Spain was off to a rough start in the first game of the World Cup and despite it just being the first game, many people thought that favorites of the 2010 World Cup were going to fail to produce like other nations such as the defending champions Italy, the star-studded French but it seems like Spain are not ready to be written off just yet.
Goals coming from Barcelona striker David Villa and midfielder Andres Iniesta, were enough to top a tough Chilean squad who were bound to make a come-back but were unfortunate to come up with just 1 goal. Although Chile just needed a tie to secure there advance, the South American team came out to play tough and was given much credit from the Spain coach after the match.
Head-coach Vicente Del Bosque went on to say the following :
“The match was very intense and I have to praise our opponents and give them a lot of credit. They made things difficult for us, they played with a lot of energy and when Villa scored we became calmer. But even after the 2-0 with only 10-men, they continued to work hard and they really made our lives difficult until the end of the match, so I’d really like to praise the coach and players of Chilean side.”
Much respect from the Spaniard coach who now have to prepare themselves to take on Portugal June 29th at 2:30 pm eastern time in Green Point Stadium.
Although Chile pretty much started off strong having beaten Switzerland and Honduras before taking on Spain, they failed to finish first in the group and now have to prepare to face a strong Brazilian squad who are looking and shaping up to be a team that is worthy of taking the World Cup. Brazil and Chile are sit to kick-off at June 28th at 2:30 pm eastern time in Elis Park.
Both sides enjoyed a strong showing in the Group stages and will have to carry it over to next stage in order to make it to the quarter-finals.
Click here to see highlights of the 2-1 Spain victory of Chile
Think Chile and Spain both have a chance in making it into the next round or will both fail to show up? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.
