JM1
1562
Certainly a much better game this half. Portugal seemed to lose their nerve in defence - that header seemed to really throw them into panic mode. All of a sudden Villa started finding space…
JM1
1564
Oh, and I rewound the replay a few times - I think Villa was just offside.
sluggo
1565
Despite the goal, I think this is one of the more impressive goaltending performances I’ve seen so far in the tournament. I think Spain would be up 3-0 on most teams right now.
Agreed, great keeping by Eduardo.
Right now, I just don’t see how Portugal can score, España continues to have the match firmly in control.
I also thought Villa was ever-so-slightly offside, but still a great goal. As for Torres, he’s had injury problems, which I think contributes to his inconsistent form. And he did have a vicious shot right off the start of the game today; if Spain hang on here, maybe we’ll see him back on his game in the quarters.
Not with a bang, but with a whimper…
what WAS that damned red card?
sluggo
1572
The more this goes on, the more disappointed I get that the US couldn’t get by Ghana. The other three quarterfinals feature heavyweights like Brazil, Spain and Argentina; the fourth is Uruguay and Ghana. The US couldn’t have asked for a better path to the semis.
rowe33
1573
On the goal you mean? He seemed fine to me. Terrible defense by #11 though - after the first shot, the guy just let up and Villa had the rebound easily.
What was with the red card though? They kept showing the replay just after the elbow or whatever happened.
Villa is gonna be in Barca next tournament… uff, Barcelona is gonna be even more of a monster in La Liga and Champions.
JM1
1575
On the wide angle it looked like a swinging elbow to the ear. Still, Capdevilla went down, then started to get up, realised the ref had seen it + blown his whistle, so he went down again clutching his face and screaming. Twat.
I feel sorry for Ronaldo for once. Portugal were clueless once they took Almeida (?) off, and Ronaldo’s no center forward despite Portugal’s repeated attempts to turn him into one. Plus it seemed like he got fouled every time he got the ball without the ref doing anything about it.
Still, better second half from Spain made it watchable. Villa and Iniesta were consistently pretty good, Xavi came to the fore after the goal. Torres did a good job of getting the fuck off the pitch and letting someone else have a go.
Yeah, I noticed a significant improvement immediately after Torres was benched. Spain must have had 3-4 really good chances in as many minutes, and one of them went in.
CSL
1577
Uruguay would fuck you up. They have been playing magnificent football. Maybe not as good as Brazil or Germany but very deserving of a top eight finish.
Juste
1578
The red card was for a hand to the face. Looked unintentional, he just tried to get in front of Capdevila, who made the most of it. Harsly given i think. Spain was clearly the better team as the match progressed though so no complaints about the end result.
Too bad the closeup repeats start a few seconds too late. In this video around 0:20, it really seems that Costa runs around Capdevila and starts closing in while he raises his left arm in an unnatural angle (his upper arm above horizontal, while his lower arm isn’t visibly pointing skyward) that causes his elbow (not his hand) to be in close proximity to the man’s left ear, more or less at the same time Capdevila starts collapsing.
But the video footage isn’t clear enough to be sure, and I’m not claiming to be impartial enough to make the call.
I think the US would be a match for Uruguay. They haven’t exactly had tough opposition yet, and they struggled to qualify, needing a play-off against Costa Rica to make it. Even there they struggled, needing a controversial goal to squeak through.
