Spain – Chile
0 – 2
20’ Eduardo Vargas
43’ Charles Aranguiz
A must win for Spain, or at least a draw for the former Champions was required to keep their hopes alive for another World Cup. Chile on the other hand, came in underdogs, and had no pressure on them as everybody’s eyes were on their opponents. It was going to be a tough test for their unique style of play that has dominated the world of football in the last 6 years.
First half:
Chile were on the attack from start and saw 2 chances in the first 2 mins. Spain still look unrecovered from the first thrashing. And were unable to keep clear possession of the ball. In a bid to prevent Spain from settling into their passing game, Chile were cutting the ball and not allowing free-passing. Chile read the Spain game well and forced the World Champions to resort to long balls, to bypass the midfield. A scramble took place in the 14’ in the Chilean box, but an offside ruling prevented Spain from capitalizing. Chile played attacking football and were linking up very well. A good flicked pass by Aranguiz and quick attack helped Vargas score a goal in the 20’.
The first half saw Alexis Sanchez making good runs and challenges trying to cut the ball early up the field. High pressing and high work rate football was shown by the Chileans to keep Spain on the backfoot. Xabi Alonso was having a bad match again and won a yellow in the 40’. A beautiful free kick by Sanchez from the top of the box was repelled by Casillas but taken by Aranguiz on the rebound to put Chile 2 goals ahead in the 44’. The Spaniards could not wait for the half to get over.
Second Half:
Spain tried a more direct approach in the second half and brough on Koke. This change saw Spain more on the attack and Costa had a close miss at the start of the half. Spain seemed to get some life into their attack, but still did not find a way through the tight Chilean defense. Busquets missed a sitter on open goal after acrobatics from Costa in 53’ which delivered the pass. Spain were playing harder, but both teams were playing a little scrappy in the first 15 minutes. Again the over complicated passing in the final third saw Spain miss opportunities on goal.
Chile on the whole controlled the game and dictated terms to Spain. The champions did not find their footing and a lack of a Plan “B” is what cost them. All attacking substitutions tried failed and one would say that playing two strikers together in a 4-4-2 formation would have made a better impact. However, we have now seen that the passing tiki-taka game is one of the past and high eork rate and a high pressing game is the new dominant style. Spain need to do some introspection and the next major tournament may not see many of these distinguished players in the squad.
The Goals :
.jpg "League")