Jaboldinho
Fan Favourite
Strange match all and all.
The ref:
He made some mistakes - a clear penalty, ending the first half in the middle of an attack, and there was a handball by a Swede in the penalty area too, so that's two penalties.
Spain:
They played good for the first 20 minutes or so. Then Puyol got injured, and Spain started to draw back with their huge 1-0 lead. It cost them, with a little help of Ramos's miserable game (for his standards, at least) and Casillas's mistake (he lets 1/10 of those in, max). After that it got weird. Spain tried to attack, but couldn't do much - they didn't even try to counter attack, just passed the ball in the midfield. When they got the ball in the box, they lacked confidence, creativity and finishing.
Torres looked so lost for most of the match. He got balls sent to him from almost every angle, but when he got the ball, he couldn't get pass the defenders, he gave too long passes for himself and his shots lacked power and accuracy. Also, after watching him more closely, he didn't do much to help in the defending; just a couple of times after he lost the ball he started running to get the ball back, but he seemed very frustrated when he did that, and seemed like he was close to hurting the opposition, getting carded.
Also, the defence was very shaky, as Ramos was having a bad match, and Albiol looked really nervous after coming in for Puyol.
The midfield lacked major creativity, the subs helped it a little, but not enough. The start of the attacks was still too slow and they didn't take risks in their passing, just moving the ball around to the next guy.
Finally, Spain got lucky with a long pass and the Sweden's defenders dozed off for a sec. That's all you need to give to a striker like Villa - he'll be invisible for the whole match, and then -BANG! In a flash, he runs past you and puts the ball in to the net.
Sweden:
They played a good first half, but when Zlatan was subbed off (his knee problems, apparently), they looked pretty shady. They didn't try to do much to win the match. They were clearly counting on getting a counte attack after Spain's pressure. They got really only one good chance in the second half, where Henke was just a little late, and couldn't reach the ball. From that point on, they seemed to pretty much have settled for the draw, and we all know what happens when you do that. You fall asleep for a second, waiting for the final whistle, and get punished.
Wow, a rare long post for me. Not that it makes a difference, nobody probably reads this anyway.
The ref:
He made some mistakes - a clear penalty, ending the first half in the middle of an attack, and there was a handball by a Swede in the penalty area too, so that's two penalties.
Spain:
They played good for the first 20 minutes or so. Then Puyol got injured, and Spain started to draw back with their huge 1-0 lead. It cost them, with a little help of Ramos's miserable game (for his standards, at least) and Casillas's mistake (he lets 1/10 of those in, max). After that it got weird. Spain tried to attack, but couldn't do much - they didn't even try to counter attack, just passed the ball in the midfield. When they got the ball in the box, they lacked confidence, creativity and finishing.
Torres looked so lost for most of the match. He got balls sent to him from almost every angle, but when he got the ball, he couldn't get pass the defenders, he gave too long passes for himself and his shots lacked power and accuracy. Also, after watching him more closely, he didn't do much to help in the defending; just a couple of times after he lost the ball he started running to get the ball back, but he seemed very frustrated when he did that, and seemed like he was close to hurting the opposition, getting carded.
Also, the defence was very shaky, as Ramos was having a bad match, and Albiol looked really nervous after coming in for Puyol.
The midfield lacked major creativity, the subs helped it a little, but not enough. The start of the attacks was still too slow and they didn't take risks in their passing, just moving the ball around to the next guy.
Finally, Spain got lucky with a long pass and the Sweden's defenders dozed off for a sec. That's all you need to give to a striker like Villa - he'll be invisible for the whole match, and then -BANG! In a flash, he runs past you and puts the ball in to the net.
Sweden:
They played a good first half, but when Zlatan was subbed off (his knee problems, apparently), they looked pretty shady. They didn't try to do much to win the match. They were clearly counting on getting a counte attack after Spain's pressure. They got really only one good chance in the second half, where Henke was just a little late, and couldn't reach the ball. From that point on, they seemed to pretty much have settled for the draw, and we all know what happens when you do that. You fall asleep for a second, waiting for the final whistle, and get punished.
Wow, a rare long post for me. Not that it makes a difference, nobody probably reads this anyway.
