The World Cup jolted itself from a slumber with a Swiss surprise, a Chilean coach with an attacking agenda and a striker on form who actually managed to find the net. Here’s the skinny on wake-up Wednesday…
Spain’s shock defeat to Switzerland provides the unthinkable scenario that the tournament favourites may now crash out at the group stages. With Chile earning their win against Honduras, Spain will face the lively South Americans knowing that anything less than a victory will leave them stranded. Chile meanwhile know that a draw will have them facing Honduras in the final game with every chance of earning qualification.
The Spanish will surely change their approach against Chile and abandon the five man midfield that started against the Swiss. David Villa led the attack alone yesterday, leaving Fernando Torres benched. It’s difficult to see that being the case next time out having witnessed the Spanish desperately seek an end product to their possession football.
Yesterday the Swiss were more than happy to surrender that possession but successfully funnelled Spain into wide areas and restricted them to few sights of goal. The influential Xavi and Iniesta saw plenty of the ball but were unable to direct things to the heart of a Swiss defence that lost the influence of Philippe Senderos after just 36 minutes.
Attacking bonus in the McDonalds game was still in evidence but the reality was that Spain produced few clear-cut chances in the first-half and then fell behind early in the second. That gave Vicente Del Bosque’s side new purpose but a combination of dogged defending and the crossbar kept them at bay and gave Switzerland a dream start. Skipper Gökhan Inler was the Swiss star performer in terms of bonus returns – he earned 3 defensive points and a single attacking bonus.
Fantasy investors in Spain are unlikely to get the jitters with prize assets such as Villa and Xavi just yet. If anything, with attack the only item on the agenda against Chile, returns of some sort looks assured. The South American’s will present a real test however. Chile looked more than handy in their 1-0 win over Honduras. A fluid attacking display deserved a bigger winning margin and tactically they look a real threat with midfielders Jean Beausejour, Matias Fernandez and Alexis Sanchez given license to bomb forward from midfield. Full-backs Mauricio Isla and Gary Medel also handed the freedom to join the party in what was a unconventional attacking formation from the South Americans. FIFA’s own “Actual Formation” plotting the average positions of players, clerarly highlights just how attack minded Chile were in the first-half.
Bizarrely all the bonus points, mainly defensive it must be said, went to the Hondurans and that might leave some of Chile’s key assets under the Fantasy radar. With Humberto Suazo possibly in contention against Spain, it will be interesting to see how the attacking talent is juggled. Both Jean Beausejour and particularly Alexis Sánchez impressed and coach Marcelo Bielsa started with midfielder Jorge Valdivia (5.0 in the McDonalds game) as a central striker linking play with the raiding midfield. It remains to be seen if Bielsa, like his counterpart Del Bosque, makes changes to his forward line.
The host nation’s World Cup campaign looks to have come to an end with the 3-0 defeat to Uruguay – South Africa will now have to see off France, although even a win in that game may not be enough depending on the outcome of France’s clash with Mexico today.
Diego Forlan was the orchestrator of Uruguay’s victory, although it was his partner in attack, Luis Suarez, who made significant in-roads early on. Forlan’s brace slips the Golden Boot temporarily into his mitts. The former United man was mightily impressive throughout, completing more passes in the South African half than any other player, four of which led to goal chances. Forlan will surely continue to attract new Fantasy suitors as a result and will go into the final group game against Mexico full of confidence and with the top spot up for grabs.
In terms of McDonalds bonus points it was Maxi Pereira that stole the show. While Forlan had to make do with his two goals to make up his 13 point haul, defender Maxi Pereira earned a total of 12 points thanks to 3 attacking bonus and a couple of defensive points. FIFA’s match stats show that he made a total of 8 runs or passes into the penalty area throughout the game, along with a successful tackle and a clearance. He is by far the leading defender in the McDonald’s game with 21 points in total.
Midfielder Álvaro Pereira also faired well, turning in 3 tackles and a clearance to earn 4 defensive bonus points supplement his, the final goal in the 3-0 win. He now has an impressive 18 points for the tournament. Fantasy Managers will now have to decide, with a potential top spot decider with Mexico to come, whether the Uruguay boat has been missed. Forlan remains a temptation but it is perhaps too much to ask for Uruguay to keep a third clean sheet in the group.
As for South Africa, they will face France without keeper Itumeleng Khune who saw red for Forlan’s penalty and influential defensive midfielder Kagisho Dikgacoi who picked up his second booking last night. The brief dalliance with their players as Fantasy investments has surely faded away with the hopes of a nation.