ideas, and you could tell how angry he was with his outing by his outburst to the cameras at the end berating the fans for booing the team.

Runners-up: Abdelkader Ghezzal (Algeria 0-1 Slovenia), Sidney Govou (France 0-2 Mexico), John Terry (Germany 4-1 England), Felipe Melo (Netherlands 2-1 Brazil), Mark van Bommel (Netherlands 0-1 Spain)

Best Team Performance

Tough one to call, but I’m going for Spain’s slow-burning victory over Germany in the semi-final. They only won 1-0 and it was only through a Carles Puyol header from a corner, but what was so notable was the total cohesion and patience as they breezed past what had previously been the best team of the whole competition. Before the game there was reason to believe that Germany might neutralise Spain with their determined pressing all over the pitch but it turned out to be the eventual champions who took the German midfield out of the game, constantly hounding the defenders to force long balls forward, which just completely nullified Schweinsteiger, Oezil, and Sami Khedira. The scoreline suggested a close game, but it really wasn’t at all. Contrast Portgual’s 7-0 victory over North Korea where Carlos Queiroz’s side were no better than average at any stage.

Runners-up: Uruguay (vs. South Africa), New Zealand (vs. Italy), Germany (vs. Argentina)

Most Inspiring Team

Look no further than New Zealand – who would have predicted before the tournament kicked off that the All Whites would be the only team to leave South Africa with an unbeaten record? Ricki Herbert’s lower-leaguers and amateur bank clerks played with more pride than anyone else and you couldn’t help but wish they could have found that elusive goal against Paraguay which would have taken them through as group winners. Their backs-to-the-wall defensive performance to earn a draw with the holders Italy will live long in the memory.

Breakout Star of the Tournament

Turned out to be Bayern’s Thomas Mueller, the 20-year-old right-sided forward who came out of nowhere to sneak the Golden Boot with five goals and three assists. Displayed incredible poacher’s instincts to always arrive in the box at exactly the right time with lethal finishing to boot. Surely the natural successor to Miroslav Klose and now established as a world star.

Worst Team Performance

England’s dire 0-0 with Algeria wins on match alone, but France’s limp capitulation to Mexico takes the crown for its aftermath as well as the ninety minutes themselves. Literally nobody had a good game for France, utterly devoid of any desire and looking desperate to be eliminated just to get away from the clownish Raymond Domenech. Nicolas Anelka’s foul-mouthed tirade to the manager at half-time sparked a few days of hilarious self-destruction that brought such shame on everyone involved that President Nicolas Sarkozy vowed to personally conduct an investigation into the team’s performance.

Runners-up: Greece (vs. South Korea), England (vs. USA), Algeria (vs. Slovenia), Slovakia (vs. Paraguay), Switzerland (vs. Honduras), Honduras (vs. Switzerland), England (vs. Germany)

Team of the Tournament

Playing 4-2-3-1 as nearly all the successful teams did.

Iker Casillas (Spain); Philipp Lahm (Germany), Gerard Pique (Spain), Diego Lugano (Uruguay), Jorge Fucile (Uruguay); Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Sergio Busquets (Spain); Thomas Mueller (Germany), Andres Iniesta (Spain), David Villa (Spain); Diego Forlan (Uruguay)

Best Overall Player

Forlan for me was the only man to play really well in all seven games, leading his team to a fantastic fourth place finish with intelligence and flair. Never once did he dive or complain to the referee either, just got on with the job in hand. By all accounts the nicest man at the World Cup, too, always taking time to sign autographs or talk to journalists and fans.

Player Most Likely To Have Earned A Big Money Transfer

Most people will remember Luis Suarez for the handball against Ghana but don’t forget his three well-taken goals, including an absolute pearl against South Korea, his searing pace and constant willingness to get in the box and shoot. Considering his fifty-plus goals for Ajax last season, expect plenty of rumour regarding his destination in the next few weeks.

Runners-up: Mesut Oezil (Germany), Kevin-Prince Boateng (Ghana)

Goal of the Tournament

Look no further than Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s straight-as-an-arrow rocket blast against Uruguay in the semi-final. After several keepers had been caught out by the late movement of the Jabulani ball, Fernando Muslera could not complain about this one. From the moment it left his boot, it never deviated and struck perfectly off the inside of the far post and in.

Runners-up: Siphiwe Tshabalala (South Africa, vs. Mexico), David Villa (Spain, vs. Honduras), Fabio Quagliarella (Italy, vs. Slovakia), Keisuke Honda (Japan, vs. Denmark), David Villa (Spain, vs. Chile), Andres Iniesta (Spain, vs. Chile), Carlos Tevez (Argentina, vs. Mexic0), Miroslav Klose (Germany, vs. Argentina)

Alternative Team Of The Tournament

This is a team of players who might not have gone all the way in the tournament but still stood out as great without really getting all the praise they may have deserved. In many ways every bit as good as those who made the main team of the tournament. Also playing 4-2-3-1.

Samir Handanovic (Slovenia); John Pantsil (Ghana), Ryan Nelsen (New Zealand), Yuji Nakazawa (Japan), Carlos Salcido (Mexico); Anthony Annan (Ghana), Diego Perez (Uruguay); Landon Donovan (USA), Yasuhitu Endo (Japan), Jean Beausejour (Chile); Nelson Haedo Valdez (Paraguay)

Day 31: Campeones! 2

Netherlands 0 – 1 Spain (a.e.t)

That’s it, justice is done and the best team have won. Spain triumphed in what ended up as a straightforward battle between good and evil that rivalled anything from Middle Earth.

The first half of the showpiece occasion was one of the worst forty-five minutes of football in the tournament and, indeed, one of the worst I can remember. Spain were seemingly the only team there in the first fifteen but failed to capitalise and eventually the Netherlands came back into it. Their game plan quite quickly turned out to be to press Spain hard high up the pitch – but what that ended up translating into was a campaign of cynical fouling that prevented any outbreak, God forbid, of a game of football. It must surely have been the most difficult game that Howard Webb has ever had to referee in his life, and though he got plenty of decisions right, there were some he got wrong, mostly when it came to letting players off lightly. In the first half alone, Mark van Bommel should have picked up three yellow cards (only one was shown), Wesley Sneijder should have seen yellow for a poor studs-up challenge across the thigh of Sergio Busquets, and Nigel de Jong should clearly have been given a straight red for his reprehensible kick to the chest of Xabi Alonso. That challenge could have broken a rib. How he got away with just yellow is an absolute mystery.

There were one or two goalmouth incidents in that first half but not much. The best chances actually went to the Dutch, when from a cleverly pulled back corner van Bommel miskicked laughably from the edge of the area only for it to reach Joris Mathijsen from a great angle, who produced a centre-back’s shot, swiping at the air.

Half-time could not come soon enough, though the second half gradually improved. Spain, again, started dominantly but couldn’t find a way through, again really struggling without a Fernando Torres through the middle for Villa, Pedro, Xavi and Iniesta to swarm around. Pedro was replaced after an hour by Jesus Navas – it seemed a strange substitution for me at first in that tactically nothing really changed and Pedro had done OK, but Navas justified it by adding a little more directness in terms of running at Giovanni van Bronckhorst, playing his final professional game, and also in passing into the box, but just didn’t have anyone to aim for.

The first really good chance fell to the Netherlands, though, and Arjen Robben, comfortably the most dangerous player for his team. He broke through the defense picking up a great through ball from Wesley Sneijder, otherwise quiet, and was one-on-one with Iker Casillas, who produced a stunning save with his leg to deny Robben. Arguably Robben could have done better with that chance but you cannot deny the brilliance of Casillas to keep Spain level. John Heitinga then managed a similarly great stop to deny David Villa, having slipped badly to allow the striker to pick up posession at all, but managed to whirl around on the floor and stick a leg up to block the shot away.

The next golden chance that went begging, though, was all about the miss – Sergio Ramos really should have scored with fifteen minutes to go when he did very well to escape his marker from a corner and earn a free header from six yards, which he blazed over. It was a huge miss and one that you worried might punish the Spanish if Robben got another chance to break, and he did just that a few minutes later, tussling with Carles Puyol just outside the area and, for once, staying on his feet showing strength that makes even more deplorable his customary falling flat at any opportunity. Casillas once again came out and denied him, prompting Robben to run screaming at Webb in a disgusting example of dissent. The boy who cried wolf comes to mind.

Eventually, inevitably, it came to extra time and it was a pleasing relief that neither side seemed willing to settle the game on penalties, although the Dutch attempts to go forward immediately ceased when the red card was finally produced to Heitinga. Half-time in extra time and Vicente del Bosque produced a baffling substitution, withdrawing Villa for Torres. Villa hadn’t had a great game but he had been hamstrung by the absence of Torres or Fernando Llorente, and with penalty kicks looming why take off your best goalscorer and a natural penalty taker in favour of a striker with a confidence problem? I was seriously worried that del Bosque was shooting himself in the foot.

Finally, though, we got a breakthrough, although there was a touch of controversy. It came after Sneijder’s free-kick cannoned off Cesc Fabregas and went behind but was strangely given as a goal kick, which was a wrong decision, and then in the play that followed Eljero Elia went down looking for a free-kick having possibly been blocked off by a Spanish defender. The key word there is ‘looking’, though, as he was clearly trying to buy the free-kick for a foul that wasn’t really there (I’ve seen them given, but it’s not really a foul in my book). While Elia was asking for the free-kick Spain got on with it and, despite a lucky deflection allowing them to hold onto posession, Fabregas finally opened up space in the box for Iniesta, who, as coolly as you could ask for, took one touch and fired home a decisive shot. Spain went mental, and the Dutch more so, fuming that the goal had been allowed. There’s a slim case that backs them up but it was a lesser injustice than, say, Holland having eleven players on the pitch after forty-five minutes, so I don’t think they can really complain. There was just time for Fernando Torres to do his hamstring before full-time, and it really was the depressing icing on a miserable personal tournament for the Liverpool man. He’ll be back, though, and it was good to see that he was OK to walk around for the celebrations.

So in the end Spain definitely deserved it. They played the best football on the night, and were the best team of the tournament. They’ve been the single best international team in the world over the past four years, and this trophy is a fair reflection of that. The scary thing is that they could have been better – imagine if Torres had been fit and firing. Imagine if Vicente del Bosque was better at making substitutions. This team is still young enough to keep on at the top for the forseeable future, even if Puyol retires from international football now, as I believe is to be the case.

Man of the Day: Iker Casillas for me was the standout player, although his opposite number Maarten Stekelenburg also had a good game. Casillas’ two saves from Robben were absolutely crucial, and of course the Real Madrid man is the captain who lifted the World Cup trophy. That probably justifies him as Man of the Day.

Tomorrow…oh. No, don’t worry, there’s still some mopping up to do. I’ll be discussing the tournament as a whole in the next couple of days and handing out some CDB Awards, and then once all that’s wrapped up there’s all sorts of football to talk about. The Europa League’s already started, don’t you know.

Finally, I bow down before Paul the octopus. Let’s just elect him Supreme Overlord and be done with it.

Day 27: Puyol Throws España In The Works

Germany 0 – 1 Spain

Bow down before the octopus. After a really fascinating if not thrillingly entertaining semi-final, Spain advance to meet the Netherlands in the final to ensure that there will be a new name on the Jules Rimet trophy.

Before the game the feeling was that although Spain had undoubtedly the superior players, Germany’s hard work, organisation and team ethic would be perfectly suited to keeping a lid on the tiki-taka and stifle the Spanish creativity while counter-attacking devastatingly. What actually happened was much the opposite – it was Spain who pressed hard and stopped Germany from getting any passing moves going, and still managed to build long spells of forward movement in posession. It was obvious very early on that Vicente del Bosque had won the main tactical battle and that he could alter the shape of the game whenever he liked. It transpired, however, that he was either unwilling or unable to exploit that position.

For all Spain’s quick passing and dominance in posession, they were unable to turn the screw for most of the game. As often turns out to be their problem, they were struck with a touch of the Arsenals, with so many players queueing up to provide the killer pass that could unlock the German defense, but with no player actually attacking the penalty box to receive that pass. Dropping Fernando Torres was a reasonable call for del Bosque – he’s clearly suffering from what golfers call “the yips” – but although his replacement, Pedro, was Spain’s most enterprising player in the first half, he’s not the same player who can go forward and lead the line. David Villa was forced to try and be that central striker but he was clearly unsuited to the role – he is a player who needs to cut in from the left and play off the main striker, which is why he has partnered Torres so well in the last few years. As the clock ticked on and on, Spain were desperately crying out for the introduction of Fernando Llorente to reprise his cameo role from the Portugal game as the target man around whom Villa, Pedro, Xavi and Andres Iniesta could have swarmed. I say Llorente very deliberately rather than Torres – dropping a player suffering from the yips is fair enough, but dropping him is very much a final admittance that his confidence is shot. Turning to Torres as a player to come on and change the game on his form would have been disastrous. Later, when Spain were ahead, Torres did come on, and in that situation it was more understandable – if he’d been able to tuck away a late opportunity to make it 2-0 it could have been the spark that revived him. However it was David Villa who del Bosque brought off to make room for him, an awful substitution that could have backfired horribly had Germany equalised.

Luckily Spain had the cushion of Carles Puyol’s 73rd-minute goal, a bullet header from a corner scored from the edge of the area following a late run by the Barcelona centre-back. It would have been reassuring for Puyol who should have buried a heading chance in the first half. It always seemed unlikely after that goal went in that Germany would be able to respond, having been by some distance the inferior side. Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sami Khedira were effectively prevented from exerting their influence from midfield by the Spanish pressing high up the pitch, usually crowding the German defenders out enough to force aimless long balls toward Miroslav Klose. Mesut Oezil just couldn’t get any of the ball, and was only visible for a penalty shout just before half-time. He basically ran into Sergio Ramos, though, and it was the right decision not to give it.

Germany have been a brilliant part of this World Cup and in many ways it’s a shame to see them go out, but their time will surely come. This immensely talented young team will be reaching their peak in four years’ time, and although Klose has probably played his last World Cup, there are several young defenders who should have surpassed Arne Friedrich and Per Mertesacker by 2014, and the likes of Thomas Mueller should be ready to take Klose’s place. Joachim Loew has done a fantastic job with his side and I very much hope that he resolves his current contract dispute to keep developing his team, who have combined solid and resolute defending with scintillating counter-attacking forward play. Philipp Lahm has been a revelatory captain, too.

Spain, though, deserve to reach the final, and it’s really delightful to know that this tournament will definitely be won by a country that has never won a World Cup before. The incredible statistic that Spain and the Netherlands have never met each other in either a World Cup or European Championship match serves to underline how both these nations have underachieved on the world stage, and I’m in the happy position of not minding at all which team goes on to win it.

Man of the Day: Xabi Alonso was a standout for me, even though I would have taken him off for Llorente if I were Vicente del Bosque. He was unlucky to be penalised by the referee for a couple of brilliant tackles and he was more willing than most Spanish players to actually take a shot now and then. Puyol, too, had a good game.

Only one game to go! All right, the third place playoff too, but it’s not as if anyone actually cares about that. I’ll be covering both and will be handing out some CDB Awards both before and after the final.

Day 23: El Diego On The End Of A Muellering

Argentina 0 – 4 Germany

Paraguay 0 – 1 Spain

Well, we expected one game that could go either way and one comfortable victory today, just in that order.

Argentina-Germany was supposed to be an exciting duel between two exciting attacking forces, but Argentina just didn’t turn up. Right from the start Germany overran them, closing them down quickly and allowing them no time to express themselves on the ball. Even after three minutes, when Nicolas Otamendi conceded a free-kick and some awful marking allowed Thomas Mueller to head in Bastian Schweinsteiger’s cross, Germany looked good value for their lead. That was just the start of a torrid afternoon for Otamendi, who was constantly tormented by Lukas Podolski on the German left, and was at fault for the second goal as well.

Argentina could have come back in the second half as they grew into the game a little bit more but couldn’t summon a really clear-cut chance. Gonzalo Higuain in particular had a really poor game, often miscontrolling the ball and losing posession up front. There was more pressure from Maradona’s men in the first few minutes of the second half but again nothing concrete, just a sense of attacking intent. The second goal arrived after just over an hour, when Otamendi’s pathetic attempt to tackle Mueller freed Podolski in the area. Podolski forced Sergio Romero to come out and then put it on a plate for Miroslav Klose, who could hardly miss from such a tiny distance (luckily, because the finish was actually quite bad). A similar defensive muddle led to a third shortly after, with plenty of bodies in the box from a corner and Arne Friedrich of all people finding space to tap in from virtually a prone position. By that time Argentina’s resolve was all gone and the tie was dead and buried, so when substitute Piotr Trochowski crossed for the unmarked Klose, it was no surprise that his simple but excellent finish made it four. Klose is now only one behind Ronaldo (the fat one) in the all-time World Cup goalscoring stakes.

I really can’t say enough how impressive Germany were. They look the best side left in the competition now, arguably, with every player knowing exactly what they’re doing and what those around them are doing. Schweinsteiger had an outstanding game, pulling the strings in midfield while Mesut Oezil had actually a rather disappointing, uninvolved day. Sami Khedira continued to be a solid, muscular presence up and down the field alongside him, and both full-backs, Lahm and Boateng, were also standouts. Mueller was industrious on the right but picked up a booking that will see him miss the semi-final. That could be a quite a loss for Germany, but you just know that Trochowski will come in and pick up exactly where the Bayern man left off. As for Argentina, I don’t think they ever really looked like winning this World Cup. Their defense has been a mess all the way through and it let them down again today. Maradona’s substitutions failed to lift them out of their malaise either, and there is of course speculation that he may resign tomorrow, but I for one hope he stays because he’s such an entertaining man to be in charge of the national team.

Germany will meet Spain in the semi, as we all expected, but the Spanish didn’t half labour to get there. In the first half Paraguay were the better team, pressing right from the front and not allowing Spain to settle in to their tiki-taka rhythm, much like Germany’s performance earlier except without the counterattacking panache. Neither side had much in the way of chances apart from Paraguay’s disallowed goal, a cool finish from the onside Nelson Haedo Valdez ruled out for Oscar Cardozo, who was just offside and, though he didn’t touch the ball, he jumped for it, thereby making himself a problem for the goalkeeper and being “active” by the letter of the law. For the commitment and effectiveness of their shut-down tactics it was hard not to say that Paraguay deserved to be ahead at half-time, but the goal was illegitimate.

The second half was much the same for the first fifteen minutes until an absolutely mental period of play began with a penalty being awarded to Paraguay. I was glad to see it given for arm-holding by Gerard Pique as he defended a set-piece, as it’s the sort of thing that needs to be clamped down on more. But Oscar Cardozo, recalled to the starting eleven after coolly slotting home the winning penalty in the shootout versus Japan, hit his shot too close to Iker Casillas, who had guessed correctly. Immediately after the ball was pumped up into the Paraguay half and David Villa rushed into the penalty area and was brought down by Antolin Alcaraz. Whether or not it was a clear cut foul is debatable but if, as the referee decided, it was a foul, it should have been a red card rather than the yellow given. Either way it was poor refereeing. When Xabi Alonso dispatched the spot-kick, though, he was pulled back to take it again because of encroaching into the area, but replays showed that the same thing was happening (and to a greater and more obvious extent) when Cardozo missed his, and the ref didn’t make him take it again. So more bad refereeing. Alonso’s second kick was poor and saved well by Claudio Bravo, who then should have conceded another penalty because in the ensuing melee in the box he went for the ball but took down Villa instead.

It was a shocking explosion of controversy and drama in a game that had been deathly boring for an hour, but despite that insanity the game returned to its previous rhythm. Spain continued to go forward but their passing just wasn’t coming off. Fernando Torres had already been withdrawn after another really lacklustre performance but they were crying out for some width to stretch the Paraguayan full-backs. Vicente del Bosque didn’t bring any on though, with Fabregas and Pedro, who is nominally a wide right player but enjoys tucking in, keeping things too constricted. Finally, though, the breakthrough was made with ten minutes left, and it was down to some inspiration from Andres Iniesta, who glided forward behind the defensive midfield line and laid a pass on perfectly for Pedro, who had to bury it – but hit the far post. Luckily Villa was on hand to take the rebound and tuck it in, though not before it bounced off both posts. That takes his tally to five for the tournament.

Spain are through to their first ever World Cup semi-final, but on this form they will struggle to beat Germany. There was enough from Paraguay’s determined pressing to suggest that Germany can do exactly the same and stifle Spain while having the attacking players to score goals on the break. I definitely feel that del Bosque has to drop one of Alonso and Sergio Busquets so that he can get more width from midfield if they want to avoid a repeat of this game. Villa is potent cutting in from the left but shouldn’t be the widest attacking player and either Jesus Navas or David Silva would provide a useful option on either flank.

Man of the Day: No question for me that it must be Schweinsteiger. The man whose name translates as “pig supervisor” certainly oversaw everything pretty much all over the pitch. Ballack? Who needs Ballack?

Another two rest days now before the semi-finals, but I’ll still be blogging. Haven’t decided exactly what about yet, though.

Day 19: Write The Future, My Arse

Paraguay 0 – 0 Japan (5-3 penalties)

Spain 1 – 0 Portugal

The quarter-final line-up was confirmed today, and each one of those four games will feature a South American side. That may well have some deep, meaningful significance but I don’t really think there’s any great secret that those teams have been hiding from anyone else.

For one thing, the Paraguay side that played out a pretty stinky 0-0 draw with Japan and then advanced on penalties was a step or two back from the one that had showed up to draw with Italy and beat Slovakia in its first two group games. They looked a little slower, particularly in attack, than they had been, at least until Nelson Haedo Valdez (a.k.a. My First Carlos Tevez) was brought on. I was really quite shocked that Valdez had been omitted from the starting eleven for this match, as his constant drive and energy had been a big part of Paraguay’s qualification from their group. As both teams played out a barren first half Valdez was conspicuous by his absence, and it was little surprise that he was brought on a few minutes into the second.

If it seems like I’m not saying much about this game, that’s because there’s really very little to say. Japan were set up defensively and didn’t attack well when they did get forward, Keisuke Honda not as impressive as he was in previous matches, and Paraguay were slow and ponderous. Even after Valdez came on, they couldn’t really conjure anything, but at least they had some bite and energy up front. Claudio Morel Rodriguez in particular had a poor game, floating several crosses hopelessly wayward. When extra time rolled around it was obvious that both sides were too scared of losing to really go for the win at all. Penalties were an inevitability. The shootout itself was reasonably exciting, most of the penalties being dispatched excellently, but Japan’s third taker, Yuichi Komano, broke a nation’s hearts by hitting the crossbar which proved to be the decisive miss.

Paraguay now ascend to their first ever World Cup quarter-final but I would be shocked if they made it any further on this form. Their opponents, Spain, had a decent game as they eliminated rivals Portugal by David Villa’s goal, a great finish to a thrilling passing move involving Andres Iniesta and Xavi. Spain controlled the entire game as Portugal sat back constantly, often with ten men behind the ball, content to play ultra-defensively and pray for a counterattacking opportunity at some stage which never truly materialised, save for one through ball that Iker Casillas rushed out to defuse. It was really disappointing to watch – it would be unfair of me not to compare them to Greece, to be perfectly frank. Meanwhile Spain spent the first half admirably trying to play through the Portuguese walls but got nowhere. Watching at home I was crying out for the introduction of Jesus Navas or David Silva to ping some crosses over the top towards Fernando Torres, who had another largely quiet game. However, Vicente del Bosque changed the game a different way, removing Torres for Athletic Bilbao striker Fernando Llorente, the best possible recipient of those crosses, and he had an instant impact. Sergio Ramos floated over a piercing cross that Llorente had to dive quite low to get a head on, so it wasn’t a great surprise that he couldn’t put it away convincingly, but the intention was signalled. From then on Llorente held the ball up excellently and brought others into play, and just a couple of minutes later, Villa scored. He’s certainly made a case for starting the quarter-final ahead of Torres, although I don’t think he well. Del Bosque knows that it Torres comes good he will be more effective against the top teams.

As for the red card late on that saw Ricardo Costa leave the field, replays seemed inconclusive as to whether his elbow connected with Joan Capdevila’s face. What’s for sure is that Capdevila’s reaction was embarrassing, but there seemed enough to indicate that the elbow was raised.

Cristiano Ronaldo, the Prancing Prat himself, had another letdown of a match, isolated and unused up front, desperately shifting from one flank to the other to through the middle to try and exert some sort of influence on the game, but Portugal’s defensive tactics just didn’t feed him at all. It’s been another pretty poor tournament for the man who thinks he’s the world’s best player, but for sheer effectiveness I think David Villa has overtaken him in the race to be the world’s second best behind Messi. (Well, actually I’d put the Xavi/Iniesta machine ahead of him, too.)

Man of the Day: I know I must be turning into a broken record this tournament, what with my constant praise of not only Messi and Oezil but David Villa, but Villa really was the difference again today. The most outstanding player in a group of outstanding players was a constant threat from a wide left position, which will encourage his new employers at Camp Nou who were wondering what they were going to do with Zlatan Ibrahimovic. He’s solidly established himself as the best centre-forward in world football.

Tomorrow, there’ll be….uh….oh. Hang on. There’s no football tomorrow. What? The World Cup’s over? But there’s a new one starting on Friday, I hear. I reckon England could do well this time.

Seriously, I’ll still be blogging on the rest days. In the couple of days before the quarter-finals I plan to discuss the French debacle and the teams who have left the tournament so far.

Day 15: Chile Lose Cool But Swiss Avoid Further Conflict

Portugal 0 – 0 Brazil

North Korea 0 – 3 Ivory Coast

Chile 1 – 2 Spain

Switzerland 0 – 0 Honduras

Well, in the end, the tables in Groups G and H turned out in much the same order as was generally expected, but there were some surprises on the final day of group stage action at South Africa 2010.

Portugal and Brazil kicked us off with a pretty dire stalemate, both teams happy to settle for what they’d got and showing very little flair or attacking interest. Brazil continued their streak as the least exciting South American side in the tournament, and there were more yellow cards than goalmouth incidents, getting to the extent in the first half as little feuds started to spring up between certain players that Felipe Melo had to be dragged off by Dunga just before half-time to avoid picking up a second booking. With Brazil missing Elano and Kaka, there was bound to be a slight reduction in flair, with the two replacements Dani Alves and Julio Baptista naturally more physically powerful players than technically gifted, but even with a nine-goal cushion separating them from the Ivory Coast, Portugal dared not attempt to go for the win that would have seen them top the group. Certainly this game suffered from the Ivorians’ failure to beat Portugal when Carlos Quieroz’s side were so utterly abject in the group opener, because that would have seen Portugal needing to attack. Instead what was talked up before the tournament as one of the most exciting games turned out to be a real disappointment.

There was little point in turning over to watch North Korea and the Ivory Coast, either, because while that game did at least produce some goals as the Ivorians won 3-0, everything they did hinged on a Brazilian victory. North Korea, who I’d hoped might be determined enough to leave with at least a point to really compete, just didn’t really show up, and their defense looked as frail as it had a few days ago. Sven’s boys bombed forward essentially at will and probably should have scored more than they did. Their second was great to watch – not for its scorer Romaric’s simple header but for the volley that ricocheted off the crossbar to set it up. Didier Drogba took the ball in mid-air with a sublime controlling touch before swivelling and rifling it powerfully against the bar. It was a moment of star quality that raised predictable “what if?” questions about what might have been had he been fully fit to face Portugal. It’s a shame for Drogba that his World Cup career will now almost certainly be over after two consecutive groups of death. He has his critics and he’s certainly prone to disappointing acts of petulance and dishonesty on the pitch, but he’s an astonishing player and a great humanitarian who does lots of work for his several charities, so I feel sorry he hasn’t had more of a chance of shine on the biggest stage of all.

No such injustices in Group H, where the two most exciting teams to watch managed to qualify (scoring some incredible goals in the process), and the closest rivals to Greece’s dullest-team-in-world-football title, Switzerland, were lucky to escape with a 0-0 draw with Honduras that put them out. I didn’t watch much of that game but I saw enough to know that the Swiss were again limited in attack (with Eren Derdiyok yet again missing one or two pretty easy chances) and that they should have lost, with a Walter Martinez goal ruled out for offside that looked on to me, and Georgie Welcome missing a golden chance right at the end of the game from very close in. Oh well, I don’t think anyone will really miss either team.

Chile 1 – 2 Spain was a slightly strange game in that Chile were the dominant side in the first half yet still went in at half-time two goals down. Both Spanish goals were contenders for goal of the tournament, the first a simply perfect sort-of golf drive of a shot by David Villa pouncing on a goal left open by Chile captain Claudio Bravo’s mad dash out of the area to rob Fernando Torres. That sort of shot looks easy but would usually be missed, but Villa executed it perfectly to take him joint top of the Golden Boot standings. The second was scored after the referee, Marco Rodriguez (a.k.a. Dracula), played advantage to a foul by Marco Estrada. Spain took full advantage with some gorgeous interplay between Villa and Andres Iniesta, who calmly placed his shot from the edge of the area precisely past the gloves of Bravo. I can’t decide which one I enjoyed more, but they were both absolutely beautiful. The foul in question led to the predictable culmination of a period of Chilean indiscipline, as Estrada was shown his second yellow card. The trip looked accidental but Estrada should have received his second booking a few minutes earlier when he hacked down Iniesta, so it rather evened out, but Rodriguez the referee really did have quite a poor game. Thanks to his distinctive appearance I do remember him from previous internationals and every time I’ve seen him he’s been too quick to hand out cards, and doesn’t even get them right that often. I hope he doesn’t take charge of many more matches in this tournament.

To Chile’s credit they kept going despite the obvious setbacks and opened up the game again with a goal just after the restart. Rodrigo Millar, who had only just come on at half-time, took a shot from the edge of the D that took a severe deflection off Gerard Pique past Iker Casillas. However Spain’s numerical advantage started to show and the game slowed down as both teams realised that this result was working out for both of them. Chile were beaten but did play reasonably well apart from the bookings, which earnt three important players suspensions for their second round meeting with Brazil, which could be a real cracker. I wouldn’t discount them from winning that by any means. Spain had another good game, with Pique impressing at the back and Iniesta and Villa running the show up front. Torres had another off day again, though, and was hauled off just a few minutes into the second period for Cesc Fabregas. He looked some way short of form and fitness and I hope he can recover to play a bigger part in this World Cup, because when both are fit and firing his partnership with Villa is the best in the world. Spain now go on to meet Portugal and they should win that game. Their midfield in particular stands out as being several levels above the likes of Raul Meireles and Tiago.

Man of the Day: David Villa had another great game, getting into some great positions and showing a really quick brain in some of his link-up play. His goal really was superb, as well.

Tomorrow the knockout stages begin! It’s getting serious now, and I think we will be seeing a win for Uruguay over South Korea, and I’ll go for an extra-time victory for the USA over Ghana.

Day 6: Forlan of Hope and Glory

Honduras 0 – 1 Chile

Spain 0 – 1 Switzerland

South Africa 0 – 3 Uruguay

An intriguing day at the World Cup has ended on something of a sad note as the hosts’ hopes of making the second round took a body blow, but as always we’ll start with the first game, where we finally got a look at Chile, a side I’ve been waiting with some anticipation to see in action, and I was not disappointed. Given most of the posession by a Honduras side trying to play on the break, Chile took advantage although they failed to convert a number of chances, much like Argentina and Mexico already in this tournament. However they will be delighted with their performance, especially with super striker Humberto Suazo still to return from injury. When he is ready to play, Jorge Valdivia can drop back to his preferred playmaker role and Matias Fernandez can move to the left, and that should see them an even stronger side than we saw today. Alexis Sanchez was the main star for Chile, causing constant problems for the Honduran defenders although if anything he could have been a little less selfish – one a couple of occasions, Sanchez tried to dribble too long or shoot when it wasn’t really on. He also threw himself to the ground a few times looking for free kicks where none were deserved. Remind you of anyone? No wonder Real Madrid are sniffing around.

Honduras, though, don’t look like having any sort of impact on this group at all, even when they get their own Suazo striker, David, back. They didn’t show any spark at all and surely cannot hope to dig out the sort of result that Switzerland managed this afternoon, stunning everyone (certainly me) with a dogged, hard-fought 1-0 upset over favourites Spain. It’s hard to say they really deserved it: the goal came from their only serious attack of the whole game and was bundled over the line by Blaise N’Kufo only after the Spanish defence fell completely asleep, having been duped by the Swiss’ total lack of enterprise into forgetting they were actually playing football rather than watching it. They did defend much better, though, tucking in really narrow so that Spain were constantly forced to pass the ball out wide, which is not how they prefer to play. David Villa was totally isolated on his own up front and Fernando Torres too was successfully crowded out after his arrival. Andres Iniesta on the left seemed very reluctant to try and cross the ball, which was the only option he really had, but even if he had tried Villa in particular is not really an aerial threat. If I were Vicente del Bosque I would have been very tempted to put Fernando Llorente up front, the tall Athletic Bilbao striker who would have given them that option. Villa’s scoring record for Spain is unquestioned but he clearly was having no impact on the game at all and you feel that had Silva been on the left, Jesus Navas on the right, and Torres and Llorente through the middle, Spain would have stood a better chance of breaking down the Swiss rearguard.

As it is they now face a battle to get out of their group. They must hope that Chile do not suffer the same fate against Switzerland, though tactically that side should face similar problems, and then to get a positive result against the South Americans in the final group game. It is a bonus that Spain’s next match is against Honduras, where a morale-boosting thumping could well be on the cards. In many ways this is the real test for Spain – the mental barrier of the World Cup apparently still remains but the Honduras game represents an opportunity to get over that barrier right in front of our eyes and send out a message that they are still the best side in the world. I’m still optimistic for Spain’s chances but they will need to build up momentum to get out of this group, and score plenty of goals while doing it if they want to finish top and avoid a meeting with Brazil in the second round.

With the first round of group games over, the second set of matches started in more promising fashion in terms of style and intent, as Uruguay were clearly more determined to get a win having avoided defeat in their first game. The gap in class between them and South Africa was clear as day, Diego Forlan in particular turning in an assured, confident performance pulling the strings in a slightly unfamiliar role behind the two main strikers. Far from being intimidated by the atmosphere in Pretoria, where the noise particularly during the South African national anthem as the entire stadium bellowed out at incredible volume, Uruguay seemed to shine under pressure. Several players upped their game from the underwhelming France stalemate, Luis Suarez in particular showing up with more threat and purpose than he had against Les Bleus despite not getting in the goals. The sending off of goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune was a heartbreaking moment but the referee, Massimo Busacca, got the decision spot on, Suarez having been onside as the ball was played through and the keeper unable to avoid bringing him down. Forlan again showed incredible calm and mental strength to hit such a brilliant penalty having had to wait for many minutes as Bafana Bafana scrambled to bring their substitute keeper onto the pitch.

This result means South Africa face an uphill struggle to qualify for the second round. They were always going to be up against it but after the opening match there was a feeling that they could run it closer than people expected. They’re not down and out just yet, though, as to bet against Raymond Domenech’s France making a hash of things would be a brave bet indeed. I hope the local fans stick by their team, as it was such a sad sight seeing so many of them trudge out of the stadium after the second goal went in.

Man of the Day: Diego Forlan. He completely ran the show against South Africa and showed his talent and adaptability by taking to the role behind the main strikers like a duck to water.

Tomorrow, Argentina meet South Korea in what could be a really fascinating game – I’m going to go for a draw there, Greece will probably grind out a 0-1 defeat to Nigeria, and France face Mexico in a decisive Group A game where I would expect Mexico to emerge on top.

World Cup Guide: Group H Preview

GROUP H

SPAIN

FIFA World Ranking: 2

Team Colours: Red shirts with yellow trim, blue shorts with yellow trim, red socks. Away kit is dark blue shirts with red and yellow trim, dark blue shorts with red and yellow trim, dark blue socks.

Manager: Vicente del Bosque came out of semi-retirement, having not coached since leaving Besiktas in 2005, to take charge of Spain following their Euro 2008 triumph and has carried on in much the same way that his predecessor, Luis Aragones, left off, relying on one-touch passing through midfield, and has had plenty of success. Del Bosque is best known for his four year stint at the helm of Real Madrid between 1999 and 2003, during which he won the Intercontinental Cup and twice won La Liga and the Champions League.

Form: Scary. Spain have won all but one game under del Bosque (the one loss being to the USA in the Confederations Cup semi last summer), including a 100% record in a qualifying group which included tricky sides like Turkey and Bosnia & Herzegovina. In the last few months they have comfortably beaten Argentina and France in friendlies, and more recently they’ve swept their warmup matches, beating Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and most impressively, Poland by six goals to no reply. At the moment Spain are something of a machine.

Captain: Goalkeeper Iker Casillas is right up there with Buffon and Julio Cesar squabbling over who gets to be called the best keeper in the world, and the 29-year-old, who has made nearly 400 appearances for Real Madrid, is an inspirational figure between the sticks, regularly pulling off saves that he has no right to make. Will forever be idolised in Spain for being the captain that broke their 44-year duck to lead La Seleccion to triumph at Euro 2008.

Key Man: It seems frankly rude to pick just one out of the Spanish line-up, but even in such mighty company, David Villa strikes out. The Barcelona-bound striker is simply the most impressive forward in the world game right now, terrorising defences all over the world with his searing pace, clinical finishing and, for Spain, his perfect understanding with Fernando Torres, who, you may have heard, is also a bit talented. He can drop deep to aid in the build-up play from around the midfield or drift wide only to cut back inside to devastating effect.

Man to Watch: The only reason why Sevilla winger Jesus Navas only has six caps to his name is a serious anxiety problem that forced him to retire from international football before making a single appearance soon after he emerged in the Spanish game, but last year he resolved to overcome his condition and force his way into the squad for South Africa. Spanish fans will be delighted – Navas has enjoyed his best season yet for the Andalucian side, maturing into a more effective, destructive player than ever before. His pace with and without the ball really has to be seen to be believed. Expect to see Navas come off the bench to run at tired left-backs down the right flank and cause havoc in the opposition box.

Prediction: There are a couple of injury worries over two-parts-of-the-same-player midfield passing robots Xavi and Andres Iniesta but they should be fit to play, but the Spanish need not worry all that much anyway – they have by far the deepest squad in the tournament, particularly in midfield, where world-class talents Cesc Fabregas, Juan Manuel Mata, Jesus Navas and Sergio Busquets will probably all be on the bench. The only barrier to Spain bulldozing their way to what could be the most beautiful World Cup win ever is the mental hurdle of the World Cup – obviously they got the monkey off their back by winning the Euros, but the biggest tournament of all is another kettle of fish,if you pardon my mixing of zoological metaphors. That said, I can’t look past Spain to win this year. Their probable final clash with Brazil should be a belter, as well.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Iker Casillas, captain (Real Madrid)

12. Victor Valdes (Barcelona)

23. Pepe Reina (Liverpool)

Defenders

2. Raul Albiol (Real Madrid)

3. Gerard Pique (Barcelona)

4. Carlos Marchena (Valencia)

5. Carles Puyol (Barcelona)

11. Joan Capdevila (Villarreal)

15. Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)

17. Alvaro Arbeloa (Real Madrid)

Midfielders

6. Andres Iniesta (Barcelona)

8. Xavi (Barcelona)

10. Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal)

13. Juan Manuel Mata (Valencia)

14. Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid)

16. Sergio Busquets (Barcelona)

20. Javi Martinez (Athletic Bilbao)

21. David Silva (Valencia)

22. Jesus Navas (Sevilla)

Forwards

7. David Villa (Barcelona)

9. Fernando Torres (Liverpool)

18. Pedro Rodriguez (Barcelona)

19. Fernando Llorente (Athletic Bilbao)

SWITZERLAND

FIFA World Ranking: 24

Team Colours: Red shirts with white trim, white shorts, red socks. Away kit is the inverse.

Manager: Ottmar Hitzfeld’s CV commands respect – one of only three men to win the Champions League with two different clubs (Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich), he’s won the Bundesliga seven times and the Intercontinental Cup twice. He’s more than familiar with Swiss football having played there for nine years and managed three Swiss clubs before going on to achieve so much in Germany, where he was named the greatest Bundesliga coach of all time as well as Bayern Munich’s best ever coach. Not bad.

Form: Switzerland started qualifying very slowly – a 1-1 draw with Israel was followed by an embarrassing loss to Luxembourg – but picked themselves up to finish top of their group ahead of Greece, including a five-game winning streak. Their warmup games haven’t been much good, though – they lost against Uruguay and a distinctly average Costa Rica side, but picked up enough to draw 1-1 with Italy on Saturday.

Captain: FC Basel striker Alexander Frei is his country’s all-time leading goalscorer and certainly one of the most capable players in the Swiss squad. He scores hatfuls of goals wherever he goes – including 48 in 100 games for Rennes, 31 in 69 for Borussia Dortmund and now 15 in 19 for his hometown club which he returned to last summer. With 40 in 73 internationals, Frei is very much the focal point of the Swiss attack and will want to make up for Euro 2008, where he was taken off injured during the first match and never featured again in the tournament.

Key Man: Udinese defensive midfielder Gokhan Inler has long been linked with a move a big Premier League club, and if Switzerland do well you can be sure those rumours will resurface. Sitting in the centre of the Swiss engine room, Inler’s tough, dominating approach governs his team’s play, and if he can be shut out of the game, opponents will find a much less cohesive unit in their way.

Man to Watch: Known amusingly as “Forrest Gump” for the way he’s constantly running, Lazio right-back Stephan Lichtsteiner should be an energetic presence for Switzerland. After ignoring interesting from Paris Saint-Germain and Everton following his performances at Euro 2008, Lichtsteiner has formed a potent partnership with Serbian man to watch Aleksandar Kolarov at Lazio and can be deployed further forward at right midfield if required.

Prediction: Switzerland are plenty willing but, Frei aside, lack attacking potency. If anything happens to their captain I can’t see where the goals are going to come from and they should be too rigid to trouble the likes of Spain and Chile in this group. An early exit for Hitzfeld’s boys beckons.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Diego Benaglio (Wolfsburg)

12. Marco Wolfli (Young Boys)

21. Johnny Leoni (FC Zurich)

Midfielders

2. Stephan Lichtsteiner (Lazio)

3. Ludovic Magnin (FC Zurich)

4. Philippe Senderos (Fulham)

5. Steve von Bergen (Hertha Berlin)

13. Stephane Grichting (Auxerre)

17. Reto Ziegler (Sampdoria)

22. Mario Eggimann (Hannover 96)

Midfielders

6. Benjamin Huggel (FC Basel)

7. Tranquillo Barnetta (Bayer Leverkusen)

8. Gokhan Inler (Udinese)

11. Valon Behrami (West Ham United)

14. Marco Padalino (Sampdoria)

15. Hakan Yakin (Luzern)

16. Gelson Fernandes (Saint Etienne)

20. Pirmin Schwegler (Eintracht Frankfurt)

23. Xherdan Shaqiri (FC Basel)

Forwards

9. Alexander Frei, captain (FC Basel)

10. Blaise Nkufo (Seattle Sounders)

18. Albert Bunjaku (Nurnberg)

19. Eren Derdiyok (Bayer Leverkusen)

HONDURAS

FIFA World Ranking: 38

Team Colours: White shirts with blue trim and a short horizontal stripe across the chest in various shades of  blue, white shorts, white socks. Away kit is blue shirts with both lighter and darker blue trim and the same stripe, blue shorts, blue socks.

Manager: Colombian Reinaldo Rueda’s first management job saw him lead the Colombian Under-20s to third place in the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship, and soon after he was promoted to the main job for qualifying for the 2006 World Cup, where he picked up a team in disarray and steered them to a mid-table finish in South America. Since taking the reins at Honduras in early 2007 he has won great popularity by returning Honduras to the tournament they last participated in in 1982.

Form: Honduras surprisingly came top of their third round qualifying group ahead of Mexico, as well as Jamaica and Canada, before edging out Costa Rica on goal difference to reach South Africa automatically, and condemning Costa Rica to a playoff with Uruguay that they went on to lose. They never really set the world alight, though, and would have missed out on the trip to South Africa if the USA had not come from behind to snatch a draw with the Costa Ricans. Their warmups could have gone a lot better – losses to Venezuela and Romania and draws with Belarus and Azerbaijan aren’t good enough to signal that this team will be competitive this summer.

Captain: Attacking midfielder Amado Guevara is Honduras’ most capped player of all time, having won 135 caps over 16 years in the international side. He spent a few years in the MLS with the New York Red Bulls and Toronto FC but now plies his trade in the Honduran league with Motagua. The crowning moment of his career so far was being named MVP in the Copa America in 2001, a tournament which Honduras only entered a day before it started when Argentina pulled out, and he led them to a shock semifinal finish that year – I doubt he’s dreaming that far ahead in South Africa though.

Key Man: Look no further than evergreen striker Carlos Pavon, according to a poll, the most popular footballer in the world. The 36-year-old journeyman, who’s played for 14 different teams, some of them two or three times, has nabbed 57 goals in exactly 100 international games and remains Honduras’ main man up front. Currently still banging them in for Real Espana in Honduras, his first club whom he has played for in five separate spells, Pavon will be keen to take this last chance on the world stage.

Man to Watch: Keep an eye out for Pavon’s understudy, the magnificently named Georgie Welcome, another Motagua player who scored an incredible goal for Honduras in a friendly against Latvia in November.

Prediction: Despite a couple of very good players – Tottenham’s Wilson Palacios is another, more well-known face who can cause problems for any team – Honduras look pretty limited and results recently have been far from encouraging. A lack of high-level know-how throughout the team will be a stumbling block when it comes to overcoming canny sides like Switzerland and Chile, and though they have the potential to manage it, it would be an upset if Honduras won a game here.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Ricardo Canales (Motagua)

18. Noel Valladares (Olimpia)

22. Donis Escober (Olimpia)

Defenders

2. Osman Chavez (Platense)

3. Maynor Figueroa (Wigan)

4. Johnny Palacios (Olimpia)

5. Victor Bernardez (Anderlecht)

14. Oscar Boniek Garcia (Olimpia)

16. Mauricio Sabillon (Hangzhou Nabel Greentown)

21. Emilio Izaguirre (Motagua)

23. Sergio Mendoza (Motagua)

Midfielders

6. Hendry Thomas (Wigan)

7. Ramon Nunez (Olimpia)

8. Wilson Palacios (Tottenham)

10. Julio Cesar de Leon (Torino)

13. Roger Espinosa (Kansas City Wizards)

17. Edgar Alvarez (Bari)

19. Danilo Turcios (Olimpia)

20. Amada Guevara, captain (Motagua)

Forwards

9. Carlos Pavon (Real Espana)

11. David Suazo (Inter)

12. Georgie Welcome (Motagua)

15. Walter Martinez (Marathon)

CHILE

FIFA World Ranking: 18

Team Colours: Red shirts with white trim, blue shorts, white socks. Away kit is white shirts with blue trim, white shorts, blue socks.

Manager: Marcelo Bielsa’s last appearance at the World Cup, as coach of Argentina in 2002, did not go so well, with his native side being knocked out of the Group of Death, but he was surprisingly allowed to continue until he resigned in 2004. He didn’t take another job until Chile came calling in 2007 and has been busy turning them into a seriously good side since then. Fans are currently campaigning for him to renew his contract, which ends after the World Cup, so he must be doing something right.

Form: The youngest South American side at the finals romped to second in the South American qualifying group, clinching their plane tickets with a game to spare thanks to an entertaining 4-2 defeat of Colombia. They scored more than half of their points away from home and were the second highest scorers in the group, playing a strange 3-3-1-3 formation and winning with style and resolve. A 1-0 loss to Mexico aside, their friendlies have gone well, with wins over Trinidad & Tobago, Zambia, Northern Ireland and Israel, the latter two being played on the same day by two separate Chilean XIs, as Bielsa tested out every one of his 23-man squad plus a few extra players to make up the numbers. There’s strength in depth in this side.

Captain: Claudio Bravo, who plays in goal for Spanish second divison side Real Sociedad, has recently returned from an injury that ended his league season in February, shortly after he scored his first career goal with a free kick. He has captained the side ever since legendary striker Marcelo Salas retired from internationals in 2007. Chile will be hoping he has no lingering fitness worries as they don’t really have an adequate backup in his position.

Key Man: Definitely Monterrey striker Humberto Suazo, a brilliant forward man who topped the South American goal charts in qualifying with ten goals, and has spent the past few months on loan at Real Zaragoza. A prolific scorer in the Chilean leagues with a strike rate in the region of two in three, it’s a wonder the 29-year-old hasn’t been snapped up by a European side yet, but he may well get his chance with a good showing in South Africa.

Man to Watch: Sitting in behind Suazo and the strikers will be Sporting CP’s Matias Fernandez. The former Villarreal man is brilliantly creative with a magical dribble and is a serious dangerman for Chile, whose three forwards will either feed off him to get in a scoring position or draw the defenders away from him and allow him to pop up at the last minute to tuck the ball away. Only 24 years old, Fernandez could become a big star as a result of the exposure here.

Prediction: Chile were excellent in qualifying and look ready to impress people in South Africa. They’ll score plenty of goals and their unusual formation should create problems for the European sides who only really play 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 these days. I don’t think they’ll have any trouble coming second in this group and might even give Spain a scare, and if anyone can beat Brazil in the second round, it’s them.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Claudio Bravo, captain (Real Sociedad)

12. Miguel Pinto (Universidad de Chile)

23. Luis Marin (Union Espanola)

Defenders

2. Ismael Fuentes (Universidad Catolica)

3. Waldo Ponce (Universidad Catolica)

4. Mauricio Isla (Udinese)

5. Pablo Contreras (PAOK)

17. Gary Medel (Boca Juniors)

18. Gonzalo Jara (West Brom)

Midfielders

6. Carlos Carmona (Lazio)

8. Arturo Vidal (Bayer Leverkusen)

10. Jorge Valdivia (Al-Ain)

13. Marco Estrada (Montpellier)

14. Matias Fernandez (Sporting CP)

19. Gonzalo Fierro (Flamengo)

20. Rodrigo Millar (Colo-Colo)

21. Rodrigo Tello (Besiktas)

Forwards

7. Alexis Sanchez (Udinese)

9. Humberto Suazo (Monterrey)

11. Mark Gonzalez (CSKA Moscow)

15. Jean Beausejour (America)

16. Fabian Orellana (Xerez)

22. Esteban Paredes (Colo-Colo)

Day 19: Campeones!

I told you so.

A decent final, not the best game of the tournament by any means but certainly enjoyable. Spain were dominant if not in the end clear victors and should really have wrapped it up far earlier, the problem being that despite some of the brilliant positions that the midfield runners were playing themselves into, none of them, particularly Andres Iniesta, had the striker’s instinct to run straighter into the path of the pass and really capitalise, which was obviously the great advantage created by the Torres-Villa partnership.

That was, however, the only problem with Spain tonight and it would be unfair to dwell. Germany, on the other hand, were awful and were lucky to get nil and dirty kit. Defensive ineptitude combined with attacking incertitude to terminal effect. Before the tournament I would have argued that Miroslav Klose was every bit as world class a player as Michael Ballack – now, definitely not. He was exposed as a flat-track bully here, while his much-hyped former partner “Super” Mario Gomez has seen his reputation flattened by a truly horrific competition.

I’m not sure the German side needs an awful lot of changes, though. Joachim Low certainly needs to revive confidence but the potential is certainly there – witness their excellent World Cup two years ago. Podolski needs to return to a more central position, that’s for sure, as he’s been the only German striker to even look like scoring, and Bastian Schweinsteiger showed flashes of brilliance, and together with Ballack they should be the fulcrum of the team.

Spain are worthy champions. The best team has won and now that the duck is broken it’s quite plausible that they could push on to be the dominant force in world football – but let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet. Luis Aragones, objectionable racist prat that he may be, has certainly proved me wrong in terms of his enduring ability, and will be missed as he leaves at the end of his contract, possibly to Fenerbahce – now that will be interesting.

This isn’t quite the end of my Euro 2008 coverage, as I’ll be doing an awards post or two in the next few days, before broadening my horizons a bit into the wider sporting world. It’s been fun.